HUNTING waterfowl is a tradition that dates back to the first American settlers, and while some duck and goose numbers declined, sufficient conservation efforts were made over the past decade, so their numbers are back to healthy levels.
The waterfowl season is a week away for hunters in the northern reaches of the state, and on Oct. 11 Long Island shooters can take sea ducks in some areas. Where the boundaries are set is very important to know.
From Oct. 11-Jan. 25, the taking of sea ducks (scoters, eiders and long-tailed ducks formerly called oldsquaw) will be permitted within the Special Sea Duck Area, defined as the coastal waters of New York State.
These coastal areas are in Long Island Sound, Block Island Sound, Great Peconic Bay and associated bays eastward from a line running between Miamogue Point in the Town of Riverhead to Red Cedar Point in the Town of Southampton, and any ocean waters of the state lying south of Long Island. In these and other coastal waters in the Long Island Zone, a special limit of seven sea ducks is allowed.
Daily bag limits for ducks in general are unchanged from last year except for canvasbacks and goldeneye. The total daily bag limit for ducks will be six birds, and may include no more than four mallards (two of which may be hens), one black duck, two wood ducks, one pintail, two redheads, three scaup, four scoters, one canvasback and no harlequin ducks. Pintails and canvasbacks may be taken only during half (30 days) of the regular duck season in each zone this year. Up to six goldeneye may be taken as part of the total daily bag limit for ducks in all zones this year.
Traditional fall Canada goose hunting seasons were suspended throughout most of New York during 1995-98 in response to a dramatic decline in the number of geese breeding in northern Quebec. The population has made a strong recovery, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow a second consecutive year of 45-day seasons with a two-goose daily limit in most areas of New York.
Hunters should take note of some important changes that were made in the way regular Canada goose hunting seasons were established in New York. Instead of the five traditional zones that the USFWS allows New York to use for duck-hunting seasons, the state is divided into nine goose-hunting areas with seasons and bag limits set for each.