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Canvasback Harvest Study: What the Numbers Say

| by Topics: Hunting, Waterfowl Harvest

canvasback-harvest-study

Do you love hunting Canvasbacks in California? We’ve got some good news for you….

At WaterfowlChoke we love everything about hunting ducks, whether it’s making the perfect shot, learning to call effectively, or buying the best choke tube, we want to help people in every aspect of duck hunting – so we know as well as anyone how important harvesting Canvasbacks is.

Harvesting a Canvasback is the most iconic achievement in duck hunting, especially when it’s a memorable hunt or you get a banded bird. However, there are a few people who have made harvesting Canvasbacks their specialty, and you’d be surprised just how many Canvasbacks have been harvested in America since the turn of the millennium.

So, to look deeper into the Canvasback harvest, we decided to do some research into just how many Canvasbacks are harvested each year and what areas shoot the most – here’s what we found.

For this research, we looked at the adaptive harvest reports for each state in 2021 in the United States, to reveal which American states are best for harvesting Canvasbacks.

Where are the Most Canvasbacks Being Shot?

We discovered that hunters who hunt Canvasbacks in California are the most likely to harvest the most amount of Canvasbacks per hunt, followed by in Louisiana and North Dakota. Since 2021, those in California have harvested 21,519 Canvasbacks, whilst in Louisiana and North Dakota, hunters have harvested 10,476 and 9,519, respectively.

The fifteen states that harvested the most Canvasbacks, and the number each state has recorded for 2021, are as follows:

  1. California – 21,519
  2. Louisiana – 10,476
  3. North Dakota – 9,519
  4. Texas – 7,308
  5. Wisconsin – 5,896
  6. Minnesota – 4,842
  7. Georgia – 4,704
  8. Oklahoma – 3,955
  9. Utah – 3,255
  10. Washington – 3,002
  11. Missouri – 2,200
  12. Oregon – 2,044
  13. Alabama – 1,923
  14. Iowa – 1,870
  15. Illinois – 1,286

(Sources: USFWS Harvest Survey, TPWD)

The data showed that the Canvasback hunters sticking to the marshes and lakes of California are most likely to harvest a Canvasback. Shockingly, Texas Canvasback hunters have fallen drastically on the harvest list and you have to wonder if they will even see a Canvasback on the average duck hunt.

More Waterfowl Harvest Studies
Harvest studies are conducted by the USFWS each year in the U.S. to gauge the number of ducks and geese that are taken by hunters. This aids in setting bag limits and managing migratory bird populations from year to year. Below are the most common migratory species with available harvest data. Please click the links below to see how many birds were harvested and where.

The Most Common Shotgun Used for Harvesting Canvasbacks

When looking at which shotgun people had used to harvest a Canvasback, the 12-gauge was revealed as the most commonly used shotgun, with over 80% of hunters choosing it. A 20 gauge and a 10 gauge shotgun rounded off the top three, with 20 gauge being the second most popular.

The 28 gauge came in fourth place with 12% usage, while the 410 bore came fifth, with 5%.

We also delved into which month people had been harvesting the most Canvasbacks, and discovered that December was the most common, with 43% of Canvasbacks harvested. The months of November (33%) and January (24%) came in second and third. This is likely due to duck season timing by state and hunter participation levels peaking at certain months.

states-that-shoot-the-most-canvasbacks

Waterfowlchoke editors, after reviewing the data, said:

“As any duck hunter will know, harvesting Canvasbacks is a lifetime achievement – unless you’re a well-known hunting guide, an amateur hunter with multiple limit hunts on Canvasbacks is quite the accomplishment.

“It’s interesting to see those in California harvesting so many Canvasbacks – especially when the total is so much higher than all other states – you have to wonder what tactics they’re using out there on the Pacific Flyway! We’re planning to make this research a recurring thing, so that we can track how Canvasback harvests in the US are changing – who knows, maybe Louisiana will surpass California this time next year.”

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