The hunting of the woodcock and its future.
TRENDS IN FRANCE and EUROPE LEVIES
CONSERVATION STATUS of the EUROPEAN LIVESTOCK
REALITY
Summary of the September 2019 study.
For the European Woodcock , any count of the living bird is impossible, both on the breeding area and on the wintering area.
The aim of this study is to know from the estimation and evolution of withdrawals over more than thirty years in France and in Europe, what is the reality of the conservation status of European workforce.
According to the Oncfs, estimating hunting tables is an increasingly important issue for huntable species, in particular migratory birds.
At the scientific level, only the knowledge of the samples and their evolution makes it possible to judge with good precision, the reality of the state of conservation in which the huntable species are found.
Levies in Europe.
In 2000 , the Bécasse Oncfs network estimated the B de B withdrawals each year in Europe at between 3 and 4 million.
In 2017 , he estimated them to be between 2 and 3 million 40% drop in seventeen years.
Levies in France.
France is the country which takes the most Woodcock. Coherent, it is the one that has the most reliable estimates of withdrawals, thanks to the surveys of the Oncfs.
For their 2013/2014 survey, the Oncfs chose a new method that was published in an international journal, testifying to its scientific strength. It allows them to say that the 1983/1984 and 1998/1999 surveys resulted in an overestimation of hunting tables which can reach 20% and even more.
For the B of B, it is likely to be able to validate the 2013/2014 withdrawals as close to reality, then by reducing those of 1983/1984 and 1998/1999 by the 20% observed, measure their evolution over the last thirty years.
It should be noted that the number of visitors and the samples for the 2013/2014 season were higher than the average for the 2000s. According to my research, the average for the samples from 2008/2009 to 2017/2018 would be around 10% lower per compared to those of 2013/2014. (as indicated in the table).
Minor by 20% observed.
Notes on sampling surveys.
For a migratory species like the B des B, for which the inter-season harvest fluctuations are significant, it is necessary to carry out a survey each year to estimate their average evolution over the last ten seasons. This is the condition for knowing the real state of conservation of the species. Let's not be fooled by a season of heavy withdrawals, it alone cannot erase the decade-long downward trend.
The Oncfs has only carried out three surveys in thirty years, fifteen years apart. It is largely insufficient.
However, with the same methodology used for these surveys, in France we have observed a significant drop of 39% in woodcock removals in thirty-four years. Phenomenon aggravating this downward trend has never ceased and is accelerating.
To better understand what has happened over the last decade for the samples and the Abondance Hunting Indices (ICA), I analyzed the results of the Gironde * and Morbihan, departments among the most representative for attendance and B de B direct debits in France.
* The results of the Gironde (table and graph) are on the complete study.
The estimation of the Morbihan samples was carried out by the Federation of hunters of the department. With a return rate of notebooks of over 80%, this Federation enforces the terms of the 2011 decree, then by using them obtains validated results close to exhaustiveness.
Much more visible than in the Gironde, the values of the Morbihan Ica (here those of the Cnb *) are not at all correlated with the level of withdrawals. They validate the little credit that we can give to the ICA (hunting indices of abundance) to know the state of conservation of the European B of B.
Today the ICAs only allow you to have a small " idea »On the abundance of Woodcock each season, by department and nationally.
Comparison of the evolution of Woodcock removals with that of other huntable species.
The downward trend in B des B withdrawals in France over the last thirty-four years should challenge us. This is not good news for the European Woodcock herd. Hunting managers, woodcock hunters, 3 specialists, scientists, researchers, experts can no longer act as if nothing had changed, especially when we see what happened over the same period for three migratory species emblematic of French hunting .
To the shooting table, it is necessary to add the levies of traditional hunts for the four departments of the South-West (pantes) governed by quotas.
Captures made in 2013 : 370,000 then in 2017 : 106,500 (-71% in four years).
For the pantes also the catches are in free fall.
Even if, in view of agricultural practices, the harvesting of hunters is not
those first responsible *, they have contributed and still contribute to amplifying and accelerating the collapse of the European Skylark herd.
* Non-hunted species are in the same situation.
Such a regular and significant drop in removals over thirty years proves that for Turdids it is indeed the European breeding and migratory numbers that have fallen sharply, heralding a collapse in the near future.
With the same methodology used as for the Alouettes and Turdidae, we observe a remarkable stability of the samples over thirty years, which corresponds to the feelings of observers and hunters on the health of the species. Unlike the other two, it confirms at least the stability and even the increase in the overall European breeding and migrating number of the Wood Pigeon.
Teachings.
The results of the estimation of the removals on the three species studied are fully in line with the reality on the ground. :
Wood pigeon : minimum stability. Skylark, Thrushes and Blackbirds tend to collapse. These results confirm this .
When the removals of a species remain stable, the breeding and migrating numbers are at least stable or even increasing (case of the Wood Pigeon).
When the removals of a species decline, fall or collapse over more than a decade, the reproductive and migratory numbers follow the same trajectory (case of the Lark, thrushes and blackbirds) without forgetting the Turtle Dove.
Why would the Oncfs methodology, which works perfectly for these four species, stop working as soon as it is the B of B? ?
Case of the Woodcock.
There is no objective reason why the same causes should not produce the same effects. The continual downward trend in Woodcock removals in thirty-four years corresponds to the decline in numbers.
It is a constant, all the species whose withdrawals have fallen continuously over several years have seen their numbers decrease, even going so far as to collapse. For some of them, only the total cessation of withdrawals, sometimes over several decades, has made it possible not only to reconstitute the workforce, but to observe today an overpopulation. Example : Snow Goose or Canadian White Goose.
So that the results obtained are not questionable, I studied the parameters that could explain the decrease in the B des B withdrawals in France.
There is no evidence that the drop in the number of hunting licenses had an impact on the drop in woodcock removals.
All the indicators consulted confirm that the hunting pressure on this bird has continued to increase, in particular over the last decade, largely offsetting the decline in permits.
The PMA 30 has very little impact on the reduction and regulation of withdrawals.
Global warming still cannot explain the drop in withdrawals.
The use of booklets still does not allow us to know the estimate of withdrawals and their distribution in France, because of an insufficient return of 43% booklets. This lack of respect for the law by the majority of hunters, in particular woodcock hunters, gives hunting a bad image.
It should come as no surprise that our adversaries use this argument to discredit us.
It must be admitted, none of the parameters studied is responsible for the drop in withdrawals in France.
Conclusion.
Knowing and monitoring samples is the best scientific means
to know the trend of the conservation status of each species studied.
When for the Woodcock we observe over more than thirty years :
In Europe : 40% decrease in withdrawals.
In France : 39% decrease in withdrawals.
The European breeding and migrating herd is inevitably in decline.
For me this is no surprise. This result is consistent with that of 50 years of hunting B of B with my dogs, observations, notes to which have been added since 2009, ten years of uninterrupted research to know the state of conservation in which this species is found. migratory.
Confirmation : More and more woodcock hunters with anteriority, who like me still hunt regularly with their dogs, have the same judgment. The trend is to see fewer and fewer birds in the woods.
If we simply refer to the fall in withdrawals over more than thirty
years in France but also in Europe, we can deduce that today the European populations of the Woodcock are in danger.
All those and they are still too numerous among the specialists of the B of the B, who continue to affirm season after season, by relying mainly on the values of the ICA and IAN that the species is in good health, the European numbers stable, not only are mistaken, but endanger the Woodcock as a huntable species and by extension the practice of its hunting with dogs.
" There is still time to act »Magic phrase repeated nowadays like an incantation to protect us from the end of time, will not be enough.
Only my optimistic nature pushes me to believe it again and to say it. If we let it breathe, this species has the capacity to rebuild its numbers, provided the breeding stock has not gone too low.
This situation justifies, not a restriction in the act of hunting Woodcock, but a strong restriction in the act of taking it.
Its future, that of its hunt depends on all of us. We'll see, but no one will be able to say ... We didn't know.
Note : To find out more, ask us for the complete study (or the sources are indicated), on the website : lachassedelabecassedesbois.com News : Woodcock Investigations. The reality on samples and European livestock.
Philippe Vignac. Hunter Seeker Woodcock. October 2019