Area rich with duck hunting history

Western Lake Erie has the Mississippi and Atlantic Waterfowl Flyways intersecting the region, likely since the time of the Great Black Swamp, which entered the lake from Southwestern Michigan to Catawba/Marblehead.Local settlers hunted ducks, geese, swans and shorebirds before businessmen began to purchase and use the best locations for hunting and/or farming. At its peak, there were approximately 300 private duck hunting clubs in the area, ranging from a fraction of an acre to thousands of acres in size.The biggest — at approximately 5,000 acres — is the Winous Point Shooting Club on Muddy Creek Bay and the Sandusky River. Founded in 1856, it is also the oldest continually operating duck club in America.Some clubs performed double-duty as vegetable or muskrat fur farms, but battles with high water made them too expensive for their owners to maintain. Some were donated, but most of the now-public areas were purchased by the Ohio Division of Wildlife or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Many of these areas are available for public hunting by simply walking in, but several of them were assigned during preseason drawings and are already reserved for some of the season. It is best to seek the details of the areas being considered in advance from the Wildlife District 2 headquarters during working hours at 419-424-5000.The best success on public areas will occur for those willing to hike to secluded spots. Best days are on opening days, week days or after a cold front brings fresh birds down from northern areas that have recently frozen over.Some try using fewer decoys, less calling and hunting in the afternoon where ducks are using after the morning hunters leave.Waterfowl conservation by huntersTo address the loss of waterfowl breeding areas caused largely by the Dust Bowl Era droughts, the first Federal Duck Stamp was issued in 1934 at a cost of $1, with 635,001 copies sold to hunters 16 and over. The sales of these revenue stamps peaked in 1971-72 with 2.4 million sold to hunters, collectors and others willing to support conservation efforts.There have only been several increases in the price of the stamps, including a rise to $2 in 1949, $3 in 1959, $5 in 1972, $7.50 in 1979, $10 in 1987, $12.50 in 1989 and to the current $15 in 1991.There is an effort underway, endorsed by most of the major conservation groups supporting an increase to $25 as soon as possible. The increase has become urgent as a result of reduced enrollment in conservation programs and more prairie pot holes and native grasslands being converted to agriculture and fracking sites.In the 80 years since, sales of what has been known since 1976 as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp has protected six million acres of wetlands and grasslands habitat used by ducks.The Ohio Division of Wildlife began requiring a wetlands habitat stamp, priced at $5.75 in 1982 to hunt waterfowl. At $15, the annual wetlands habitat stamp is mailed to each purchaser of a wetlands habitat endorsement. The stamp generates money used for habitat acquisition, wetlands construction and enhancement and waterfowl research projects in Ohio.Ducks Unlimited (D.U.) estimates that 50-to-90 percent of the shallow pot holes in the Upper Midwest has been lost or severely altered. Since their inception in 1937, they have protected over six million acres of breeding grounds in Canada, nearly five million acres in the U.S. and almost two million acres of wintering areas in Mexico that may have been subjected to the plow or otherwise destroyed.Locally, there are D.U. chapters in Fremont, Kelleys Island, North Coast (Lorain), Norwalk, Ottawa Co., Put-in-Bay (Lake Erie Islands) and Sandusky (Bay) according to Scott Paschke, D.U. Northern Ohio Regional Director.2014-2015 season'Big duck' season, as it is called by some to distinguish it from the early teal season, begins on Oct. 18 in the Lake Erie marsh zone and Oct. 25 in the rest of the state, following the youth only season (held Oct. 4-5) statewide.For details on the rest of the season dates, zones, bag limits, rules and licensing requirements, see the Ohio Waterfowl Hunting Season flyer (Publication 5295) online at wildlife.ohiodnr.gov or available from Division of Wildlife license agents.According to spring breeding surveys, total duck populations are 49.2 million, not counting wood ducks, mergansers and sea ducks. It marks the highest levels recorded since these surveys began in 1955 because of mostly wet conditions in 2014.