Waterfowl Hunting and Global Warming

The New York Times published an interesting article yesterday regarding the impacts of global warming on hunting, particularly duck hunting. The majority of the article addressed the challenges state and federal wildlife officials face in managing wildlife populations, wildlife habitat, and season dates as weather and waterfowl migration patterns change.

This should ring home with the many hunters this year that have been impacted by warm, dry seasons. White-tailed deer hunters have felt the impact of a warm fall and late rutting activity. And even along the coast, waterfowl hunters have adapted to changing migration times.

The good news — hunters are more aware of global warming. According to a public opinion poll by the National Wildlife Federation, 47% of hunters “strongly agree” and 29% of hunters “moderately agree” that “global warming is occurring.” A total of only 12% moderately or strongly disagreed.