The king's kingdom

A cold November rain slid from the dawning sky as a stiff wind blew the precipitation directly into my face. A golden retriever named Brandy sat beside me with an unblinking stare into the dense, misty-clouded overcast that was hanging low across the lake. Bud sat next to me trying to pour coffee from a dented Stanley thermos into two metal cups; his cold-induced shaky hands making the job difficult. Brandy's intense searching suddenly froze on a swirl of mist in the gloom. That apparition took on several distinct forms winging just a few feet over the choppy waves and seemed destined to jet directly over the decoys that we'd tossed into the surf. "Wedge-heads," Bud muttered as he unsuccessfully attempted to set the thermos upright. He grabbed his old Browning A5, I snatched my double and Brandy came to a taught attention with her almond eyes wide and riveted on the action. We were too slow and the birds too quick. We sat back down on the saturated wood bench and Bud tried to eek an ounce or two of hot liquid from the toppled thermos. With some obvious disgust, Brandy resumed scanning the sodden mist for movement. That was my first close encounter with the largest of North America's diving ducks. Known as "wedge-heads", "bull-cans" or simply "Cans", the canvasback was also once known as "The King" of the marshes due to its popularity as a target for the market hunters' punt guns of a bygone century. Today, The King has been deposed and the mallard now reigns as the most important duck in the hunter's bag. Even so, the canvasback is revered by hunters and wildlife watchers around the country. The canvasback male is identified by its red head, gleaming red eyes and dark front and rear separating its white middle. Their sloped forehead and large size help to distinguish them from other species. The hens are less conspicuous, but share that long, sloping profile of their head and beak. While large in the world of ducks, that doesn't mean slow. The canvasback is one of the fastest flyers in the duck world; holding that unofficial record after being clocked zooming along at 70 miles per hour. This may be one of the reasons Bud and I sat through the rest of that bleak morning with a disillusioned dog. The canvasback's scientific name; Aythya valisineria, offers a hint of what these and other diving ducks' food preferences are and why The King was so duly crowned. Vallisneria americana is commonly called wild celery, water-celery, tape grass, or eelgrass and is an important food source. The plant also gives the bird a delicate, celery-like flavor which enhanced its commercial popularity and made it the most valuable bird that market gunners could peddle to swanky Chicago and New York restaurants. Fortunately, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 outlawed market hunting just in time to save the canvasback and many other birds from following the passenger pigeon's flight to oblivion. Breeding primarily in the prairie pothole regions of North America; a series of wetlands and grasslands that are found in five states and three Canadian provinces, canvasbacks migrate along the Mississippi Flyway to winter in the Mid-Atlantic and the Lower Mississippi Valley. Some will also follow the Pacific Flyway to winter along the California coast. Market hunting no longer threatens the species and today's hunters pay for much of the wetland conservation now taking place across the nation through their purchases of hunting licenses, federal and state duck and habitat stamps. Unfortunately, the canvasback and other migratory waterfowl and wildlife still fall victim to habitat loss. The drainage, filling and removal of wetlands within breeding and wintering areas, water pollution, loss of aquatic plants, destruction of riparian waterways, the threat of oil spills and uncovered oil pits all take their toll. Conservation efforts can never be something that we once did but must be what we continue to improve and practice. Habitat conservation is what breathes life into our wild places. Thankfully, many states are adopting programs like the extraordinarily successful Buckeye State's H2Ohio. H2Ohio is Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's statewide water quality initiative designed to address complex issues impacting Ohio's waters. Launched in 2019, it uses a comprehensive approach guided by science and data to reduce algal blooms, stop pollution, and improve access to clean drinking water by supporting best farming practices, road salt runoff reduction, litter cleanup, dam removal, land conservation, and water infrastructure revitalization. As a bonus, it creates and enhances habitat for many of Ohio's wildlife species. The program continues to be an over-whelming success thanks to its partnerships with the Department of Agriculture, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio EPA, and the Ohio Lake Erie Commission. From ODNR's perspective, using H2Ohio projects have resulted in 499 wetland projects, 19,829 acres of wetlands developed or restored, 269 water quality incentive cooperators, and helped develop 91 conservation partners who are assisting to complete these goals. These affiliations and the work that they're accomplishing will have an impact on wildlife's future for decades to come; a true legacy of what we can do as a team – ensuring that the canvasback and the mallard will still find rest in Ohio's wild places. I'll leave it to them to fight for their seat on the king's throne. Learn more about the H2Ohio program and the possibilities it offers for your area by visiting: https://h2.ohio.gov/. Soon, wintering waterfowl will be returning to their northern breeding grounds. Thanks to much of the work completed along the Lake Erie Marshes and wetlands around the state, the King and his court will be visiting again on its return to its realm. Keep your binoculars handy, maybe you'll get a glimpse of old wedge-head. "A grown man walking in the rain with a sodden bird dog at his heels who can smile at you and say with the kind of conviction that brings the warmth out in the open, "I'd rather be here, doing this, right now, than anything else in the world," is the man who has discovered that the wealth of the world is not something that is merely bought and sold." – Gene Hill Along the Way The Ohio Division of Wildlife has completed its final tally of the state's deer seasons. Here are a few of the stats. • Deer checked during the 2025-26: 232,142. In 2024-25, deer hunters checked 238,137 deer. The three-year average (2022, 2023, and 2024) is 221,013. Harvest totals are lower than average in Athens, Meigs, Morgan, and Washington counties due to summer's unprecedented outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. The combined total of those four counties for the 2025-26 season is 4,289 deer checked. Last season, that number was 15,659. • Top 5 counties: Coshocton: 8,527 Coshocton County has been tops for 24 years in a row. Tuscarawas: 7,623. Ashtabula: 7,161. Knox: 6,704. Muskingum: 6,283 • Local harvest: Allen: 1,831 (1,472); Hancock: 2,345 (1,954); Hardin: 2,053 (1,692); Henry: 1,181 (1,042); Putnam: 1,376 (1,200); Sandusky: 1,485 (1,223); Seneca: 3,017 (2,535); Wood: 1,434 (1,239); Wyandot: 2,405 (1,982). • Deer types checked: Does: 111,921 (48%). Antlered bucks: 95,998 (42%). Button bucks: 21,257 (9%). Bucks with shed antlers or antlers shorter than 3 inches: 2,966 (1%) • Deer checked, by season: Archery: 104,731. Weeklong gun season: 85,448. Two-day gun season: 15,835. Four-day muzzleloader season: 13,055. Two-day youth season: 9,759. Controlled firearm hunts: 3,314 • Ohio hunters were issued 424,241 deer permits across all hunting seasons. The number of permits used to check deer: Deer management permits (30,532). Either-sex permits (138,677). Landowners checked 62,933 deer hunting on their own property (no permit required). • License sales: Hunters from all 50 U.S. states purchased nonresident licenses for deer hunting. States with the highest nonresident license sales: Pennsylvania (6,768). Michigan (4,426). North Carolina (2,999). New York (2,839). West Virginia (2,750) • Most popular hunting implements: Straight-walled cartridge rifle: 78,395 (34%). Crossbow: 77,938 (33%). Vertical bow: 29,845 (13%). Shotgun: 29,800 (13%). Muzzleloader: 15,602 (6%). Handgun: 562 (less than 1%) Step Outside • March 1: Primitive Blackpowder Muzzle Loader Shoot, round ball only, 1 p.m. Black Swamp Muzzle Loaders Club, 8831 Township Rd. 19, McComb. Email: roadkill4u@hotmail.com • March 1: Trap Shoot, 1 p.m. Mount Blanchard Gun Club, 21655 Delaware Township 186. • March 11: 42nd annual Ohio Wildlife Diversity Conference. 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Doors open at 8 a.m. Ohio Union, 1739 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210. The conference, check-in, and on-site registration are on the second floor. Parking is at the Ohio Union South Parking Garage (1759 North High Street) for $10 (credit card only). Preregistration is recommended and can be completed at wildohio.gov or by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543). • March 21: Hancock County Pheasants Forever Banquet and Fundraiser. 5:30 p.m. at the Old Mill Stream Centre at the Hancock County Fairgrounds, 1017 E Sandusky St, Findlay. There will be a brisket and chicken dinner, open bar, games, raffles, and both silent and live auctions. These events help the organization to sponsor conservation and habitat restoration services in Hancock County along with special youth events and sponsored specialized pheasant hunts. Questions: Email mark_plesec@goodyear.com. To purchase a single ticket or one of the membership packages, visit: https://events.pheasantsforever.org/events/c719d655-f7a4-4e4e-b152-ce1f33b47d48. Hope to see you there! • April 11: Black Swamp Bucks Annual Banquet. Doors open at 3 p.m., dinner at 5:30 p.m. The Cube, 3430 N. Main St., Findlay. This home-grown organization has developed a statewide reputation for formulating a grassroots conservation effort, cooperating with other conservation clubs and ODNR to provide youth outdoor activities and education, providing habitat and conservation practices, and encouraging an ethical involvement in our hunting heritage. This well organized event is one of the largest in Ohio and provides opportunites to participate in fund-raising games, auctions, and raffles to benefit their efforts in our area. This fun fundraiser sells out quickly for both sponsors and individual attendies. Tickets are not sold at the door and are only available through a committee member or online at https://BlackSwampBucks.com/Banquet/. Hope to see you there! Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via e-mail at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com.