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Redhead Duck Harvest Study: What the Numbers Say

| by Topics: Hunting, Waterfowl Harvest

readhead-duck-harvest-study

Do you love hunting Redhead Ducks in Texas? 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 Redheads is.

Harvesting a Redhead 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 Redheads their specialty, and you’d be surprised just how many Redheads have been harvested in America since the turn of the millennium.

So, to look deeper into the Redhead harvest, we decided to do some research into just how many Redheads 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 Redheads.

Where are the Most Redhead Ducks Being Shot?

We discovered that hunters who hunt Redheads in Texas are the most likely to harvest the most amount of Redheads per hunt, followed by in North Dakota and Michigan. Since 2021, those in Texas have harvested 69,233 Redheads, whilst in North Dakota and Michigan, hunters have harvested 28,557 and 16,234, respectively.

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

  1. Texas – 69,233
  2. North Dakota – 28,557
  3. Michigan – 16,234
  4. Wisconsin – 15,616
  5. Minnesota – 14,525
  6. California – 8,799
  7. North Carolina – 8,347
  8. Louisiana – 7,047
  9. Kansas – 6,933
  10. South Dakota – 6,443
  11. Utah – 5,104
  12. Montana – 4,376
  13. Oklahoma – 4,175
  14. Mississippi – 3,877
  15. Florida – 3,794

(Sources: USFWS Harvest Survey, AGFC, TPWD)

The data showed that the Redhead hunters sticking to the marshes and bays of Texas are most likely to harvest a Redhead. Shockingly, Florida Redhead hunters have fallen drastically on the harvest list and you have to wonder if they will even see a Redhead 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 Redhead Ducks

When looking at which shotgun people had used to harvest a Redhead, 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 Redheads, and discovered that December was the most common, with 43% of Redheads 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-redhead-ducks

Waterfowlchoke editors, after reviewing the data, said:

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

“It’s interesting to see those in Texas harvesting so many Redheads – especially when the total is similar to all other states combined – you have to wonder what tactics they’re using out there on the Central Flyway! We’re planning to make this research a recurring thing, so that we can track how Redhead harvests in the US are changing – who knows, maybe North Dakota will surpass Texas this time next year.”

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