2002-11  MECHANIZED DECOYS

In the past several years various manufactures have introduced a variety of mechanized "spinning wing" decoys to aid duck hunters in their efforts to decoy and shoot birds. The use of spinning wing decoys in fields and over water has become very, very popular and very, very controversial.

Those who oppose the use of these devices cite many reliable anecdotal accounts that some species are very vulnerable, especially the young-of-the-year ducks. These decoys appear to be most effective early in the season, so much so that hunters in inferior locations, and hunters who do not have other skills, end up being as successful as skilled hunters in prime locations. This has led to concern about the potential for over harvest of birds.

Opponents of the spinning wing decoys point out that there are ethical and public relations problems with their use. Stories abound that normally wary birds act similarly to ducks lured in by bait, which is already illegal. The opponents of spinning wing decoys believe that fair chase is abandoned, and that technological gadgetry is substituted for the skills of ethical and conservation sensitive hunting. Additional concerns are that, as the debate broadens from the hunting community to the general public, the use of these devices will create the public image that hunters are willing to go to any length to kill a limit of birds.

There is considerable precedent for banning from the sport of waterfowling methods or devices that appear to give the hunter an unfair advantage. Some examples are the banning of the use of live ducks as decoys (which spinning wing decoys attempt to replicate) and electronic calling devices.

On the other hand, proponents of spinning wing decoys defend their use as being biologically unimportant since bag limits control the number of ducks killed. Various professional organizations representing biologists, state wildlife agencies and in particular the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, have indicated that issues of fair chase and ethics are not their concern, and that decisions about ethical issues will have to come from the ranks of hunters themselves.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources believes that there should be a moratorium on their use until the biological impacts, if any, can be proven.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Minnesota Division of the Izaak Walton League of America, in convention April 28, 2002, at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, supports the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in an immediate ban of the use of spinning wing decoys. The Minnesota Division further recommends to state and federal wildlife agencies that, when creating policy on the use of these devices, they err on the side of conservation. Finally, the Minnesota Division believes that fair chase and ethics are essential issues, which must be considered in examining how the use of technology impacts the resource, and the perception of hunters by the non-hunting public.

W.J. McCabe Chapter
MN Division of the IWLA