Nov. '12 WMA duck harvest / Youth Day Dec. 1

Redhead, Pintail and Mottled duck (speculum)

Overall the Thanksgiving week of duck season in South Carolina brought in a sharp contrast in reports including no hunting due to lack of ducks, with other locations grateful for all the ducks that Superstorm Sandy pushed this far south seemingly ahead of schedule. The SCDNR keeps track of their waterfowl harvest on Wildlife Management Areas, and the Nov. 12 data also shows various results. For instance, the Bear Island West Hunt Unit showed slow results with less than three ducks per hunter with mostly northern shovelers in the bag. Meanwhile Bear Island East had a more typical harvest of gadwall, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal and shovelers too. Once again the leader of the pack is the Hickory Top Greentree Reserve, located in the Midlands, with a staggering 319 wood ducks harvested over one week!! This stat powered the wood duck to be the number one duck in the S.C. hunter's bag over Thanksgiving with a total of 400 overall harvested. For further details about which species were harvested, including data from the Santee Delta hunt units, click SCDNR.

Dec. 1 is designated as State Youth Waterfowl day in S.C., providing an opportunity to introduce the next generation of hunters to waterfowling. Hunters 17 years old and younger qualify when they are accompanied by an adult hunter 21 years of age. The adult mentor is not allowed to carry a gun or to hunt. A federal duck stamp must be purchased by the youth, but the state waterfowl permit requirement will be waived for this special Dec. 1 hunt!

To view past blog entries about Nov. WMA duck harvests click here.