Best Duck Hunting States by Ducks per Hunter: California Leads at 27

IThe ranking

Top spot: California, with 27 ducks per hunter

The average California hunter takes 27 ducks during a season. Next come Louisiana with 25, Arkansas with 22, Mississippi with 21, Oregon with 20 and Washington with 19. The medians across states are 11 ducks for each hunter and 6 hunting days. That makes California's bag about two and one-half times the typical state's.

For state waterfowl data, the harvest survey from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports averages covering roughly 10 years. Counts are rounded to full ducks. This paper did not calculate error margins, so a difference of a single duck cannot support a confident ranking. Oklahoma and Tennessee each average 18. At the bottom of this paper's table, five states tie at 14: Florida and Idaho, along with Kentucky, Utah and North Dakota.

Time spent hunting gives those bags context. At 9 days per season, California hunters log the table's highest average; North Dakota's 5 is the lowest. In Kentucky, hunters average 8 days to take 14 ducks. North Dakota hunters average 5 days to take the same 14 ducks.

IIHunter counts

How many hunters are out there

Duck-hunter totals put Louisiana first at 73,800. Following it are Texas with 71,600, Minnesota with 65,700, Arkansas with 54,100, Wisconsin with 53,800 and California with 50,600. Three states make the top six in both rankings: Louisiana is first in hunter totals and second in ducks per hunter; Arkansas places fourth and third, respectively; California places sixth and first, respectively.

Results differ for the remaining three states among the six largest duck-hunter populations. Texas's 71,600 hunters take a seasonal average of 16 ducks apiece, placing the state ninth by per-hunter bag. Minnesota has 65,700 hunters with an average of 9 ducks each, under the median bag of 11. Wisconsin has 53,800 hunters averaging 8 ducks each. Seven states among the ten largest duck-hunter populations beat the median. Below it are Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, where 35,800 hunters average 9 ducks. Mississippi has 14,100 hunters, Oregon has 19,400 and Washington has 20,900. Each reaches the top six for per-hunter bags despite a much smaller crowd.

The two columns show why the rankings diverge. To estimate a state's duck harvest, the agency says it multiplies the survey-reported average ducks shot by the duck-hunter count. That means a state can place high in total ducks taken when many hunters each have a middling bag. States are ordered by total harvest in our earlier paper on duck and goose country. Here, we examine those factors separately to describe an individual hunter's season.

IIIThe lead duck

The duck that leads each bag

Each state has a leading harvested species, but it changes from state to state. Mallard takes that spot in 11 of the table's 15 states. Idaho's mallard share is 65%; Kentucky's is 52%; Missouri's is 51%; Arkansas and Washington each have a 48% share. Green-winged teal tops California's duck harvest with 26%. Gadwall tops Louisiana's with 22% and Texas's with 19%. In Florida, ring-necked duck takes the lead with 32%.

The leading species' percentage deserves as much attention as its name. The table's largest two hunter populations belong to Louisiana and Texas, which also have its lowest two shares for the leading species. In Texas, the leading duck's 19% share leaves over four out of five harvested ducks belonging to other species. Idaho's 65% share means a single species makes up most of the bag. For states led by mallard, the smallest shares belong to Mississippi at 29% and Utah at 30%. Their bags therefore contain more of a species mix than the phrase "mallard state" suggests.

IVHow the survey counts

The limits of these estimates

The Fish and Wildlife Service's Harvest Information Program supplies these estimates in its file covering 49 states. The agency treats the values as averages spanning roughly 10 years. Each state's figure therefore blends good years with poor ones, along with any rule changes within that period. It describes the usual season over the recent past; it does not predict the next season.

Per-hunter duck averages reflect bird numbers together with hunting skill, the season's length and bag limits. An average bag of 27 ducks may reflect more birds, a longer season, higher limits, better hunters or a combination. The survey cannot tell those possibilities apart. Ducks harvested do not equal duck population, and a large bag does not establish that a state holds more ducks. We did not calculate error margins. Rounding counts to full ducks conceals differences of less than a single duck. Only the 15 states with the largest per-hunter bags appear in the table. Absence does not necessarily mean last place: Minnesota, for instance, averages 9 ducks per hunter, under the state median of 11.

VIn the field

Putting the rankings together

Our approach for hunters comparing states: look first at seasonal ducks per hunter to see what a typical season produces. Then consider hunter totals to learn how many people share the birds statewide. Those counts reveal nothing about congestion at your marsh. Begin with the six states whose averages reach 19 ducks or more.

Next, pair time afield with the bag figures. North Dakota averages 14 ducks for each hunter over a statewide season and 5 hunting days; Kentucky averages 14 ducks and 8 days on that same statewide basis. Also look at the leading species' harvest percentage. Planning for a state with 65% of its harvest in a single species differs from planning for one whose leading duck accounts for 19%. A single-duck difference is too small to support a ranking. These statewide survey results cannot rank individual marshes against each other. Pick a state using the survey, then consult local information to select the water.