Quote:
Originally Posted by B-Stealth
Why does the E Side hunt until January 31st when the LDWF knows hunting into late January hurts the breeding stock?
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Because the USFWS allows it, the duck population is at high levels, hunters want it, and the East Zone has traditionally closed on the last day of the framework. As you have seen from the harvest data, a fairly small % of our season kill comes from the last 2 weeks in January (about 15%), so the risk to the population is small. When the population declines to the point that we have to restrict hunting regulations, the closing framework date also goes back to the Sunday closest to Jan. 20 instead of the current last Sunday in January.
Also remember that the last time the framework was extended to allow earlier hunting in the northern states and later in the southern states, it was done via legislative action (an add-on to an appropriations bill) not through the cooperative flyway-based regulatory process.