For Colorado duck enthusiasts anticipating the start of a season just two months away, things don’t get much better than this.
You’ll again be operating under a liberal framework for bag limits and days to hunt. But you also get a say in selecting your season.
The bag limit part is easy enough to understand. After compiling figures that show an increase in pond counts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surely will continue the liberal package that allows essentially the same daily bag and season length as a year ago.
But little else will be the same in eastern Colorado duck hunting for the coming season. The way this allotment will play out embraces a brave new world of audience participation. Any number can play.
When the Colorado Wildlife Commission meets Thursday in Fort Collins, waterfowl hunters get to speak their piece on two sweeping changes. Your voices may make all the difference.
First, a bit of geography is due. The biggest change establishes two zones in that part of the state in the Central Flyway, east of the Continental Divide.
By recommending a Mountain/Foothills zone that generally includes the area east of the Divide and west of Interstate 25, the Division of Wildlife addresses the issue of early freeze-up at higher elevation.
Under this proposal, this zone will begin its season Sept. 30 and continue uninterrupted through Dec. 11. A second split would be Dec. 30-Jan. 21, allowing foothill areas to capitalize on the late mallard migration.
DOW will strongly recommend this plan to the commission and, based on preliminary discussion, the policy body seems almost certain to accept.
It’s what will happen to the season structure in the remainder of the Central Flyway, the new Eastern Plains zone, that’s still up in the air, waiting to be swayed by public comment in Fort Collins.
One scenario provides for early emphasis, with more dates in October. The other features late emphasis, more in January. For the former, it’s greater opportunity to hunt local and early migrating ducks during pleasant weather. For the latter, it’s the celebrated flight mallards and icicles hanging off your nose. Take your pick.
“We’re not officially recommending either,” said Tom Remington, DOW’s terrestrial wildlife chief. “We’ll let the commission decide after hearing public testimony for both.”
Remington said public opinion seemed divided during a series of earlier meetings.
“There’s not a clear right or wrong answer,” he said.
In either case, there’ll be yet another major change in the 2006-07 duck lineup. By opting for the zone arrangement, eastern Colorado must have a two-part season instead of the three-way split that had been traditional in recent years.
The Pacific Flyway, west of the Divide, will continue with a more conventional structure for ducks. It begins with a Sept. 30-Oct. 15 segment, then resumes Nov. 1-Jan. 28.
A Sept. 9-17 teal season generally east of Interstate 25 actually begins waterfowl activity. Youth days will be Sept. 23-24 in both flyways.
Goose seasons generally follow the traditional framework, although the commission will vote on a proposal to expand the early Northern Front Range territory to include all of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Douglas, Jefferson, Clear Creek and Denver counties, along with that part of Weld County west of U.S. 85.
Meanwhile, that key point of season emphasis in the Eastern Plains zone still is up for debate. Speak now, or forever hold your pinfeathers.
The Thursday meeting will be at the Fort Collins Hilton, 425 W. Prospect Road.
Staff writer Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
