Tundra Swan Season Update (2024)

T

Tundra Swan

Well-Known Member
Date: March 26, 2024

Re: Tundra Swan Season Update
Mute Swan Population Control

Hello Guys,

I was involved in a series of correspondence (e-mails) with a senior representative of the Canadian Wildlife Service between March and June of 2023 in which she introduced me to several members of her staff regarding the potential (hopefully eventual) implementation of a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season for this province in the near future.

Our discussions which included some suggestions that I provided to limit (not eliminate) the potential risk of an incidental (accidental) harvest of a Trumpeter Swan during a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season within this province expanded in scope to the continued growth and expansion of the invasive Mute Swan population in this province ... over 4,000 birds in 2017 and rising as per the documentation that she later provided to me.

As a result of our discussions the Canadian Wildlife Service has agreed to have a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season as an agenda item when the Migratory Birds Regulations are reviewed again in the fall of 2025 for the 2026-27 and the 2027-28 hunting seasons. As you may be aware the Migratory Birds Regulations were reviewed in the fall of 2023 for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 hunting seasons in which a Sandhill Crane season was discussed and eventually proposed to take effect in the near future.

It should be noted at this time that the Canadian Wildlife Service has also expressed an interest in the implementation of a Mute Swan season for this province (as per my suggestion in response to an issue regarding an attempt to "delist" the bird from the List of Protective Secies). You should also know that several representatives of Delta Waterfowl as well as the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) were included (copied) during the entire series of this correspondence.

I subsequently attended a personal (one on one) meeting in August of 2023 with an Ontario representative of Delta Waterfowl as well as two telephone conference calls in October of 2023 with representatives of the OFAH and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation following additional letters that I had submitted to them regarding these issues. All three organizations now support a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season for their respective provinces.

It may be prudent for the Long Point Waterfowlers' Association (LPWA) at this time to prepare for the eventual implementation of a Sandhill Crane season (involving the southern waterfowl dustrict), a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season and some form of a Mute Swan season so that we may be able to harvest these species within the Crown Marsh as these seasons are implemented in the future. We should also be able to harvest Mourning Doves and Cormorants within the Crown Marsh at this time.

I recently submitted a cover letter to the Board of Directors of the LPWA along with supporting documentation to confirm what I have stated here including my proposal to the Canadian Wildlife Service to expand our current provincial Trumpeter Swan population in the future. My proposal could be accomplished by gradually reducing the invasive Mute Swan population by 50% (4,000 to 2,000 birds) while increasing our provincial Trumpeter Swan population by 100% (2,000 to 4,000 birds).

My proposal should require no additional marsh habitat for our provincial Trumpeter Swan population to expand however I am prepared to provide the required funding to ensure that the habitat that is available is suitable as nesting sites. The Trumpeter Swan Society has kindly provided me with a document from the State of Wyoming with specific instructions on how to improve the marsh habitat that is available.

The support that I have received from both LPWA members as well as non LPWA members since I first presented my original proposal for a limited (tag only) Tundra Swan season to the Canadian Wildlife Service in October of 2010 has been greatly appreciated. I trust that I can continue to depend upon your support in the future.

Jerome Katchin, D.V.M.
 
The last thing any serious duck hunter wants in the crown marsh is for some one to be shooting cormorants and doves when your trying to work ducks, to think other wise is ridiculous. Why don't we go out and shoot a flat of shells at black birds while we are at it and really screw the marsh up?
 
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Hello Greener,

I understand the point that you are making however there are some individuals who think that they should be able to harvest a Mourning Dove if the opportunity ever presented itself.

I do not recall ever having a Mourning Dove fly past a blind that I was hunting from in the Crown Marsh but I can imagine that could happen in some areas of the Crown Marsh.

Jerome

PS I would not mind if somebody shot a Cormorant or two.
 
Greener said:
The last thing any serious duck hunter wants in the crown marsh is for some one to be shooting cormorants and doves when your trying to work ducks, to think other wise is ridiculous. Why don't we go out and shoot a flat of shells at black birds while we are at it and really screw the marsh up?
Click to expand...
Welcome to public hunting @Greener !
 
Thanks shot my first duck in the unit 29 years ago, not new to it.
There is a time and a place to play those games, we voted on shooting doves when it first opened and 100 percent was against shooting doves at the time in the marsh, plus like mentioned you may get a shot at a dove 4 times a year maybe, and for cormorants, people already shoot them in the unit, no one is stopping you. but people use common sense now, you tell people that aren't regular or smart hunters they start shooting boxs of shells at them gunna be a issue. And then people will complain there is no ducks, or they are all stale. Which they get stale fast enough in the unit now.
 
Yup ! I remember my first too. It was a Drake Ruddy, shot him as he flew upstream off the bank of Big Creek with a C.I.L. 12 ga. Full choke single shot aka The Widowmaker/Shoulderbreaker , it was a Friday (late October, early November) as my Dad got off work early to squeeze in some extra hunting time but that was 55 years ago and I may have forgotten a few details.

Now , maybe it's just me or it could be a few decades worth of industrial noise pollution or too many shotgun blasts or listening to my music cranked to 11 (eleven) but I couldn't tell the difference between someone shooting at a dove as opposed to a duck as opposed to a cormorant. I have had on many occasions after much calling to work a flock over my spread some clown fire a shot nearby and spooking my chance at a shot but like I said "Welcome to public hunting".

As for "stale or no birds" it's the same answer; Welcome to public hunting. The big clubs don't have a problem with holding birds due to fewer hunters/days/hours they operate by and The Unit just can't compete with that. The idea of shooting less hours as in 0900-1700hrs, or less days as in Wednesdays and Saturdays only, didn't go over too well and so here we are. Fresh birds pour in and the actions hot and heavy until they catch on and go elsewhere or they come in after dark and bugger off once they hear outboards/voices and the usual calamity in the pre-dawn light. Add in skybusters and those clowns I already mentioned above ( Really ? Like what my shot(s) isn't going to scare them over to you ?) and there you go. Ya payz yer monies an ya takes yer chances !
 
You are clearly missing my point. More gun shots is a bad thing for the marsh so why add the ability for there to be more?
its pretty simple and if you don't understand that you need to be taught duck hunting 101.
At least when you work a flock and someone shoots at a duck is what it is, not if your working a flock of mallards in the marsh and someone sky bust at a cormorant that is pretty stupid and shouldn't be aloud. I get public hunting, traveled all over Canada and the States doing it and ive hunted the big clubs all around the bay,
No one comes in at the end of the day and gets asked how many doves or cormorants you shot. People are paying to shoot waterfowl so why wouldnt us as members of a organization try and make it the best waterfowl hunting experience as we can?
 
Hello Greener,

I have been a LPWA member since January of 2004 and I have attended every AGM since that time (no AGM in 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic) with only one exception ... in 2022 ... just after the "lock down".

I can state categorically that no vote was ever taken during an AGM regarding the issue of hunting Mourning Doves within the unit ... unless it was taken in 2022 and not publicized either before or after the meeting. A vote may have been taken at some pre-season meeting (camo day) but again never publicized to the other members. If anybody knows of any vote regarding this issue please advise me accordingly.

I received a rather informal and unsigned letter from the LPWA Board of Directors in April of 2019 stating that even if we were to be granted either a Sandhill Crane season or a Tundra Swan season that hunting of those species would not be permitted within the Crown Marsh due to some provincial regulations but no further details were provided at that time. I know that some hunters would certainly question that statement.

I do appreciate your view point regarding some "yahoo" blasting away at a Cormorant but that can happen with somebody "sky blasting" at a single Canada Goose flying over the Crown Marsh ... seen that happen.

Jerome
 
I got your point but you didn't get my answer or so it seems. Out of hundreds of shots fired on any given day you can tell me which one shot a dove instead of duck ? Wouldn't be much left of a dove after it's been whacked with a load of 3 inch #3's ? Gun shots means somebody, somewhere is getting action or maybe they are just bad shots ? Remove the shooting and we are just a bunch of cammo clad birdwatchers(with no disrespect towards birdwatchers). What about those 6 or 7 shots to finish off a cripple (duck or otherwise) ? We could stop excessive shooting by only allowing hunters to take out 6 shotshells ? That would stop skybusting and probably reduce the number of cripples (reported or not ?) plus less empty hulls polluting the marsh. Six shots equals six ducks ... yes ? Same rule could apply to geese and gooseloads. I will hazard a guess that your average waterfowler takes out two(2) boxes of shells with him (plus some goose loads ?) and if he comes home with an empty ammo bag and a limit of ducks he had a great day ! Now, considering the Unit's average is 2.4 ducks per hunter/per day and if it still took him two boxes of shells to achieve those 2.4 ducks I bet he still has a smile on his face at the end of the day, at least he got some action and didn't get skunked.

So as far as Duck Hunting 101 goes my lessons started when I was 12 years old with my Dad (Duck Hunting one on one ? ) and he started hunting Long Point back in 1947. So after 55 years of duck hunting lessons I wish I could say I always got my limit but that would be a lie. Some days yes (once with 6 shots, a Black, 4 drake Mallards and a hen Mallard and in less than one hour out of Blind#13 too ! ) , some days only 2.4 birds (and that may have used up a box to get that ?) and some days zero, nothing, nada but when duck hunting ceases to be fun... it be time to quit and that day ain't here yet.
 
Hello OCLP,

Good points ... actually I had also thought about what would be left of a Dove after being hit with steel #3 shot and would it be worth it.

Personally I would not bother shooting at a Dove in the Crown Marsh due to shot considerations and I would only specifically target Doves in a field that was known to hold several Doves since you really need a few to make a meal worthwhile to prepare.

As for the Cormorants ... I will do my part to reduce their impact on our fisheries and as for the Mute Swans ... they are next on my list.

Jerome
 
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