From its rivers, streams, wetlands and agricultural fields, Pennsylvania offers waterfowl – and waterfowl hunters – many diverse and appealing habitats. Through careful planning and habitat management, Pennsylvania has become one of the top states in the Atlantic Flyway, with ample hunting opportunities for Canada goose, mallards and wood ducks.
In this episode, Game Commission Marketing Director Matt Morrett discusses the biology and migrations of waterfowl in Pennsylvania with Nate Huck, Waterfowl Program Specialist for the Game Commission. As the agency’s Waterfowl Biologist, Nate’s main focuses throughout the year include post-season banding, waterfowl surveys and flyway communication with other states. He emphasized the importance of analyzing the banding and survey data to estimate survival and harvest rates, because both play a crucial role in proposing annual seasons and bag limits.
If the commission cares so much about waterfowl and waterfowl hunting opportunities then why did they turn a veritable waterfowl mecca on Haldeman island into a half baked managed dove field? I’ve spent many many hours hunting geese on the island and know how vitally important it is for the ducks and geese on their return migration as a resting and feeding area. To see it grown over in weeds and plowed under sunflowers is disgusting. The Commission should be ashamed of its management of this once vital piece of waterfowl habitat. To try and say that PA offers any quality waterfowl hunting is a joke.