It is nearly fall. And with the fall comes the return of the waterfowl hunting program at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. I have a long history with the hunting program at the Refuge. In fact, my first job at this Refuge (over 25-years ago) was operating the hunter check station. While I grew up hunting big game, I was new to waterfowl hunting. Operating the check station and working with waterfowlers was an immersion into new tactics, etiquettes, rules/regulations, equipment, and traditions. For several seasons I hunted waterfowl with some limited success. But like other endeavors, my duck calls now reside in the closet of hobbies past with my fly tying kit and golf clubs. With this article, I would like to share some experiences working with the waterfowl community and managing a hunting program for decades. I realize that most people reading this article are not waterfowl hunters. But with hunting returning to the Refuge on Oct. 16th, I’d like to share information about why, what, where, when, and who of the Ridgefield waterfowl hunt program.
Why: Congress has defined that National Wildlife Refuges should place emphasis on public uses that are wildlife dependent. That is to say, it requires wildlife to support these recreations. These have been defined as hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography, education, and interpretation. Not all refuges allow hunting. Each refuge is to decide if hunting is appropriate and compatible with the purpose for which the Refuge was established. When Ridgefield Refuge was created in 1965, it was assigned a specific purpose. The Refuge’s purpose is to provide wintering habitat for waterfowl with an emphasis on dusky Canada geese. Additionally, the Refuge’s purpose statement identifies that the Refuge will provide a waterfowl hunting opportunity for the public. Supporting the Refuge’s purpose, the Refuge continues to manage 5300 acres of habitat for wintering waterfowl and maintains a ~750-acre public waterfowl hunt program.
What: By Policy and Law, Refuges could not allow hunting on animals that are threatened or endangered. Hunting is allowed on wildlife populations that are sufficiently stable to support sport harvest. In fact, each season, harvest limits on ducks and geese are individually adjusted by wildlife biologists based upon flyway population forecasts. Hunters must be very skilled at waterfowl identification to comply to harvest limits. This season, hunters are allowed to harvest 7 ducks total per day; to include not more than 2 hen mallards, 1 pintail, 2 scaup, 2 canvasback, and 2 redheads. To comply with duck harvest limits, hunters must know both duck species and duck species by sex. These harvest limits protect species of management concern and protect female ducks that incubate the nest and raise the ducklings. The hunting of geese is even more complicated in our area. Hunters are allowed to harvest 4 Canada geese but the take of the dusky subspecies of Canada goose is prohibited. Therefore, hunters are required to identify Canadian geese down to the subspecies level.
Where: Ridgefield Refuge is ~5300 acres. By design, the bulk of the Refuge’s land is a wildlife sanctuary, with no public access. Of the total acreage, approximately 750 acres are hunted. The hunt area is generally north and west of the auto tour route on the River ‘S’ Unit. At Ridgefield, hunting only occurs from designated hunting blinds. These blinds are strategically spaced to maintain a safe distance between the blind and the tour route. The requirement to hunt from the blind is an important rule at the Refuge to safely allow hunting and wildlife observation along the tour route on the same days.
When: Waterfowl hunting is allowed in the State nearly every day from mid-October through January. However, the Refuge only hunts three days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (minus Federal Holidays). This reduction in hunt days increases the opportunity for waterfowl to rest and feed on non-hunt days.
Who: The Refuge typically gets 1500-1700 hunt visits during the ~45 day hunt season. So on a typical hunting day, there are ~35 hunters that occupy the Refuge’s 21 blinds per day. Some hunters prefer to hunt alone while others hunt with friends and/or family. For safety, blind capacity is set at 3 hunters at a time. The Refuge and its partners offer several special hunts throughout the season. The Refuge offers a veteran’s hunt that recruits veterans that are new to waterfowl hunting. These veterans are paired to hunt with experienced mentors for a quality introductory experience to waterfowl hunting. The Refuge offers an additional hunt day reserved for youth, veterans, and active-duty military. And for decades, the Refuge and its partners have offered a specific youth-only hunt that fosters a connection with nature through hunting. Reflecting on the youth hunt day, I know several past participants in our youth hunt day that have continued into the field of conservation. In fact, a current member of our Refuge staff participated as a youth in the Refuge’s youth hunt with his family.
Did You Know?? To legally hunt waterfowl, hunters must purchase a Federal Duck Stamp (in addition to other licenses). The funds from the Duck Stamp sales from around the Nation were used to purchase the bulk (over 90%) of the Ridgefield Refuge. Since 1934 the Duck Stamp funding source from hunters has acquired refuge lands around the country. In fact, more than 300 national wildlife refuges have been created or expanded using Duck Stamp dollars. Without Duck Stamp dollars the Ridgefield Refuge may not have been initially established/purchased. Additionally, individual hunters pay a fee each day they use a hunting blind. Just like the entrance fee for wildlife observation at the Refuge, these fees help pay the expense to operate the program.
-Eric Anderson, Deputy Project Leader, RNWR Complex
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