U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Migratory bird hunting activity and harvest during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 hunting seasons August 2017 Hunter setting decoys. USFWS/Milton Friend Migratory bird hunting activity and harvest during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 hunting seasons. Suggested citation: Raftovich, R.V., S. C. Chandler, and K.K. Fleming. 2017. Migratory bird hunting activity and harvest during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 hunting seasons. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland, USA. All Division of Migratory Bird Management reports are available on our web page at: http://www.fws.gov/birds/surveys-and-data/reports-and-publications.php Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 HIP Survey Design and Methods ............................................................................................................................... 2 Parts Collection Surveys ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Survey Results ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 References .................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Waterfowl harvest estimates Species, state, flyway ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Allocation of duck and goose harvests between Central and Pacific Flyways .................................................. 27 Special seasons................................................................................................................................................... 28 Canada harvest ................................................................................................................................................... 32 Long-term trend graphs ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Waterfowl age and sex ratios ................................................................................................................................... 36 Long-term trend graphs ...................................................................................................................................... 48 Dove and pigeon estimates ....................................................................................................................................... 52 Woodcock estimates ................................................................................................................................................. 56 Snipe, coot, gallinule, and rail estimates .................................................................................................................. 58 Species-specific rail estimates .................................................................................................................................. 66 List of Appendices Appendix A. Names and affiliations of people who coordinate the Harvest Information Program or help provide hunter name and address data to the USFWS .................................................................................... 67 Appendix B. Names and affiliations of waterfowl wingbee participants ............................................................... 69 List of Tables Table 1A: Preliminary estimates of waterfowl harvest and hunter activity in the Atlantic Flyway .......................... 7 Table 1B: Preliminary estimates of waterfowl harvest and hunter activity in the Mississippi Flyway ................... 13 Table 1C: Preliminary estimates of waterfowl harvest and hunter activity in the Central Flyway ......................... 18 Table 1D: Preliminary estimates of waterfowl harvest and hunter activity in the Pacific Flyway .......................... 22 Table 1E: Preliminary estimates of waterfowl harvest and hunter activity in the Alaska & the US ....................... 25 Table 2: Flyway-specific point estimates of duck and goose harvest in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming ................................................................................................................................................. 27 Table 3: Preliminary estimates of sea duck harvest and hunter activity for states with special sea duck seasons or sea duck permits ................................................................................................................................. 28 Table 4: Preliminary estimates of brant harvest and hunter activity along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts .......... 29 Table 5: Preliminary harvest estimates for special September teal/duck seasons ................................................. 30 Table 6: Preliminary estimates of the number of Canada geese harvested during the special September, regular, and special late seasons ............................................................................................................. 31 Table 7: Waterfowl harvest estimates in Canada ................................................................................................. 32 Table 8: Preliminary weighted age ratios of mallards in state harvests ................................................................ 36 Table 9: Preliminary weighted age ratios of ducks by species and flyway ........................................................... 38 Table 10: Preliminary weighted sex ratios of mallards in state harvests ................................................................ 42 Table 11: Preliminary weighted sex ratios of ducks by species and flyway ........................................................... 44 Table 12: Preliminary weighted age ratios of geese by species and flyway ........................................................... 47 Table 13: Preliminary estimates of mourning dove harvest and hunter activity ..................................................... 52 Table 14: Preliminary estimates of white-winged dove harvest and hunter activity ............................................... 54 Table 15: Preliminary estimates of band-tailed pigeon harvest and hunter activity ............................................... 55 Table 16: Preliminary estimates of woodcock harvest and hunter activity ............................................................. 56 Table 17: Preliminary estimates of snipe harvest and hunter activity ..................................................................... 58 Table 18: Preliminary estimates of coot harvest and hunter activity ...................................................................... 60 Table 19: Preliminary estimates of gallinule harvest and hunter activity ............................................................... 62 Table 20: Preliminary estimates of rail harvest and hunter activity ........................................................................ 64 Table 21: Preliminary species-specific estimates of rail harvest ............................................................................. 66 List of Figures Figure 1: Number of ducks harvested by hunters in the United States ................................................................... 34 Figure 2: Number of geese harvested by hunters in the United States ................................................................... 35 Figure 3: Age ratios of mallards harvested in the United States ............................................................................ 48 Figure 4: Age ratios of northern pintails harvested in the United States ................................................................ 49 Figure 5: Age ratios of American black ducks and wood ducks harvested in the United States ............................ 50 Figure 6: Age ratios of lesser scaup harvested in the United States ....................................................................... 51 Abstract: National surveys of migratory bird hunters were conducted during the 2015 and 2016 hunting seasons. Hunters of the following types of migratory birds were surveyed: waterfowl (family Anatidae), doves (mourning [Zenaida macroura] and white-winged [Z. asiatica]), band- tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata), American woodcock (Scolopax minor), Wilson’s snipe (Gallinago delicata), American coot (Fulica americana), gallinules (common gallinule [Gallinula galeata] and purple gallinule [Pophyrio martinica]), and rails (king rail [Rallus elegans], clapper rail [R. longirostris], Virginia rail [R. limicola], and sora [Coturnicops noveboracensis]). Nearly 1 million waterfowl hunters harvested 10,993,000 (±4%) ducks and 2,538,000 (±4%) geese in the 2015 hunting season, and over 1 million waterfowl hunters harvested 11,607,400 (±5%) ducks and 3,266,900 (±5%) geese in the 2016 season. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), green-winged teal (A. crecca),