2023 Summer Flyway Report by Ron Sineo
The 2023 Summer Flyway meetings were held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania' this year, I travelled by car. I left home on Sunday morning, September 10th and checked-in at the conference center in the late afternoon. I checked out on Thursday morning, but stayed long enough after checking out, to confirm with the Committee Chairs that there were no changes to their recommendations, which are summarized here:
That the USFWS adopt the liberal regulations package for duck hunting seasons in the Atlantic Flyway in 2024-25.
This consists of a 60-day season, between the Saturday nearest September 24 and January 31, with a daily bag limit of 6 ducks, including no more than:
4 mallards (2 hens)
3 wood ducks
2 black ducks
1 pintail
2 canvasbacks
the hybrid season for scaup (2/day for 20 days and 1/day for 40 days), 2 redheads, 1mottled duck, 1fulvous whistling duck, and no harlequin ducks.
4 total sea ducks (no more than 3 scoters, 3 eider (1 hen), 3 long-tailed ducks), Possession limits to be three times the daily bag limit.
Additionally: Brant are expected to be a 30 / 1 season again, and on Long Island, the season and bag for Canada Goose will stay the same as this year. (Upstate, Canada Goose will probably go to a 30-day season with 2 birds / day in 2024- 2025.
Please note, that all the above recommendations are for next year's hunting season.