By Duane Bailey:

Ohio’s statewide waterfowl hunting season opened on Oct. 15 and while gusty winds proved a challenge to setting decoys, good opportunities still existed to take some of the most popular species of ducks and geese. Those opportunities should last throughout the season. With good habitat conditions, Ohio hunters have a liberal 60-day hunting season again this year.

This past spring the Upper Great Lakes states and eastern Canadian provinces showed good to excellent mallard nesting and brood rearing habitat conditions and breeding populations similar to 2010. The Upper Great Lakes are the primary breeding range for mallards harvested in Ohio. Mallards are Ohio’s most harvested duck and are found throughout the state.

Wood ducks, which are the second most harvested duck in Ohio and the state’s number one breeding duck, also had a good production year. Locally, good numbers of wood ducks can be found along the Maumee River, Auglaize River, Six-Mile Creek and Flat Rock Creek.