GROWING DUCK NUMBERS OUTDATE HUNTING SYSTEM

JEFFERSON CITY -- A system that has been used to divide the waterfowl hunting pie at conservation areas for 50 years is on its way out. Next year it will be gone entirely. The reason: An abundance of public wetland areas and surging waterfowl populations that have made the system of waterfowl hunting reservations obsolete.

Until 1994, waterfowl hunters who wanted to hunt at the Missouri Department of Conservation's biggest, most popular wetland areas had to apply for reservations the preceding summer. Those lucky enough to be chosen in a random drawing were guaranteed a hunt on a given date. Those not drawn could just show up and take a chance of picking up the reservation of a no-show.

But the MDC has been phasing out that arrangement, according to MDC Wildlife Division Assistant Chief Dave Erickson, because circumstances have changed.

"The whole purpose of the reservation system was to allocate a scarce resource fairly among those who wanted to use it," says Erickson. "That resource isn't as scarce as it once was, so we're changing the way we allocate opportunities to give hunters more flexibility in when, where and how they hunt."

Erickson notes that in 1947, the MDC had only one large, intensively managed wetland area where hunters could enjoy duck and goose hunting. That area was Fountain Grove Conservation Area in Linn and Chariton counties.

Like all of North America, Missouri lost a huge amount of wetlands during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Missouri, the loss amounted to more than 90 percent of the state's original wetland acreage. Those wetlands once supported hundreds of millions of ducks, geese and other waterfowl. When a long-term drought struck the continent's midsection, in the 1980s, remaining wetlands dried up and waterfowl numbers plummeted.

Missouri, along with other state and provincial governments, federal agencies and hunters' organizations like Ducks Unlimited responded by creating or restoring millions of acres of wetland from Canada to Mexico. Wetland areas developed in Missouri included Duck Creek, Schell Osage, Ted Shanks, Montrose, Bob Brown, Grand Pass, Otter Slough, Ten Mile Pond, Marais Temps Clair, Four Rivers, Coon Island and Eagle Bluffs CAs. Many smaller wetland sites also were restored. Much of the funding for this work came from the one-eighth of one-percent sales tax administered by the MDC.

As these and hundreds of other wetland areas north and south of Missouri came into being, waterfowl began to recover. With the end of the drought, duck numbers rebounded rapidly.

In response, the MDC has quit taking reservations for waterfowl hunting blinds at five of eight areas. Only Duck Creek, Ted Shanks and Swan Lake have reservation systems now. At areas where reservations have been discontinued, hunters simply come to the office at their desired hunting area early the morning of the hunt and take part in drawings for available hunting spots. If the number of hunters exceeds the area's capacity, those who are not drawn can wait until other hunters leave their spots and then fill those hunting sites as they open up.

Erickson says this new system will be in effect at all public waterfowl hunting areas administered by the MDC next year.