2019 Evaluation of the Decoy-Only Hunting Unit: Lower
Oahe Waterfowl Hunting Access Area
Tim Withers
Program Assistant, Waterfowl Access South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks
Division of Wildlife Serving People, Managing Wildlife
T. Withers 2020. 2019 Evaluation of the Decoy-Only Hunting Unit in the Lower Oahe
Waterfowl Hunting Access Area.
Pierre, SD: South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks.
The decoy-only waterfowl unit is a separate unit within the Lower-Oahe Waterfowl
Hunting Access Area where hunters are required to register before hunting. This
process provides a means for evaluating the use, harvest, and opinions towards this
special unit. This evaluation substitutes for an assessment of the entire Lower Oahe
Waterfowl Hunting Access Area. When hunting is good at the decoy-only unit, it is
most likely good everywhere else in the area, as geese are present in high numbers.
This report evaluates the 2019 decoy-only waterfowl unit and compares the findings
with previous years.
KEY WORDS: Waterfowl; Lower Oahe; Decoy-Only
Published by: SD GAME, FISH, AND PARKS PIERRE, SD
For Additional Copies: SD GAME, FISH, AND PARKS Lower Oahe Waterfowl Access 20641 S.D Highway 1806 Ft. Pierre, SD 57532
June 2020
Visit our homepage at: http://gfp.sd.gov/
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Executive Summary
2019 Evaluation of the Decoy-Only Hunting Unit: Lower Oahe Waterfowl Hunting Access Area
Tim Withers
• Waterfowl have continued to migrate into the area later for several years with the migration starting to gain momentum for the 2019 season the middle of December with the Decoy-Only Registration trailer and fields opening on December 14, 2019.
• Groups and hunters increased in 2019 with 278 groups and 850 hunters using the Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit in the Lower Oahe Waterfowl Hunting Access Area compared to 157 groups and 426 hunters in 2018.
• An estimated total of 1,159 waterfowl were harvested at the Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit, which was an increase from 386 harvested in 2018.
• On average, hunters were satisfied with their hunting experience in 2019. Most hunting groups 88% were satisfied, 10% were neutral, and 2% were dissatisfied.
• Groups who hunted in January (01/16 to 01/31) had the highest average harvest per group with 3.8 birds per group. The average reported harvest per group for the remainder of the season was 2.86 birds per group. From all times that the registration trailer was operated, the average reported harvest per group was 3.1 birds for the 2019-20 season.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ ii
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. ii
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Results ....................................................................................................................................... 2
Hunter Participation ........................................................................................................ 2
Hunter Harvest ............................................................................................................... 3
Hunter Satisfaction ......................................................................................................... 3
Field Use ........................................................................................................................ 4
Use Trends ..................................................................................................................... 5
Aerial Waterfowl Summary ............................................................................................. 7
User Residency .............................................................................................................. 7
Special Events ................................................................................................................ 9
Social Media ................................................................................................................... 9
Decoy Loaner Trailers ................................................................................................... 10
List of Figures
Figure 1: Use of Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit (2015-2019) ................................................................. 2
Figure 2: Estimated Canada goose harvest (2015 to 2019)........................................................ 3
Figure 3: Hunter Satisfaction - Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit ........................................................ 3
Figure 4: Lower Oahe Waterfowl Access Area Field Map .......................................................... 5
Figure 5: Groups Registered to Hunt within Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit by Day ........................ 6
Figure 6: Individual Hunter Residence Map ................................................................................ 7
Figure 7: Hunter Use Map .......................................................................................................... 8
Figure 8: Decoy Loaner Trailers ................................................................................................ 10
Figure 9: Decoy Loaner Trailer Use .......................................................................................... 11
List of Tables
Table 1: Field Use and Harvest Reported for 2019 .................................................................... 4
Table 2: 2019-2020 Season Use ................................................................................................ 6
Table 3: 2019-20 Aerial Waterfowl Summary ............................................................................. 7
Table 4: Reported Residency of Users ....................................................................................... 9
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2019 Evaluation of the Decoy-Only Hunting Unit: Lower
Oahe Waterfowl Hunting Access Area
Tim Withers Program Assistant, Waterfowl Access South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks
Introduction
The Lower Oahe Waterfowl Hunting Access Area (LOWAA) is a package of varied
goose hunting opportunities designed to provide locations for quality goose hunting along the
Missouri River. The LOWAA resulted from the cooperative actions between the South Dakota
Department of Game, Fish & Parks (GFP) and several landowners. In return for this new public
access for waterfowl hunting, the Legislature authorized the GFP Commission to issue up to
2,000 new, restricted nonresident waterfowl licenses. The money from the sale of these licenses
was used to pay for the LOWAA.
Within the LOWAA, there is a Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit, where hunters are required to
register before hunting. This process provides an efficient and inexpensive method for
evaluating the use, harvest, and satisfaction of users in this unit. This evaluation of the unit
substitutes for an evaluation of the entire LOWAA; when hunting is good in the Decoy-Only
Waterfowl Unit; it is likely similar in the remainder of the area. This report evaluates the 2019
Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit and compares the results to previous years (2015 to 2018).
Information on the LOWAA is included on pages 77-81 of the 2019 Public Hunting Atlas.
Methods
The registration trailer was open for 61 days from December 14, 2019 to February 16,
2020 and was closed for Christmas Day as well as December 29 and 30 due to weather. Forty-
eight fields were available to hunt with one group registered per field, per day. Daily registration
was required to hunt and included a random drawing conducted one hour before sunrise each
morning to determine the order in which hunting groups would choose a field. Group size was
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limited to no more than six hunters per group. Each hunting group was required to designate a
group leader to handle registration and provide information regarding the other hunters in their
group. Registration information included the number of people in the hunting group (including
the group leader), name, address, and hunting license number of designated group leader,
along with hunting license number, and place of residence of each hunter in the group. The
group leader was also required to complete and return the harvest report card for their group. In
2013, the daily limit for Canada geese was increased from three to four and remained the same
for the 2019 hunting season.
Results
Hunter Participation
Seventy-eight percent of registered groups returned their harvest report cards. In all, 278
groups composed of 850 hunters took advantage of this decoy-only hunting opportunity (Figure
1). The most frequent group size was three hunters, and the mean group size also was three
hunters.
Figure 1: Use of Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit (2015-2019)
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Hunter Harvest
An estimated total of 1,159 waterfowl were harvested in 2019 (Figure 2). Fifty-four
percent of the groups reported harvesting one or more Canada goose in 2019, and the mean
estimated harvest per group and per hunter was 4.17 and 1.36, respectively.
Figure 2: Estimated Waterfowl harvest (2015-2019)
Hunter Satisfaction
Hunter use, satisfaction and harvest are the primary parameters used to evaluate the
Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit/LOWAA. Each year, the target group satisfaction is 80% or greater, or
less than 10% of groups dissatisfied (Figure 3). During the 2019 season 88% of groups were
satisfied with their hunting experience, 10% of the groups were neutral, and 2% were dissatisfied.
Figure 3: Hunter Satisfaction for the Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit (2015-2019)
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Field Use
Thirty-one of the available 48 fields were hunted in 2019 (Figure 4). Field 87 received
the highest use (12.2%) followed by fields 29 (11.2%), 69 (11.2%), 28 (7.6%), and 75 (7.2%)
(Table 1). The highest reported total harvests were in fields 75 (153), 87 (120), 1 (72), 69 (70),
and 30 (48). These fields represented 53% of the total reported harvest.
Table 1: Field use and reported harvest for 2019
Field No. Times Hunted % of Use Total Harvest
1 17 6.1% 72
2 11 4.0% 27
3 10 3.6% 43
4 1 0.4% 4
7 2 0.7% 10
9 1 0.4% 0
12 2 0.7% 14
14 3 1.1% 2
16 9 3.2% 38
23 1 0.4% 0
24 2 0.7% 12
26 2 0.7% 0
27 3 1.1% 11
28* 21 7.6% 34
29* 31 11.2% 45
30 13 4.7% 48
43 1 0.4% 1
50 1 0.4% 0
61 1 0.4% 1
62 5 1.8% 21
69* 31 11.2% 70
71 11 4.0% 45
75 20 7.2% 153
77 6 2.2% 22
78 6 2.2% 4
82* 19 6.8% 20
83 8 2.9% 16
84 3 1.1% 24
85 1 0.4% 0
87* 34 12.2% 120
91 2 0.7% 12
Total 278 100.0% 869
* denotes fields with a pit
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Figure 4: Lower Oahe Waterfowl Access Area field map. South Dakota 2019 Hunting Atlas: Including Lower Oahe Waterfowl Access Area. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks: Pierre, SD
Use Trends
The Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit was open for 62 days during the 2019 season, 31% of
which were weekends or holidays. Saturdays had the highest frequency of registered hunting
groups (33%), followed by Sundays (23%) and Fridays (18%) (Figure 5). Mondays and holidays
had the fewest registered hunting groups (3%).
Figure 5: Percentage of groups registered to hunt within Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit by day and holiday
3.26.5
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Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. Holiday
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Day of Week
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The operation of the Decoy-Only Waterfowl Unit was divided into four time periods
(Table 2). In 2019, 0% of registered groups hunted in November, 20% of registered groups
hunted in December, 48% of registered groups hunted in January, and 32% of registered
groups hunted in February.
The highest total waterfowl harvest rates (geese and ducks) occurred during January
(01/16 to 01/31) with 3.8 birds per group. Most of the reported harvest (81%) occurred during
the months of January and February. The remaining 19% of the reported harvest of geese and
ducks occurred in December (Table 2).
Table 2: Hunt period breakdown to approximate time periods during trailer operation.
2019-2020 Season Use
Time Period
Weekend & Holidays
Weekdays Total Groups Harvest % of Harvest/
Group # Daily # Daily Total Harvest
Dec. 14-31* 6 9 15 55 3.7 167 11.1 19.2% 3.0
Jan. 01-15 5 10 15 66 4.4 151 10.1 17.4% 2.3
Jan. 16-31 5 11 16 68 4.3 257 16.1 29.6% 3.8
Feb. 01-16 6 10 16 89 5.6 294 18.4 33.8% 3.3
Total/Avg. 22 40 62 278 4.5 869 14.0 100.0% 3.1
* Denotes trailer and field closures December 25, 29 & 30 2019
Aerial Waterfowl Summary
Five aerial waterfowl population surveys were flown that included Lower Oahe, Pierre
Area and Lake Sharpe. (Table 3).
Table 3: Aerial Waterfowl Population Summary
2019-2020 Lower Oahe, Pierre area, Lake Sharpe Aerial Waterfowl Summary
Flight Date Canada Geese Snow/Blue Geese Ducks
November 7, 2019 981 15,854 14,100
November 21, 2019 4,937 16,819 224
November 27,2019 3,192 33,957 1,617
December 5, 2019 5,113 1,501 2,713
January 9, 2020 28,057 No Observations 14,059
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User Residency
Group leaders were asked to indicate their place of residence along with all hunters in
their party when registering (Figures 6 & 7; Table 4). Hunting groups indicating residency in
Pierre, Fort Pierre, and Blunt were considered local hunters in this analysis. The majority of
registered hunters (61%) indicated non-local residency, of which 53 (10.2%) were from out of
state.
Figure 6: 2019-20 Individual Hunter Residence; each hunter only represented once
Figure 7: 2019-20 Hunter Use; how frequently each town is represented all season
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Table 4: Hunters reported residency
City/Town # City/Town #
Pierre 296 Total Local: 328 (39%)
Sioux Falls 103 Platte 4
Rapid City 13 Twin Brooks 4
Mitchell 67 Webster 4
Ft. Pierre 31 Wessington Watertown 29 Springs 4
Brookings 21 Britton 3
Black Hawk 18 Hill City 3
Madison 16 Revere MN 3
Brandon 11 Bruce 3
Spearfish 11 Flandreau 2
Crooks 10 Lane 2
Miller 10 Tolstoy 2
Harrisburg 8 Tulare 2
Humboldt 8 Virgil 2
Mina 7 Volga 2
Orient 7 Alexandria 1
Salem 7 Blunt 1
Wolsey 7 Canton 1
Aberdeen 6 Frankfort 1
Lennox 6 Howard 1
Worthing 6 Kennebec 1
Chamberlain 5 Midland 1
Hartford 5 Mt. Vernon 1
Hurley 5 Okaton 1
Renner 5 Onaka 1
Winner 5 Vivian 1
Dell Rapids 4 Wagner 1
Ethan 4 White Lake 1
Gregory 4 White Wood 1
Harrold 4 Out of State 53
Huron 4 Total Non-Local: 522 (61%)
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Educational Hunts
Two educational hunts were held during the 2019-2020 season to help introduce
hunters to waterfowl (primarily Canada goose) hunting. The Beginner’s Hunt which was
scheduled for December 28 and 29 was rescheduled for January 11 and 12 because of weather
and cut back to one day due to the extreme cold. Eight beginner waterfowl hunters participated,
used two registration fields, and harvested seven geese. The Annual Youth Goose Hunt was
held on January 4 and 5. Twelve youth harvested 25 geese on one registration field.
Social Media
In 2019, South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks created a Facebook page for the
Lower Oahe Waterfowl Access Area to increase awareness of the program and communicate with stakeholders. From November 26, 2019 to April 28, 2020, this page acquired over 400 followers. Of these followers, 100 resided in Pierre and 72 resided in Sioux Falls. Followers also resided in other towns across South Dakota and other states including California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Most engagement occurred from December to mid- February, which corresponded with the waterfowl hunting season. This page was deemed a success, with several people providing positive feedback and hunters providing photos from their hunting excursions on the LOWAA. This page will continue to provide valuable insights to SDGFP staff and allow staff to give quick updates on the area, including weather and harvest- related activities.
Decoy Loaner Trailers
In 2013, GFP and several sponsors1 purchased an enclosed trailer and hunting
equipment to make available to the public for loan when hunting in the LOWAA. Contents
included five dozen full-body decoys, two dozen shell decoys, four layout blinds, two goose
flags, a goose call, and hearing and eye protection. An additional trailer and equipment were
purchased in 2014, and a third trailer was added in 2017 (Figure 8).
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The three loaner trailers were reserved for use 38% of the available days with the
highest use occurring in January and February (Figure 9). Hunters can reserve these trailers
(free of charge) by signing up through the Lower Oahe Waterfowl Hunting page on the SDGFP
website.
Figure 8: Three decoy loaner trailers were equipped and loaned out during the 2019 season.
Figure 9: Percentage of use of three decoy loaner trailers at the LOWAA
0
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November December* January February TOTAL
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Trailers 1, 2, & 3 Percent Reserved Trailers 1, 2, & 3 Percent Used
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1Sponsors who helped with this project include: HuntSAFE, TIPS, DOA Decoys, Big Foot Decoys, Cabela’s, Banded, Delta Waterfowl-Fowled Up Chapter, Pheasants Forever, Runnings, and M&R Signs, High Plains Wildlife Association, Dakota Decoy Co, Chase Auto & RV, Scheels.
