Assessing Effectiveness of Innovative Waterfowl Hunting Decoys

Abstract

New waterfowl hunting decoy technologies warrant rigorous assessment of their effects on wildlife harvest. Recent development of several UV-reflecting paints employed on waterfowl hunting decoys are designed to appear more like real duck feather colours in an attempt to better attract waterfowl. In two concurrent field experiments over a four year period, we tested the ability of UV-painted decoys to attract waterfowl within ∼ 50 m (i.e., potential shotgun range) of a duck blind and their success when employed waterfowl hunting, compared to traditionally painted, non-UV reflecting decoys. While UV decoys did attract, on average, more ducks and flocks compared to non-UV decoys during non-hunting observational trials, these differences were not reflected in harvest of waterfowl during typical hunting situations, which were nearly identical among the two decoy types. From a resource management perspective, our results suggest that UV decoys do not have a profound impact on waterfowl harvest, although broader harvest assessment is warranted.