Hunting has long been a popular pastime in the United States, and interest in the sport appears to be picking up. After falling by over 2.3 million between 1980 and 2008, the number of paid hunting license holders in the U.S. climbed in seven of the last 10 years, and now stands at a nearly four-decade high of 15.9 million.
While deer is the most commonly hunted game in the United States, for many hunters, waterfowl is the preferred quarry. Waterfowl hunting is a specialized and challenging undertaking. It requires knowledge of the migratory patterns of ducks or geese and is often done in fields, swamps, ponds, bays, or along marine shorelines. Some of the most common methods involve bird calls and decoys to attract game, as well as blinds and full camouflage to conceal the hunter. (Here is a look at America’s top shotgun companies.)
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, over 913,000 Americans actively hunted waterfowl in 2022, harvesting more than 8.2 million ducks and nearly 2 million geese. Though waterfowl are hunted across the continental U.S., in some states, hunters are far more likely to be successful than others.
Using data from the FWS, 24/7 Wall St. identified the best states for waterfowl hunters. States were ranked on the estimated waterfowl harvested per hunter in 2022. Waterfowl harvest totals were calculated by combining the number of geese and duck harvested in 2022. Due to a lack of data, Hawaii was not included in this ranking.