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Ring-necked Duck Harvest Study: What the Numbers Say

| by Topics: Hunting, Waterfowl Harvest

states-that-shoot-the-most-ring-necked-ducks

Do you love hunting Ring-necked 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 Ring-necked Ducks is.

Harvesting a Ring-necked Duck 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 Ring-necked Ducks their specialty, and you’d be surprised just how many Ring-necked Ducks have been harvested in America since the turn of the millennium.

So, to look deeper into the Ring-necked Duck harvest, we decided to do some research into just how many Ring-necked Ducks 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 Ring-necked Ducks.

Where are the Most Ring-necked Ducks Being Shot?

We discovered that hunters who hunt Ring-necked Ducks in Texas are the most likely to harvest the most amount of Ring-necked Ducks per hunt, followed by in Minnesota and Florida. Since 2021, those in Texas have harvested 69,233 Ring-necked Ducks, whilst in Minnesota and Florida, hunters have harvested 62,941 and 43,354, respectively.

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

  1. Texas – 69,233
  2. Minnesota – 62,941
  3. Florida – 43,354
  4. Oklahoma – 29,446
  5. North Carolina – 25,736
  6. California – 22,285
  7. Louisiana – 20,761
  8. Arkansas – 17,349
  9. Wisconsin – 14,182
  10. Georgia – 12,417
  11. Washington – 12,270
  12. South Carolina – 8,933
  13. Illinois – 7,856
  14. North Dakota – 7,636
  15. Missouri – 7,228
  16. South Dakota – 3,457

(Sources: USFWS Harvest Survey, TPWD)

The data showed that the Ring-necked Duck hunters sticking to the ponds and flooded flats of Texas are most likely to harvest a Ring-necked Duck. Shockingly, Arkansas Ring-necked Duck hunters have fallen drastically on the harvest list and you have to wonder if they will even see a Ring-necked Duck 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 Ring-necked Ducks

When looking at which shotgun people had used to harvest a Ring-necked Duck, 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 Ring-necked Ducks, and discovered that December was the most common, with 43% of Ring-necked Ducks 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.

Ring-necked-duck-harvest-study

Waterfowlchoke editors, after reviewing the data, said:

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

“It’s interesting to see those in Texas harvesting so many Ring-necked Ducks – especially compared to the degree they do – 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 Ring-necked Duck harvests in the US are changing – who knows, maybe Minnesota will surpass Texas this time next year.”

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