Division of Wildlife Resources Migratory Bird Section, Periodic Report No. 29Report issued on: August, 28, 198

Thornburg, Dennis D.

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  Previous issue date: 1980Division of Wildlife Resources Migratory Bird Section, Periodic Report No. 29Report issued on: August, 28, 198

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I LLINO SUNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGNPRODUCTION NOTEUniversity of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign LibraryLarge-scale Digitization Project, 2007.Department o onserv nDivision of Wildlife ResourcesMIGRATORY BIRD SECTION,S* PERIODIC REPORT NO. 29August 28, 1980'J iLHISTORY SRVEWATERFOWL HARVEST AND HUNTER USE AT REND LAKE DURING OCT 1 1980THE 1979 SEASONLIBRARYDennis Thornburg - Acting Chief Waterfowl BiologistAbstract: The duck season in the southern zone which includes Rend Lake openedon 30 October 1979 and closed 50 days later on 19 December 1979. The gooseseason opened concurrent with the duck season but closed on 31 December 1979.An estimated 5,375 ducks and 1,917 geese were harvested on public lands atRend Lake throughout the 1979 season. Thirty-seven licensed goose clubs re-ported a total harvest of 734 geese on private lands surrounding Rend Lake.Approximately 12,978 hunter-trips were made to public hunting areas at RendLake in 1979. It is impossible to identify hunter-trips taken specificallyfor geese during the duck season, however 2,548 hunter-trips were made afterthe close of the duck season during the period 20-31 December 1979. The overallsuccess rate for duck hunters at Rend Lake for the 1979 season was .52 ducks pertrip. Hunter use and harvest at Rend Lake in 1979 was determined by mandatoryhunter registration and report of harvest at all access areas to public huntingareas. The in-season goose population peaked at 32,000 geese on 12 December 1979.Peak duck populations were recorded on 30 November 1979 when 27,615 ducks wereinventoried at Rend Lake.INTRODUCTIONWaterfowl harvest at Rend Lake has been monitored by some type of survey since1975. In previous years, harvest and hunter use were monitored by a system ofcombined bag checks, car counts, and windshield card questionnaires. This reportsummarizes the 1979 harvest and hunter use data collected by mandatory registra-tion and report of harvest by hunters on the Rend Lake public hunting areas. Anaccurate determination of harvest and hunter use is crucial for the continuedevaluation of the waterfowl management program at Rend Lake.The Rend Lake Wildlife Management Area is a cooperative project between the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Conservation. It consistsof approximately 16,000 acres of land and water in Jefferson and Franklin counties.Implementation of the waterfowl harvest and hunter use survey was partially financedby Pittman-Robertson Project W-43-R.A note of thanks is extended to all Division of Public Lands, Division of WildlifeResources, Division of Law Enforcement and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnelwho assisted in the distribution and collection of hunter registration sheetsS T-% n-i- fT-ia "T t- nP f rnn2o-%7f C~r - t- i ri6 r '^.2 j^--2-throughout the 1979 waterfowl season at Rend Lake. A great amount of time andeffort was expended in construction, erection and maintenance of registrationboxes at access areas around the lake and the management areas. The harvestand hunter use survey would not be possible without the willing assistance ofmany dedicated people.METHODS AND MATERIALSWaterfowl hunter use and harvest data at Rend Lake were collected in 1979 bya method differing from previous years. For the 1975-1978 seasons, waterfowlharvest at Rend Lake was estimated by sampling hunters at access areas on ascheduled basis. Data were collected by bag checks combined with car countsthree days per week and windshield cards were placed on cars and the cars countedon the other four days of the week. Because of the low card return rate andthe small sample size on many days, this system of monitoring hunter activityand harvest was discontinued. Prior to the 1979 waterfowl season, registrationboxes and signs were constructed and erected at all 34 hunter access areasaround the lake and the management areas. Hunting regulations were amended sothat it became mandatory that waterfowl hunters sign-in before hunting and re-port their daily kill following each days hunt. Registration sheets were col-lected on a daily basis and the number of hunters and harvest by species wastallied for each day of the season.Canada goose harvest on private land surrounding Rend Lake was determined inpast years by personal contact with club owners and land owners. In 1979, aregistration and reporting system similar to that existing in the southernIllinois quota zone was established at Rend Lake. Commercial licenses wereissued for areas where reimbursement was received for goose hunting privileges.Free permits were issued for all other areas where goose hunting occurred.Hunters were required to register before hunting and report their harvest aftereach days hunt. Hunting registers were then submitted by club owners at theend of the season to the Union County Field Office for tabulation of harvestand hunter use.Canada goose population data were gathered from aerial inventories conductedweekly (weather permitting) throughout the season. These inventories wereconducted by biologists with the Illinois Department of Conservation and theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service using the DOC Cessna 210 or Cessna 337. Aerialduck inventories were conducted bi-weekly by Robert Crompton of the IllinoisNatural History Survey.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe 1979 waterfowl season opened in the southern zone and at Rend Lake on31 October 1979 and closed 50 days later on 19 December 1979. The goose seasonopened concurrent with the duck season but continued to 31 December 1979.Weather conditions during the fall and winter were extremely mild and harvestand hunter success reflect those unfavorable hunting conditions.-3-Hunter UseA total of 12,978 hunter-trips were taken to Rend Lake public hunting areasduring the 1979 waterfowl season. Goose hunters, following the close of theduck season, accounted for 2,548 of these hunter-trips. The average number ofhunters per day at Rend Lake through the duck season was 209. This comparesclosely with the 231 average hunters per day during the 1978 season. The weekwith the heaviest hunting intensity during the season was the first week(31 October - 6 November) when 1,740 hunters visited Rend Lake (Table 1). Hunt-ing pressure at Rend Lake was heavy on opening day and early in the season thengradually stabilized at a relatively high level throughout the remainder of theseason (Table 2). Hunting pressure at Rend Lake during the 1979 season showedlittle change from the 1978 season (3 percent increase). Licensed private gooseclubs in the Rend Lake vicinity reported a total of 3,212 hunter-trips duringthe 1979 season.HarvestWaterfowl hunters at Rend Lake harvested 5,375 ducks and 1,917 geese during the1979 season. The peak of the harvest occurred during the 7-day period of31 October - 6 November 1979 when 1,664 ducks were taken. Hunters enjoyed agood harvest rate during the first two weeks of the season. Harvest then droppedmarkedly and continued at a slow pace throughout the remainder of the season(Table 1). The greatest number of geese were harvested during the 7-day periodof 5 December - 11 December 1979 when 327 geese were taken. Canada goose harvestat Rend Lake was down 58 percent from the estimated 4,604 geese harvested duringthe 1978 season. Duck harvest was also 41 percent below the 1978 harvest of9,060 ducks. A complete breakdown of the 1979 duck harvest at Rend Lake byspecies is presented in Table 3.Registers received from 37 licensed private goose clubs in the Rend Lake vicinityrevealed a harvest of 734 geese on private lands. This compares with an estimatedharvest of 1,500 Canada geese on private lands in 1978.Hunter SuccessThe 1979 survey at Rend Lake revealed a duck hunting success rate of .52 ducksper trip. The highest success rate (.96) was reported by hunters during thefirst week of the season. Goose hunting is often incidental to duck hunting atRend Lake. This makes hunter success rates for geese rather unmeaningful.Based on total hunters and total geese harvested, the success rate for the 1979season was .15. Following the close of the duck season, goose hunters harvestedgeese at the rate of .22 birds per trip. Goose hunting success on private landsin the vicinity of Rend Lake was low throughout the 1979 season. The overallsuccess rate reported by licensed goose clubs in 1979 was .23 birds per trip.Compared to the 1978 season, duck hunting success was down 33 percent and goosehunting success on public hunting areas was down 58 percent. The 1979 successrate for waterfowlers at Rend Lake was the lowest ever recorded since the surveywas initiated (Table 4).-4-Population StatusThe in-season Canada goose population at Rend Lake peaked at 32,000 on17 December 1979. This represents a 42 percent decline from the peak of 55,000observed during the 1978 season. Later in the winter, after the close of thehunting season, 90,000 Canada geese were inventoried at Rend Lake. This wassignificantly higher than the peak inventory of 62,000 observed during the latewinter of 1978-79 (Figure 1). A peak population of 27,615 ducks was inventoriedat Rend Lake on 30 November 1979 (Figure 2). This represents a 44 percent in-crease over the peak population of 19,185 ducks reported in 1978.ConclusionsThe registration of waterfowl hunters at Rend Lake proved to be an effective andefficient system of monitoring hunter use and harvest. Private goose cluboperators and other land owners cooperated fully in applying for licenses andmaintaining hunter and harvest registers. Although some vandalism of registra-tion sheets and boxes did occur at the access areas to public hunting areas,the incidence was infrequent and not significant. The registration system isa definite improvement over the sampling system based on bag checks and wind-shield cards which has been used in past years. The registration survey willtherefore be continued for the 1980 waterfowl season.LITERATURE CITEDRoetker, F. H., and W. L. Anderson. 1978. Canada goose harvest and hunter useat Rend Lake during the 1977 season. Illinois Dept. Conservation, MigratoryBird Sect., Periodic Rpt. No. 21. 3pp.Thornburg, D. D., and William Allen. 1979. Waterfowl harvest and hunter use atRend Lake during the 1978 season. Illinois Dept. Conservation, MigratoryBird Sect., Periodic Rpt. No. 24. 6pp.Anderson, W. L. 1980. Evaluation of experimental zoning for duck hunting inIllinois, 1977-1979. Illinois Dept. Conservation, Investigations andSurveys Sect., Rpt. 14pp.-5-Table 1. Waterfowl harvest and hunter success on the public hunting areas atRend Lake, Illinois throughout the 1979 waterfowl season.No. of Harvest Hunter SuccessDate Hunters Mallards Ducks Geese (Ducks) (Geese)Oct. 31 - Nov. 06 1,740 686 1,664 186 .96 .11Nov. 07 - Nov. 13 1,790 799 1,247 174 .70 .10Nov. 14 - Nov. 20 1,124 463 603 129 .54 .11Nov. 21 - Nov. 27 1,377 293 392 101 .28 .07Nov. 28 - Dec. 04 1,291 479 590 152 .46 .12Dec. 05 - Dec. 11 1,394 451 495 327 .36 .23Dec. 12 - Dec. 19* 1,714 380 384 317 .22 .18Dec. 20 - Dec. 25 1,060 -- -- 261 --- .25Dec. 26 - Dec. 31 1,488 -- --- 270 --- .18Season Totals 12,978 3,551 5,375 1,917 .52 .15*Final day of duck season-6-Cli%o <t O\ Cn Lnn r r -r i r--'t CM -4 CMq C-4o\r-43-..404Jr-4r-4O-4.4J054a)*r-r-^~ct<U4JMCIo\r--oor'-4-44J04JrU0bO0Na)0N Nc r(UQ) )0 CU,O C -4,. -H 44.r4T)0 (a cQr-444CazFHLHzYC4 c) r- c0 oooo oo Lr a rn-oo CM Ar-4 r-r-4 oo L-•t tC ,'t en C' C eCM r-4 r.-4 v-4 -4ri . r-4 00 .t r--iLO 0n 0- 00 cqM r-( r- r-Co%0 C C) C3n r-4ýo cn) o CM. 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C r-4 D r--o oo 4 C.or-4rL4 -O r--14o 0 o0N dO0 0 0 0 < 3LH H0 ( C c )U<c 0 )cO o 0) U C P*r-(-HLn)0ON<E-0Hr-4 0 r-4S4ac000 c^0) 0 H0 Pi0 4J »W 0 <pd Oa'1 cM CY ()L) 4 C )o4 ,4- 0caC01o a 40e rr...'0N-raNtH-1U ') a' 00 -N HWC L- C) LMU)-H-t r- c)H-t0w '4 cq 1 %c) r io cr- N r- 4or-4 rN 00 r-i o 0 C(a iD r- C-4 r-1 r-4'H- HH -4 -''OCN'O N0nHC.C ONin r-i 4 CMf Lrn eo a o rOr\.N No r- o ,-N 4r40C 00 0 ooo000001O0oC:4-1ONOIr- 0,-ico*0?-4- *4H c-SCOr4 0)r 0r 4J.0 w0 11-4SC4 0o0 pQ )0 4Jr40 -S0)0- cOx 04..OC0 )ScoQ aH 0$'-40 <)e4-4 }co r-40 H04- <4~-< ~COC')0)-8-Table 4. Waterfowl harvest and hunter success at Rend Lake, Illinois, 1974-1979.Harvest Hunter SuccessYear No. of Hunters Ducks Geese Ducks Geesea/ a/1974 8,485 7,331 a .86 a/1975 6,428 6,878 1,710 1.07 .58b /1976 6,555 7,414 2,017 1.13 .21-1977 8,377 8,748 1,630 1.04 --1978 12,622 9,060 4,604 .78 .361979 12,978 5,375 1,917 .52 .15a/b/No survey conductedLast 20 days of goose season after close of duck season-9--.II9P000IIIO O O o0 0(spuesnoqy )0 0 0Ct) C4 -4*^I\\00'-O•,-Ir\r^r-4a'rv-'49~1I.0r--,-40O-%D 0-4i 000I>1 ONC r-4Cd00r-40r--100o r4co-U O r-40)*4J-iN-CdU)cdrlCM 2o0 0)0<U0)U0)r4 bOc^ 04-1-10-6..a0,00i,9.0c 0C 0I I Icr. co 0or( r. r(* ' *I .*I *I II I0OC•Ia40CM(spuvsnoMl)y3 09/00 2 ^174 LW43.01O...M N 000\,-4r-,O coo,.- rC<. Iro0 4-1zC Cdto4o-0)4 J4 o•d*-CCJ 03C)"C c\JICQ4 4J-C0~<uboILr)CY) 0r-l- 1 -- -1 r{/UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA3 0112 051102645

Waterfowl Harvest and Hunter Use at Rend Lake During the 1979 Season

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