Aug 23, 2009 2 min read

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe announced that the agency has made its selections for the 2009-10 migratory game bird hunting seasons and bag limits. Annual waterfowl seasons are selected by states from a framework established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Game Commission selections were made after reviewing last year’s season results, waterfowl survey data, and input gathered from waterfowl hunters and the public. Final approval from the USFWS is expected by late September. Roe also noted that the Game Commission again has posted the waterfowl season brochure

and maps on its website (www.pgc.state.pa.us

). The agency currently is mass-producing brochures to be distributed to U.S. Post Offices within the next two weeks.

John Dunn, Game Commission Game Bird Section supervisor, said generally good breeding conditions for waterfowl in eastern Canada and improved water levels in the prairies of the northcentral United States and Canada will result in increased fall flights of ducks this fall. As a result, Pennsylvania again will have a 60-day duck season.

“There is good news for diving duck hunters in Pennsylvania this year,” Dunn said. “The breeding populations of canvasbacks increased by 38 percent, to 662,000 birds, and scaup numbers have increased to above four million for the first time this decade. Therefore, duck hunters will see liberalizations from 2008 that will allow for one canvasback and two scaup daily bag limits throughout the 60-day duck season.”

Dunn noted that, while most duck populations benefitted from improved nesting conditions this year, most goose populations experienced poor production, because of a record late snow melt across northern Canada.