MALLARD HARVEST DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE ATLANTIC AND MISSISSIPPI FLYWAYS DURING PERIODS OF RESTRICTIVE AND LIBERAL HUNTING REGULATIONS

Associations between spatial distribution of harvest and harvest regulations are an important consideration in the management of midcontinent and eastern populations of mallards (Anas platyrynchos), especially if regional harvest allocation is an explicit harvest management objective. I used categorical data analysis and bootstrap techniques to compare the distribution of harvest between a 10-year period of restrictive hunting regulations (1985–1994) and a subsequent 5-year period of liberal regulations (1995–1999). I focused my analyses on breeding populations of importance to the Mississippi (MF) and Atlantic Flyways (AF). I found that liberal hunting regulations were associated with increases in proportion of harvest of midcontinent mallard populations in both northern and southern regions of the MF relative to harvest proportions in Canada and the northern Central Flyway (CF). Relative proportion of the harvest of eastern Canada populations increased with liberal regulations in the northern AF. I detected no change in harvest distribution of birds breeding in the Great Lakes region. Redistribution of harvest between study periods coincides with a general decrease in hunting effort and harvest in Canadian provinces. Despite a decrease in the proportion of hunting effort in the northern versus southern region of the AF during 1995–1999, the relative proportion of harvest increased in the northern region. These results and methodology could be used to help inform components of the Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) process that require knowledge and prediction of regional harvest distribution.