Getting
current data on waterfowl and hunter populations for Rice County was
not readily available. However, the
Minnesota DNR
conducted a survey called “The 2000 Waterfowl Hunting Season in
Minnesota: A
Study of Hunters’ Opinions and Activities,” where the information was
divided
by region. Rice County falls into the
southeastern portion of Minnesota called region 5.
General
Statistics
- Region
5 had the second lowest number of
hunters with 8,884.
- Statewide,
hunters averaged 4.2 days
hunting primarily for ducks, 2.8 days primarily for geese, and 4.8 days
hunting
for both ducks and geese.
- Hunters
in Region 5
typically traveled the shortest distances to hunt.
- Region
5 had the smallest
proportion of waterfowl hunters with 6.4%.
- Hunters
in Region 5 were
much more likely to hunt Canada Geese during the late season than
hunters in
other regions.
- Regions
1,2, and 4 shot significantly more ducks than the other regions.
However
during the early goose season, Hunters from Region 5 averaged more
geese than
any other region. This was also true for the entire year.
Overall satisfaction levels on
duck
hunting did not vary from region to region. Interestingly, goose
hunters
in regions 5 and 6 were much more satisfied with goose hunting than in
the
other regions.
Change
in
Overall Satisfaction Levels
51.9% of duck hunters in the state indicated their overall level of
satisfaction with duck hunting had decreased in the past 3 seasons
prior to the
study. Only 16% said their satisfaction had increased.
Similarly,
63.2 % of the hunters said that their satisfaction had decreased since
they
began hunting. Interestingly, there were no noticeable
differences
between regions. The same was observed for goose hunters.
Most hunters did
not believe
the DNR should restrict waterfowl hunters to less than 6 ducks because
some
hunters felt it inappropriate to shoot that many ducks (62.5%).
Across
the regions, significantly more hunters from region 5 tended to support
such
social restrictions on bag limits.
Battery
Operated Wing Decoys
Statewide, 10% of all hunters have used spinning wing decoys.
Region 5
hunters had the highest percentage with 15%. There was no
correlation
found with success and the use of spinning wing decoys.
Characteristics
of Waterfowl Hunters
Average age of waterfowl hunters in Region 5 is 36.3 years, 99% being
male. Hunters in Region 5 had the fewest years of hunting
experience. About half (52.2%) of the waterfowl hunters living in
Region
5 hunting every year during last five years, where as the majority of
the state
was at 65.2%.
Conclusions
It is
obvious
that the tradition of duck hunting is not as dominant in region 5 as it
is in
other regions of the state. Hunters are
becoming discouraged and are spending less time out in the blind. Declining duck populations in combination
with the decline of duck habitat is a prime candidate as to why there
are so
few hunters in the region. A decline in
wetland habitat will cause a decline in duck populations that will
ultimately
cause a decrease in the number of waterfowl hunters.
Intriguingly, Canadian
goose numbers and Canadian goose hunters do not seem to be as affected
by
habitat loss. Goose numbers and hunters
both have rose in Region 5, which is among the top in the state.
Hunters
in Region 5 have had to revert to special hunting tactics such as using
spinning wing decoys, a hotly debated technique used for taking
waterfowl. Though they have not been
proven to be
significantly more effective, the simple fact that region 5 uses them
more than
any other portion of the state is alarming. Is
the tradition of waterfowl hunting lost? Do
hunters measure success of waterfowl
hunting on the number of ducks taken during a day?
Or is success measured in the experience and
enjoyment of being
in the outdoors?
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