Are you new to waterfowl hunting or thinking about taking up the sport?
Then you might want to read this before heading to the nearest wetland. While veteran waterfowlers may be accustomed to the bureaucracy this form of hunting imposes on people, new hunters can find the maze of licenses, stamps, permits, fees, applications and regulations daunting indeed.
Duck and goose hunting opportunities remain very strong in many parts of the country, yet the number of migratory bird hunters nationwide has dropped from 3.1 million in 1996 to 2.2 million in 2006, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A number or factors, particularly access issues, could account for that decline. But it raises the question: Is waterfowling just getting too complicated—especially for newcomers?
To be fair, the fact that waterfowl are migratory makes it necessary that both federal and state government agencies be involved, so some complication may be inevitable. Still…
Roadblocks
Recently, Kayne Robinson, Executive Director of NRA General Operations, delivered a key message about the “vulnerable hunter.” The vulnerable hunter is an average Joe who works hard, has little disposable income, hunts mainly on public land and struggles to find good hunting areas. Robinson noted that more than two-thirds of all American hunters fit this description—bogged down by excessive red tape, increasing costs and a slew of complex regulations that are driving them out of hunting. Nowhere is this more evident than in waterfowling.
Take for example the state of Virginia—which happens to offer excellent duck and goose hunting. To hunt migratory birds there, a resident must buy a basic license ($18*), a state duck stamp ($10) and a federal duck stamp ($15). Hunters must also get a Harvest Information Program (HIP) registration number (free in most states) that is used by the feds to survey hunters. You need an additional $16 permit to hunt in a Virginia state forest and a $4 permit to hunt in a national forest. Want to hunt on Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge? You need written permission from the refuge HQ and will pay a $20 fee.
If you want to hunt from a duck blind, things get even more complicated. Virginians hunting east of I-95 or on the Eastern Shore have to shell out $40.50 to use a floating blind. If you want to put up a stationary blind, you must first wait until Aug. 31, which is the deadline for landowners to put up a blind (they have the right of first refusal). If the landowner chooses not to put up a blind, a hunter must then pay another $17.50 for each stationary blind he or she constructs. Hunters have to get the permit at the county courthouse or from a designated agent located within the unit they’re hunting, meaning if you set up stationary blinds in different hunting units, you have to travel to each unit separately to get your permits.
Virginia offers a number of quota hunts, too. Hunters apply for these before the season, pay a non-refundable fee of $7.50, and wait to see if they are randomly selected.
Want to hunt “light geese” (snow geese and Ross’ geese)? You could shoot 15 a day from Oct. 8 to Jan. 30 this past season. Following that there was a no-limit Conservation Order season from Feb. 1 to March 27 but, because of federal requirements imposed on Virginia, hunters were required to register specially, obtain a harvest report form, and return the form in two weeks.
“We hear people saying that if you’re new to Virginia, it’s difficult to get started waterfowl hunting because of all the permits and the blind laws,” said Gary Costanzo, manager of the Migratory Bird Program for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. “And public hunters complain there aren’t any good hunting spots left after landowners have constructed stationary blinds.”
Complex Laws
Travel to Maryland—another state long respected for its waterfowling tradition—and things don’t get any easier. To hunt waterfowl there, you have to get a hunting license, a state migratory game bird stamp, a federal duck stamp and another HIP number (hunters need a different HIP number for every state they hunt), for a grand total of $48.50. It’ll cost you another $5 if you want to hunt light geese during the federal Light Goose Conservation Order season. (You don’t need the permit in the earlier light goose season.) And you must have both the permit and the receipt for the permit in your possession while hunting.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) uses funds collected from the special season to survey hunters and report additional harvest data back to the feds.
Complicating matters is Maryland’s plethora of regulations governing legal hunting hours and bag limits for the different species. In general, shooting hours for migratory birds are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset, except for the September teal season (sunrise to sunset), the September resident Canada goose season (one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset), and the Light Geese Conservation season (one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset).
Bag limits are another source of consternation for new waterfowl hunters. For ducks (except black ducks), a hunter may take six per day, but no more than:
- Five long-tailed ducks
- Four mallards (maximum of two hen mallards)
- Three wood ducks
- Two redheads
- One pintail
If you’re already confused, just wait, there’s more.
“If you want to look at something that’s impossible to understand, look at Maryland’s riparian (shoreline) laws,” added hunter Mark Anderson.
To prevent others from duck hunting near their shore, landowners need only purchase a $20 license annually—they don’t even have to put up a blind. For convenience, renewal forms are mailed to landowners, with the option to buy a $60 license that’s good for three years.
“If there’s one thing I’d change it would be the riparian laws so non-landowners would have more opportunities to duck hunt,” said MDNR Waterfowl Project Leader Larry Hindman. “You can fish near the shoreline or pick up crabs and oysters, but you can’t duck hunt without permission from the landowner.”
If you think hunters in less populated states have it easier, think again. Take for instance Nebraska, where a waterfowl hunter must purchase a hunting license ($15), habitat stamp ($20), waterfowl stamp ($5) and, of course, a federal duck stamp ($15) and get his or her HIP number.
“I’ve heard hunters use the number of licenses and stamps they must get as an excuse for why they don’t hunt,” said Mark Vrtiska, Waterfowl Program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. “But the number of waterfowl hunters has been declining.”
Ten years ago, the Cornhusker State had 20,000 waterfowl hunters. Today less than 16,000 participate in the different waterfowl hunting seasons.
Vrtiska acknowledges the confusion hunters must wade through.
“How the different duck zones are laid out is particularly complex,” he said. “Duck hunters also need to know 20 different bag limits, depending on the species and sex of the ducks harvested.”
The Role of the Feds
The red tape placed on the vulnerable hunter can’t be attributed solely to state laws and regulations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets a multitude of hunting restrictions and rules that states must follow.
Let’s look more closely at the Light Geese Conservation Order season. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established it to try to control a burgeoning population of mid-continental snow geese that number in the millions. The geese are doing substantial damage to breeding grounds, so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stepped in to get the population under control.
“We’ve allowed states to use different hunting methods, such as taking the plugs out of shotguns and allowing electronic calls, which are tactics normally beyond the boundaries of what we consider to be fair and ethical,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Central Flyway Representative David Sharp. “We really don’t know how to hunt these birds without affecting other bird species and habitat.”
The feds also require states to implement the HIP Program and collect fees for the Duck Stamp.
Originally created in 1934, Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps (or Duck Stamps) are used to lease or purchase wetland habitat, benefiting hunters, waterfowl and countless other species. Hunters have willingly paid for these stamps for decades and many take pride in how the funds have helped waterfowl.
“Ninety-eight cents of every dollar goes directly to buying or leasing wetlands,” said Rachel Levin, spokesperson for the Migratory Bird Program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Since 1991 the fee for the stamp has remained $15.”
But hunters be forewarned: soon the fee will go to $25.
In some states the expiration dates of the HIP and Duck Stamp differ from state waterfowl permits/stamps, causing yet more confusion.
“In Nebraska your hunting license and habitat stamp are valid for the calendar year, while the federal duck stamp is good from July 1 through June 30 of each year,” noted Omaha, Neb., hunter Alex Tate. “I’d like to see the HIP registration occur at the same time you’re purchasing the duck stamp, which could alleviate the need to carry your HIP number with you when hunting.”
For the record, all the different fees waterfowlers pay is probably not what is discouraging hunters—although combined with the cost of boats and boat paperwork, decoys, non-toxic shot and other gear it is significant. What is discouraging hunters, particularly those new to waterfowling, is the uncertainty that, try as they might to have every single document, permit, stamp, license, number, or receipt, they may accidentally miss something and break the law.
In a time when virtually all state agencies are searching for ways to increase the number of hunters, let’s just raise the question: Couldn’t waterfowling be simpler? And if for some reason it can’t be, can the agencies do more to explain why not?
*All fee figures are from the 2009-2010 seasons.
