Back Bay and Currituck Sound During the 1958-59 Hunting Season
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$OUND DATA ,REPORT Waterfowl Studks COOPERATIVE STUDIES 1958 - 1964 BY: BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE NORTH CAROLINA WILDLIFE RE'SOURCES COMMISSIOfl VIRGINIA.COM4ISSION OF GAME AND INWUJD FISHERIES Back Bay-Currituck Sound Data Report-Waterfowl Studies - Volume II Table of Contents Page Introduction. m . 1 Historical Accounts of Waterfowl Use of Back Bay and : Currituck Sound. 1 Literature Review. 1 Hunting Club Records of Waterfowl Harvest from 1872 through 1963. a . a s . 3 Trends in Kill by Species. D a . 4 Waterfowl Harvest Estimates for Currituck Sound, 1947-55 . 6 Waterfowl Harvest on Back Bay and Currituck Sound during the 1958-59 Hunting Season. 0 . D . 7 Mail Survey of Waterfowl Harvest on Back Bay and Currituck Sound, 1959, 1960 . 8 Comparison of Club Records to Mail Survey of Waterfowl Kill. 9 Discussion of Waterfowl Kill . 10 Relationship of Waterfowl Kill to Bag Limits . 11 Number of Waterfowl Hunting Blinds on Back Bay and Currituck Sound . 14 Waterfowl Populations . e . 15 Midwinter Waterfowl Inventories of Back Bay, Virginia, 1937-1965 . 0 a . 15 Midwinter Waterfowl Inventories of Currituck Sound, North Carolina, 1942-1965 . a . e 16 Combined Midwinter Inventories of Back Bay and Currituck Sound, 1942-1965. a . 0 . 0 . 17 Aerial Waterfowl Inventories of Currituck Sound, 1950-1952 . .,. 19 Waterfowl Populations During the Investigation 1958-1964. 21 Methods of Conducting Aerial Inventories . 0 . 21 Peak Waterfowl Populations on Back Bay from 1958 to 1964 . 23 Peak Waterfowl Populations on Currituck Sound from 1958 to 1964. e . a . 23 Calculation of Waterfowl Days Use. 24 Waterfowl Days Use of Back Bay and Currituck Sound, 1958 to 1964. a . ._. 24 Waterfowl Days Use Per Acre...., 1958-1963 . D . 26 Comparison of the Midwinter Inventories of Back Bay and : Currituck Sound to Other Areas, and Aquatic Food Supply . 26 Relationship of Waterfowl Use to Disturbance Factors and Food Conditions . e o D . 0 . 29 Rank of Waterfowl Areas with Highest and Lowest Densities OfDuckUse........................ 33 I Table of Contents (cont'd) Page Summary of Relationships of Waterfowl Use, Disturbance and . 34 Food Conditions . Description of Waterfowl Areas of Back Bay and Currituck Sound . 35 Waterfowl Food Habits . 42 Food Habits of Waterfowl on Back Bay, Virginia, and Currituck Sound, North Carolina, 1904-1927. 42 Discussion . 43 Food Habits of Waterfowl on Currituck Sound, North Carolina, 1947-52......................... 45 Waterfowl Food Habits on Back Bay and Currituck Sound During the 1958-1964 Study . 45 Total Food Consumption from the Bay Habitat. 46 Food Consumption by Waterfowl and the Annual Standing Crops of Submerged Aquatics. .' . 47 Percent Consumption by Waterfowl of the Annual Standing Crop of Aquatic Plants . : . 48 Waterfowl Use of the Total Standing Crop of Aquatics . 51 Discussion . 52 Marsh Vegetation in the Waterfowl Food Habits. : 55 54 Land-Use Trends of Agriculture Areas - Currituck County. Land-Use Trends, Back Bay. 56 Waterfowl Band Recoveries Related to the Back Bay-Currituck SoundArea............................ Nonhunting Waterfowl Mortality. a . 60 Refuges and Sanctuaries.......... 0 . /, . .I . ,, . ,. " . I . 62 Appendix. .-. 63 II The primary objectives of the waterfowl studies, done in. conjunction with the overall ecological investigationof Back Bay, Virginia, and Currituck Sound, North Carolina, from 1958 to 1964, were to document the magnitude and nature of the reported decline in waterfowl use, the present waterfowl use, the trends in waterfowl harvest, the factors affecting waterfowl use .of the area, and,to estimate the potential carrying capacity of the area. The data were obtained by literature and report review, periodic waterfowl inventories, compiling hunting club records of waterfowl kill, food habits studies, and the vegetation studies reported on in Volume 1. of this basic data report. Also all waterfowl band recoveries through i961 were compiled and mapped. HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS OF WATERFOWL USE OF BACK BAY AND CURRITUCK SOUND. Literature Review The reliability and accuracy of estimates of waterfowl use are always open to question, however, some insight into historical waterfowl use of Back Bay and Currituck Sound can be found in Dunbar's literature review "Geographical- History of the Carolina Banks." The following excerpts, mostly from Dunbar's review, are of particular interest: (1) "It has been said that the closing of Currituck Inlet [1828] resulted in profound changes in the vegetation of the Sound and a consequent great increase in the waterfowl population., Chapelle (1951)." Dunbar (1956). (2) "However, it may be that the increase was not so great, and that the closing of the inlet just coincided with the beginning of waterfowl exploitation on the Atlantic Seaboard. Chapelle (1951).'! Dunbar (1956). (3) "Northern sportsmen were beginning to invade the Chesapeake, and, in the .1850's, a few came to Currituck Sound. Chapelle (1951)." Dunbar (1956). (4) "The period of great exploitation of waterfowl in Currituck Sound by market hunters and sportsmen was to follow the Civil War." Dunbar (1956). (5) "About 1856 Ruffin described market hunting in Princess Anne County, Va., on B:ack Bay, the northern continuation of Currituck Sound. One .farmer in Princess Anne hired thirty gunners each winter. .'Even northerners, as a regular business, come on every winter, to Princess Anne and elsewhere, to shoot wildfowl, and sell them to the northern cities.' Ruffin; op. cit., 153-154. Ruffin said that there was market hunting also in Currituck County, but he did not elaborate on that statement." Dunbar (1956). (6) The following excerpt from the Southern Planter (1857) states "Edgar Burroughs, farmer of Princess Anne, on Long Island, Back Bay, hires 20 men to kill waterfowl and deliver them to Norfolk. From the beginning of the season to December 30, 23 kegs of gunpowder and shot in proportion consumed. Waterfowl were brought to Norfolk once a week and piled up in the warehouse of Kemp and Bucky; 15 to 25 barrels were shipped each Wednesday to New York - highest shipped in one week - 31 barrels. Kinds sh,ipped - canvasback, redhead, mallard, black duck, sprigtail (pintail), bullneck (ringnecked duck), baldpate, shoveler, etc., to which may be added a good proportion of wild geese." Anonymous (1857). (7) "Ruffin, op. cit., 1856, said 'Since the complete closing of Curri-tuck inlet, in 1828, and the water has become fresh, changes have been gradually effected in most of the productions. One of the most important was in affording new and remarkable attractions to wildfowl of passage. Three or more different kinds of fresh water grasses, soon began to grow on the bottom of all the shalloer waters....' " Dunbar (1956). (8) "Did the waterfowl population really expand greatly after the closing of the inlet? Unfortunately there are no first-hand accounts to settle this problem. An important factor to consider is that duck shooting, for market and sport,was really just beginning elsewhere in the East. "An indication that duck shooting was increasing in northeastern North Carolina even before the closing of Currituck Inlet was a law enacted by the General Assembly in 1822 entitled 'An act to prevent the fire- hunting of fowl in Currituck County.' ----The Laws of North-Carolina, Enacted in---- the Year 1822 (Raleigh: Bell and Lawrence, 1823), 72, Chap. 130. An act such as this indicates that something more than shooting for home consumption had commenced." Dunbar (1956). (9) "The hunting of waterfowl for market became a leading occupation on Currituck Sound just after the Civil War and continued until 1918, when the Migratory Bird Treaty Act made the sale of migratory waterfowl illegal. (Critcher, 1949)." Dunbar (1956). (10) "Until October 1, 1913, there was no limit to the number of waterfowl an individual could kill, and some amazing records were established before that time. (Critcher,.l949)." Dunbar (1956). (11) "Supposedly the record kill was made by Russell and Vann Griggs, who shot 892 ruddy ducks in one day. (Critcher, 1949)." Dunbar (1956). (12) "There were virtually no restrictions on the equipment used in the early days, Until about 1884 muzzle-loaded shotguns were used, but after that time the double-barreled breech loader was more common. (Critcher,.l949)." Dunbar (1956). 2 (13) "From 1903 to 1909 about 400 Currituck men turned J&duck hunting in the winter, and their total annual earnings averaged about $100,000. (Pearson, op. cit., 117)." Dunbar (1956). (14) "In 1911, William Tate of Kitty Hawk estimated that about 350 to 400 people in Currituck County engaged in hunting for a living, but he also stated that there were more engaged in fishing. (Pratt, op. cit., 106)." Dunbar (1956). (15) "Critcher, ,op. cit., 36, gives a good summary (of prices paid for waterfowl). "The price received by the local gunners for their kill varied, depending on the species, abundance, and time of year. Redheads and cavasbacks at times brought as much as $2.50 to $4.00 a pair late in the season. Earlier they sold for $1.50 to $2.00 a pair. Ruddy ducks usually brought from $0.50 'to $1.25 a pair. Sometimes four individuals of this species were counted as a pair. At times, however, ruddy ducks brought as little as $0.05 each, or as much as $2.85 a pair. Marsh ducks, or common ducks, varied from $0.35 to $1.00 a pair. Canada geese were not in great demand and usually sold from $0.25 to $0.40 each. A swan sold for about $0.50."' Dunbar (1956). (16) "H. H. Brimley noted the following prices in 1884: 'The following are the approximate prices the gunners were getting for their fowl, cash on the-spot by the regular buyers, all prices per pair except as noted otherwise; Canvasback, $1.00; Redhead, 5Oc, "common duck" 30 cents; small ducks, as Teal, Ruddy, Bufflehead, etc., 25 cents, with four ducks constituting a pair.' Canada geese brought50 cents each." Dunbar (1956).