McNeese Ducks Unlimited

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by noodle creek

I'm not really a DU hater, and any money that goes to breeding grounds and prairie pothole region is fine by me. However, I think DU has slowly gotten away from the true conservation organization it used to be.

As far as surveys, I understand how the HiP program works. I said that I have never been asked individual species. I also said that I don't know anyone who has been asked about the number of birds harvested in Canada.

As is often the case with my comments, they are all encompassing. Some of those were not directed at you. This is not the first time I have seen people question where those numbers come from, and it clearly states they come from the HIP.

I also have never been asked how many of each species, so I agree with you there. Those numbers are being estimated based on hunter responses from surveys and the number of hunters who filled out a HIP. So, they select X number of hunters, send them a diary, and the hunter records the number of each species he kills throughout the season. They then extrapolate that out to the total hunters.

The fact of the matter is, those harvest numbers don't really play into any of the regulations, as I understand it. You don't set a limit based on what was done the previous year. You set it based on the population trends. I don't even know why anyone concerns themselves with the harvest data. It's a talking point as far as I'm concerned. The reason the limit in teal season went up to 6 and the reason we could have gone up to 3 specks was due to increases in the population.

Originally Posted by noodle creek

Also, of those 77,600 hunters, I'm sure a large number of these people hunted once or twice.

There aren't but a handful of guys that hunt 60 days a kill limits every day.

On the HIP, i'm sure there are plenty of facepainters giving blind totals, and not individual totals.

Precisely my point. Inaccurate survey numbers. If 3 guys hunt 10 days, and they kill 60 ducks between them, each one of them may very well report 60 ducks. When 3 guys are reporting 180 ducks, when in reality only 60 were killed, that skews the data and makes the harvest larger. The question is whether those hunters chosen for this survey are doing that. They may be. Who goes out on a hunt with his buddies, and reports that he killed a limit? No one. It's always "we killed a 3 man limit". You would think it would be clear that you are only reporting the ducks you killed, but some people ain't that bright.

I've always thought the "facepainters" knock was hilarious. I mean, didn't that craze start because of a show based on one of the most hardcore duck hunting families in the world? I bet 90% of people would never even think of calling Phil or Jace a facepainter to their face, but they sure as hell use the stuff.