. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 364 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 2j, Art. 2 season adjusted to provide less shooting pressure. In the northern and central zones, a late opening would see most of the wood ducks gone before shooting commences. Census and banding rec- ords in Illinois reveal that most of these ducks have departed from this state by November 1. Effect of Bait and Live Decoys In the years when baiting was per- mitted along the Illinois River, there were two diverse types of baited areas. In the bottomlands, bait was placed in small timbered ponds, or
. Bulletin. Natural history; Natural history. 364 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 2j, Art. 2 season adjusted to provide less shooting pressure. In the northern and central zones, a late opening would see most of the wood ducks gone before shooting commences. Census and banding rec- ords in Illinois reveal that most of these ducks have departed from this state by November 1. Effect of Bait and Live Decoys In the years when baiting was per- mitted along the Illinois River, there were two diverse types of baited areas. In the bottomlands, bait was placed in small timbered ponds, or at shooting stands in the marshes and on the large lakes. Differing widely from such baited areas were the upland field pens, each of which consisted merely of a pen of decoys, bait and, usually, a small pond of water. The bottomland areas most success- fully baited were small timbered ponds and potholes. For the reason that the region near the mouth of the Sangamon River contained many such areas and was almost devoid of natural foods, it was the scene of the heaviest baiting. Leopold (1931) reports that in that region in 1928 clubs were putting out, on a 20-acre tract, as high as 7,000 bushels of corn per season and that rates per acre ran up to 430 bushels per season. According to Uhler (1933) field-pen shooting reached its maximum develop- ment in Mason County. The success there was due largely to the proximity of three large "rest" lakes—Clear, Jack and Crane—which at the time were not adapted to the growth of first-class duck food plants because of their extreme fluctuation in water levels. Mallards were readily attracted from these lakes to the nearby heavily baited field pens. From a plane, Uhler enumerated 250 field pens in Mason County and in the adjacent part of Tazewell County. Most of these were within 5 miles of the Illinois River bottomlands, but a few were nearly twice that distance from the river. Uhler's description of a dry-land club is as follo
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