History of Waterfowling
In the beginning
Waterfowl have been hunted for food and feathers since prehistoric times. Images depicting waterfowl and hunting have been found worldwide; from Ice Age cave paintings in Europe and hieroglyphics in ancient Egyptian tombs, to the artwork of the earliest North American cultures.
Looking back
During the 19th century, the abundance of ducks and geese in the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways of North America supported a thriving commercial waterfowl hunting industry. But this period of intense waterfowl hunting, combined with loss of habitat, began to contribute to a decline in duck and goose populations across North America.
In the early 1900s, North America’s growing waterfowling community, alarmed by rapidly decreasing bird numbers, organized and pressed their elected officials to bring an end to commercial hunting and to regulate waterfowl harvests. Legislation such as The Lacey Act of 1900, which outlawed transport of poached game across state lines, followed by The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibited the possession of migratory birds without permission (i.e. without a hunting license), marked the dawn of the modern conservation movement and put an end to commercial trade in birds. Under this Act, various treaties and conventions between the U.S. and Canada, Japan, Mexico and the former Soviet Union continue to ensure the protection of migratory birds worldwide.
Our founders
While this pioneering legislation was an important step on the road to conservation, it did little to offset the adverse effects brought on by the dirty, dusty days of the Great Depression. During this time, wetlands on the prairies were steadily disappearing because of drought, agricultural practices and urban expansion. As a result, waterfowl populations were still plummeting.
In 1937, spurred on by the devastating drought that persisted through the thirties, a group of conservation-minded sportsmen banded together and set out to stop further destruction and neglect of wetland habitat. They initiated habitat conservation projects across the Canadian prairies and called their effort “Ducks Unlimited”. DUC was formed a year later to continue these important efforts in Canada. More than 70 years later, DUC’s wetland conservation work carries on – a legacy to our waterfowling heritage.
Waterfowling today
From its early roots to the present, waterfowling is an activity steeped in tradition, celebrated in art and immortalized in literature. Combine all of this with the camaraderie of hunting and the principles of conservation that exist today, and the pursuit of waterfowling has been enriched beyond measure.
At Ducks Unlimited Canada, we’re proud to be a part of this waterfowling heritage. Click here for a chronological look at many of the greatest moments in the history of waterfowling.
