As the years passed after that first season, Delaware’s deer population increased and the herd’s range expanded as habitat was restored. So well did deer recover that, in an attempt to slow the population growth rate, harvest seasons and bag limits
were liberalized. The extended hunting season and larger seasonal bag limit are integral to Delaware’s deer management program. Through them, over the past three hunting seasons, the Division of Fish and Wildlife has experienced its top three all-time deer harvests.Nor do deer hunters in Delaware have to look very far to find a place to hunt: Approximately 10 percent of land in Delaware is state-owned, and open for public hunting.Delaware also is divided into 18 Deer Management Zones, and within each zone there exist numerous public hunting opportunities. And while there may be a tendency to overlook the state for white-tail trophy potential due to its small geographic size, the number of quality bucks harvested per square mile in Delaware is comparable to the Midwest and other areas more often considered "prime" deer hunting regions.
Delaware Pheasnt*Duck*Goose*Waterfowl
in January, subject to weather and mechanical delays. The January flight is part of a coast-wide effort to survey waterfowl throughout the Atlantic Flyway at approximately the same time. The state surveys cover the primary waterfowl habitat in Delaware, approximately the eastern half of the state, and are divided into 11 zones.Not all ducks and geese can be seen equally well from a plane. The surveys give fairly accurate information about geese, but duck populations such wood ducks and sea ducks are almost impossible to count.The important feature of these counts is that they augur for long-term trends that are useful to measure changes in waterfowl management strategies and the environment. In most cases no single survey count is especially important in itself, but cumulative counts have revealed important changes over the years.For example, the state's waterfowl surveys detected the decline in the migrant population of Canada geese, the dwindling use by ducks of the Christiana marshes after Interstate 95 was constructed, and recent increases in ducks using the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge area after the refuge accomplished phragmites and water control. Winter counts are used as a measure of black duck abundance and other population changes. Although imperfect, surveys are a useful tool for waterfowl manager