Johnc wrote:MARSH BEAR wrote:We do a lot of work in our marsh during the off season - and to only have a 30 day or even a 40 day season may not make all that work worth the effort. You can cut the limit to 3, 4 or 5, but let us have the 60 day season.
Best comment on this thread. I totally agree. Especially as a working man. I want opportunity
The problem with that is the reason for cutting the season length is to cut the harvest rate. For me, cutting the limit would have saved only a few ducks over the last decade. Cutting limits only has a significant reduction in the harvest rate for those people consistently shooting limits.
For example, quickly pulling up the USFWS annual harvest reports. In LA, the average birds per day in 2010 and 2011 was 3.3 birds per hunter per day. What is the distribution of the birds per day? You can get 0,1,2,3,4,5, or 6. So just making up some percentages judging from you all's reports it would be 5%, 10%, 20%, 20%, 20%, 15%, 10%, respectively. This distribution gives a 3.25 bird per day average.
If that distribution is right, cutting the limit to 5, so those days you would have got 6 now means you stop at five. However, it doesn't change the days you would have got 5 or less with a 6 duck limit. That reduces the average harvest by only 0.1 bird per day. 97% of the birds that would have been killed are still killed with a 5 bird limit. If you cut the limit all the way to 3, the birds per day would still be 2.45 or 75% of the total harvest. To cut the average harvest in half, you would nut to cut the limit down to 2. And I'd bet that probably over estimates the reduction in the harvest rate because I don't think any other state has nearly as high of an average of ducks per day per hunter as LA, so they are far less likely to get limits making their total harvest less sensitive to the limits.
Cutting days is just a lot easier to reduce harvest rates. If you want to keep the same harvest rate but have twice as many days, you have to cut the daily bag limit by probably 2/3rds or more. While I agree with the sentiment 100%, the problem is that it simple doesn't achieve the objective when the harvest rate has to be reduced. The average guy just rarely has his harvest limited by the limit.
Let's just pray the populations never fall to the point that it becomes necessary. If they do, there really isn't any other choice but to cut days to make a big cut in harvest rate.