CLEAR LAKE - The National [Waterfowl] Flyway Council has released results of a nation-wide survey which asked America's duck hunters for opinions on ducks, duck hunting, and waterfowl management. According to Flyway Council chair, Don Childress, more than 10,000 duck hunters responded to this first-of-its-kind national survey.

Survey highlights revealed that modern-day duck hunters are a highly motivated group of conservationists who take waterfowling issues very seriously. A full 72 percent of respondents listed duck hunting as their most important, or one of their most important, recreational activities. About 60 percent were in agreement with the length of their hunting seasons, and three-quarters said the daily bag limit on ducks was " about right."

Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of surveyed duck hunters said they spend more than $250 each year [on duck hunting] and 20 percent said they spend more than $1,000 on their sport each year. Only six percent of duck hunters between the ages of 45 and 64 indicated that they began duck hunting in the relatively recent past (1997-2004).

Survey results were reported by upper, middle, and lower groupings of states in each flyway. These groupings allow for the most meaningful comparisons among regions of the country, said Childress. For example, more than 30 percent of the waterfowlers hunting in the upper portion of the Central Flyway (North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Montana), said the overall quality of duck hunting over the last five years had improved, while 29 percent of the same group said it had gotten worse. By contrast, 82 percent of the duck hunters utilizing the lower portion of the Mississippi Flyway (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) said hunting had gotten worse.

In the national survey, 76 percent of the duck hunters questioned said they hunted all 5 of the past five seasons. In Iowa, 82 percent of the state's duck hunters hunted all 5 of the past five seasons.

Nationally, 72 percent of duck hunters said the total daily duck bag limit in the state they hunted was "about right". In Iowa, 79 percent of the hunters interviewed thought the bag limit was "about right."

Other survey findings show that contemporary duck hunters -- especially the younger ones -- readily embrace current technology. Twenty percent of duck hunters said they "frequently" access the Internet for duck hunting information; 49 percent said "once in a while," and 31 percent, "not at all."

In the national average, 53 percent of surveyed hunters said they used spinning-wing [mechanical] decoys, which compared to 67 percent use in Iowa. Both surveys revealed that a majority of duck hunters thought spinning-wings should be allowed. Nationally [and in Iowa] less than 25 percent thought mechanical decoys should be outlawed.

"We were amazed," said DNR research supervisor Terry Little. "Although there were some minor exceptions, the overall response of Iowa duck hunters was very close to how hunters responded nationwide. I think one of the things this survey shows, is that there are not really that many differences between our [Iowa] duck hunters and those from the rest of the nation.

"One of the differences between Iowa hunters and those at the southern end of the Flyway is that Iowa is a migration state. Our hunters have become very aware of the importance of having flights arrive in the right place at the right time. Our hunters have learned that timing is everything. They understand that it's not the length of time migrating ducks stay in Iowa, but is rather getting them to come through Iowa in the first place."

That may be one of the reasons why Iowa hunters have a priority interest in having the longest hunting season possible. Iowa hunters would rather see greater restrictions in daily bag limits [such as the current short season and reduced daily limit on pintail ducks] than to see a reduction in the number of days they can hunt.

"Another thing we've learned is that the most vocal duck hunters do not necessarily reflect what the majority of hunters want," said Little. "There is a large spread, for example, over what people define as success. The expectations of hard-core, late season hunters may vary greatly from hunters taking advantage of earlier hunting days. Our [DNR] challenge is to provide opportunities for both groups. One of the values of this survey, it that it provides a significant cross section of what sort of opportunities hunters want."

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