Why only 3 woodies? Wish it were 6!

Not long ago it was Two.

So it's easier to kill a limit of em, lol

They're mostly local and I assume the idea is that there is limited nesting habitat so they have less reproductive capacity than more migratory migratory waterfowl.

In other words, I have no idea.

I agree that they seem to be more local birds than migratory. Think of it like quail. if you shot them all out of a particular place how long would it take them to come back?

You need to leave a viable population.

Heck I'd be happy with 1. Never shot one and I want to so bad I can't see straight

I would tend to agree with this assesment, though I really have no clue...

SHHHHHHHHH!!!

See below: The same applies to all ducks. In Wood ducks there is a low local breeding population, but most breed up north and migrate south. Banding data indicate that approximately one-fourth of all ducks alive in September die from natural causes within a year - more than are killed by hunters. With a natural mortality rate of anywere from 22% to 45%. Dove have a 70% mortality rate annually, Quail which are rare now have an 88% mortality rate annually regardless if they are hunted or not. In Dove and Quail high mortality rates lead to the high bag limits we have because regarless of being killed by hunters, or not most will die anyway. The formulas are more complicated in waterfowl and not exactly apples to apples.

??? Lol

There was a day that the end of the wood duck was a very real possibility. Getting the limit to 3 is awesome.

THIS^

You want a squealer then go to Tyler or anywhere east or south of there. They are the black jack of the piney woods. Ive had many client from the Tyler area or southeast TX pass on them for Sprigs or Mallards.

im disappointed when i see woodies fling. the conversation usually goes like this:
"ducks on the left, get down."
"nevermind, wood ducks."

the simple answer to the original question is this: there really is no way to determine how many wood ducks there are. They can tell that the numbers are generally up from a decade ago, but they really cant determine how much of an increase there is.

Most bird surveys used to set harvest regs are done in the breeding grounds using flyover counts. Wood ducks, well, they nest and rear young in the woods. you cant fly over in a plane and count birds that live in the creeks and flooded timber.

Seems like back in the '60s you could not legally take a wood duck. I used to hunt the Concho River down near San Angelo, they were there but ?? Anyone remember back then?

That was my goal this year! Got one on Monday (probably my last hunt for season). Unfortunately I blew its head clean off.

+1

pretty birds, look good on the wall.

Because a woody lasting 4 or more hours...

Im good with three I never want to see them go. or get low in numbers. Ill shoot them before any other bird... they eat better than mallards anyway.

Why only 6 ducks? Why only 15 dove? Why is season this long? Why cant we hunt in February?
Because the feds said so..

There aren't many ducks that surpass them on the plate, either.

LOL

If you look at the annual duck surveys you will notice that Wood Duck numbers are not represented due to the fact that they cannot be surveyed by traditional means. I'm happy with three, of course I haven't come remotely close to hitting my limit on Wood Ducks this year.

I agree about the fact that years ago the numbers were way down. I know that some wildlife officials are "bunny lovers" but generally the guys that set the seasons and limits know their stuff. This is one of those things where you have to trust the wildlife people who set the rules.