I remember shooting my first gadwall as a young hunter and being relatively unimpressed. In fact, I didn’t even know what kind of bird our dog had just retrieved. Many waterfowlers have shared this experience, but seasons are changing, duck populations are varying, and gadwalls are becoming an integral part of the waterfowl experience. As conservationists we ask, “why are gadwall populations doing so well?” and as hunters, “how can we take advantage of this phenomena?”
