Question:
Does calling in a band number affect next season's bag limit? - Eric Goetsch
Hey Eric,
No, calling in a band number will not directly affect next seasons bag limit. Bird bands are useful for researchers and managers to obtain information on movement and migration paths, waterfowl life spans, survival rates, their reproductive success, behavior, etc. This information will inevitably help waterfowl managers apply conservation tools and collect harvest data. Bag limits are obtained by not looking solely at harvest data, but a combination of harvest data, population sizes, and habitat conditions. They collect this information mainly through the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, and conducting hunter questionnaires. They are then plugged into population models based on species, which is where I will stop. These models are so far over my head I can not comprehend attempting to explain them!
Hope that helps a bit Eric. The short of this is, don’t neglect to call in your bands thinking it may have a direct affect on how many birds you can harvest next fall. Its way more complicated then that!
Happy Hunting!
Carly Deacon
