Differential harvest of male and female mallards under conventional and point system regulations: 92Z/00019 J. K. Ringelman, Wildlife Society Bulletin, 19(3), 1991, pp 258–267

Abstract

Since its initial testing during the late 1960's (Mikula et al. 1972, Geis and Crissey 1973, Hopper et al. 1975), the point system has been widely used to determine the bag limit for ducks. During the 1980's, species or sexes within species were assigned point values between 10 and 100 (always a multiple of 5). The daily bag limit was attained when the total point value of birds harvested, in the order in which they were taken, reached or exceeded 100 points. Point values were assigned based on the desired harvest levels for each species or sex; relatively low values. (i.e., 10 or 20) were assigned to species or sexes whose populations were believed able to withstand increased harvest pressure, whereas high point values (i.e., 70 or 100) were given to species or sexes where low harvest rates were desired. In contrast, the conventional method for determining bag limits placed a numerical limit on the number of ducks that could be harvested, and imposed additional restrictions on the number of ducks of a particular species or sex that could be taken. Compared to the conventional bag, the point system is thought to offer (1) an enhanced ability to direct harvest away from species or sexes needing protection, (2) a better means of increasing hunting opportunity by shifting harvest towards species or sexes that are believed able to withstand higher harvest rates, (3) a reduction in the incidence of unintentional violations caused by not identifying or misidentifying ducks in flight before shooting, and (4) a wider range of hunting opportunity to those