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DU surveys show that duck production in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States has soared to new heights in the past few years, thanks to habitat conservation programs and a series of wet years during the breeding season. The Prairie Pothole Region, also known as "the duck factory," produces approximately 55 percent of North America's ducks. The majority of the Prairie Pothole Region is located in south-central Canada, and the remainder is in the north-central United States. Historically, most of the ducks produced in the Prairie Pothole Region likely came from Canada, but recently, more and more ducks are breeding and more ducklings are surviving in the United States. In fact, today there may be more ducks produced on the U.S. side of the Prairie Pothole Region than on the Canadian side. Waterfowl biologists attribute this to a combination of ideal water conditions and upland cover in the north-central United States. "When ducks migrate north in the spring, there are three main factors that determine where they breed and whether they survive: history, water, and upland cover," explained Ducks Unlimited's director of conservation programs, Steve Adair. "Most species of ducks will instinctively return to the female's old breeding grounds, but they won't breed and nest there unless they see an abundance of water. In the past five years, Mother Nature has been generous with precipitation on the U.S. prairies, so the ducks keep coming back." But water is only part of the equation, said Adair. "The birds need upland cover to nest in, and the more cover they have, the better their chances of surviving and successfully hatching a nest. The Conservation Reserve Program has provided that cover, and duck production has subsequently increased on the U.S. prairies." The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was authorized in 1985 under the Food Security Act to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and provide wildlife habitat. CRP provides financial incentives to farmers to convert croplands to grasslands or other wildlife habitat for 10 or 15 years. Since 1986, 10 million acres in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region have been converted to undisturbed grasslands under CRP. Studies conducted by Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) estimate that acres enrolled in the CRP in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota added 10.5 million duck recruits to the fall flight from 1992-97. This year, the USFWS estimated a record high 10.4 million breeding ducks in the eastern Dakotas. That is 170 percent above the long-term average for that region, and 17 percent above last year's estimates. Based on the success of CRP, Ducks Unlimited officials in Canada are currently working with the Canadian government to establish a similar program in that country. "The Prairie Habitat Joint Venture initiated the idea for a Conservation Cover Program in Canada over a year ago and DU Canada subsequently raised the bar this fall to include a CRP-like program that, if implemented, will idle grasslands for a number of years and provide financial incentives to farmers," said Brian Gray, director of conservation programs for Ducks Unlimited Canada. "Such a program would be beneficial to everyone involved: farmers and taxpayers would benefit financially compared to the current farm programs, and wildlife would thrive as well. The success of CRP in the U.S. is proof-positive that it's worth implementing." Duck bag limit Ray had the right idea though & he wrote it down and took it to the duck blind with him. Unfortunately, Ray reported, "I had it right there in my shirt pocket, but I couldn't get to my reading glasses. By the time I got situated and found out they were legal ducks, they were long gone." The daily duck limit starts out pretty simple: "The daily bag limit for ducks is six." Then, especially for those of us slow on duck identification, the limit regulations start to get a little more complicated: The daily limit of six ducks includes any combination of goldeneyes, ruddy ducks, ring-necked ducks, buffleheads, gadwalls, oldsquaws, scoters, teal, widgeon and shovelers. Included in the daily limit of six are additional restrictions on the following species: Mallards: Only four mallards may be taken daily, including not more than two females. Wood ducks: Only two wood ducks may be taken daily. Redheads: Only two redheads may be taken daily. Black ducks: Only one black duck may be taken daily. Pintails: Only one pintail may be taken daily. Canvasbacks: Only one canvasback may be taken daily. Scaup: Only three scaup may be taken daily. The daily bag limit for coots is 15. The daily bag for mergansers (which is separate from the duck limit) is five, including not more than one hooded merganser. Ray, I have to say, after reading this & I know why you wrote it down. Possession limit for ducks, coots and mergansers is two times the daily bag limit. Shooting hours: one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Shooting hours at some DNR properties may vary. For those of us a little shy on duck identification, there is still hope. There is a great Web site for waterfowl identification at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/duckdist/duckdist.htm More information on the waterfowl hunting regulations can be found on the DNR Web site at: http://www.ai.org/dnr/fishwild/huntguide1/wtrduck.htm Jack Spaulding is a state outdoors writer and a consumer of RushShelby Energy from Milroy. Readers with questions or comments can write to him in care of the Electric Consumer, P.O. Box 24517, Indianapolis, IN 46224; or by e-mail at
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