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Overview
In this first episode, we talk with Scott Stephens (PhD, Director of Regional Operations – Prairies for Ducks Unlimited Canada) about the science behind waterfowl hunting. Our focus is on hunting ducks in the mid-continent, but many ideas discussed are applicable to other species and other areas. We also spend sometime discussing the science of goose hunting. Finally, we consider the concepts that aren’t yet fully explained by science and may never be. Additional links for this episode and a waterfowl ID quiz are available under Resources.
Photo Caption: Ulu delivers a Pintail to Scott Stephens during a a hunt in the Canadian Prairies.
Show Notes
1:00 min – Introduction and background.
12:30 min – General information about life-history of waterfowl and how that affects hunting strategies, mostly for prairie ducks. We cover how the need for food and social interaction affect waterfowl. We also consider how to use science as you call, set up decoys, and blinds. Finally, we discuss how weather and climate may affect hunting strategies.
43:00 min – We switch gears and discuss how the same factors that we considered for ducks might affect goose hunting.
63:00 min – We discuss rotary wing decoys, shot and shooting considerations, habitat conservation, the future of waterfowl hunting, and several other topics until the end of the podcast (74:00 min).
Other Resources
- Ducks Unlimited and Ducks Unlimited Canada
- Waterfowl Identification
- Can you identify this duck?
