FROM THE WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources today announced the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board (NRB) voted unanimously during the April board meeting to approve the 2022 migratory bird season framework and regulations.

Thanks to input from hunters and new scientific research, changes are coming to the 2022 migratory bird hunting season. Highlights from the approved season structure include:

• Update the definition of the Open Water Duck Zone boundary. The updated definition incorporates adjacent rooted vegetation, floating cattail mats and Long Tail and Little Tail points as part of the mainland shore.
• Simplified the regulations for the open water restrictions on approved inland open water hunting lakes by decreasing the distance from shore to 500 feet.
• The North and Open Water Zone scaup season will be structured as 2 scaup for the first 45 days of the season and 1 scaup for the final 15 days of the season. The South Zone scaup season will remain 1 scaup for the first 15 days and 2 scaup for the final 45 days.

“The 2022 season frameworks are based on the most current scientific data, as well as on input from the public, conservation and hunting groups and results from a waterfowl hunter survey,” said Taylor Finger, DNR migratory bird ecologist. “We used all the tools in our toolbox to collect public input. We used virtual meetings and expanded online outreach to ensure engagement with our customers. In total, we received more than 1,400 comments regarding the 2022 waterfowl season proposals.”

The public plays a crucial role in setting the waterfowl season structure. View the 2022 public input results and comments here. Learn more about Wisconsin waterfowl hunting on the DNR website.