Have you heard the news? This fall, two of the three Delmarva states will now be holding tundra swan hunting seasons as Delaware adds a limited lottery hunt for 2019-20.
Mute swans were already legal in Delaware, and it now joins Virginia in offering a season for the migratory tundras, our most common swan.
The 2019-20 Delaware tundra swan season will be Oct. 25 – Jan. 31, with lucky permit holders allowed one swan for the season. There will be 84 permits issued by lottery, with a max of 13 of those permits available to non-residents.
Applications can be found online through the DNREC website and must be submitted by Aug. 30, 2019. All who win a permit must also purchase their Delaware 2019-20 hunting licenses by Sept. 20.
Virginia, where there has been a swan season for years, has a 2019-20 season that will be open Nov. 20 through Jan. 31. Bag limits there are one per season per permittee, with 801 swan permits awarded through lottery.
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If you hunt in Maryland you are still out of luck.
The Fish & Wildlife Service gives Maryland the option of a swan season with limited lottery permits, just like other states in the flyway, but for years it’s been nearly impossible to get the Maryland DNR to even acknowledge that fact in season proposals.
It would be great to hunt one of these traditional game birds in Maryland, but for the foreseeable future you’ll need to plan a trip to Delaware or Virginia.
What about Canada geese?
For most waterfowlers the big question mark for this fall concerns Canada geese. We already know the details on season reductions, but how are the geese faring?
Nothing official yet from northern Quebec where our migratory geese nest, but the weather looks good for the birds. Temperatures have been average or above average, and from all past surveys that’s the most important thing.
A quick glance at the 10-day forecast for the Ungava Peninsula showed every day in the upper 50s for high temperatures, much better than the ice and snow of recent years.
We’ll likely have two or three years until seasons and bag limits increase again. Even if there is a great hatch this year, those birds need a couple years to reach breeding age and contribute to the fall flights, so that’s something we should all be ready for.
But good weather for nesting this spring is the key first step.
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Sign up online for Blackwater deer
If you hunt deer at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, you probably already know it’s almost signup time for the various bow, gun and muzzleloader seasons. In the past there were forms to fill out and mail in, as well as lotteries for key dates, but new this year the whole process is online and all hunt permits are first come, first served.
You’ll need to register an account at http://www.recreation.gov to begin and link through that to the Blackwater specific signups. It begins Tuesday, July 2, at 10 a.m., or you can call the reservation line at 877-444-6777 anytime after that.
There will also be a frequently asked questions section to help anyone having problems navigating the site and signup. Good luck!
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