ENTRY INTO THE SOCIETY

Our Society is partly based on honesty.  We request a lot of information from each hunter who applies, but in the end it is up to each applicant to give truthful information on having harvested each species.  We believe, as hunters, we should have the integrity to honor those that have achieved this goal and not to belittle this award by applying under false pretenses.  Unlike big game awards and societies, we cannot examine each trophy so we do ask each applicant to have a level of respect and honesty in applying.

Levels of Membership

Master Waterfowler

Members have harvested all 40 species of North American Migratory Waterfowl. The species included are determined by the 2008 federal regulations and the current scientific data available. We have not included all the sub-species, of which there are many. With new scientific information always emerging, this list has the possibility of changing. Applicants are only required to have those species on the list as of the day they apply.

We try to stay on top of all new information coming from the scientific community, but we appreciate your help on our list. Please contact us with your comments and suggestions.

The Other Societies

We have created other Society Levels to recognize hunters and their favorite subset of waterfowl hunting. The species in each group are based on the taxonomy information currently available in 2008, as well as commonly accepted groupings in the duck hunting community.

We have combined some waterfowl species into Societies that are not scientifically grouped together. The “Diver Society” was expanded beyond the general Aythyinae subfamily. In this group we have included some species from both Oxyurinae and Merginae subfamilies, because we, as duck hunters, have traditionally considered them divers.

To that effect, we have also modified the “Salty Society” to include only what we, as duck hunters, would consider true sea ducks. This excludes some of the Merginae subfamily, even though they are technically sea ducks.

In the process of creating these societies we had extensive discussions with a dedicated group of guides and duck hunters. From these discussions we created the current societies, and the species contained within. We welcome any further comments on the breakdown of each society. Please contact us to discuss them.

Puddler Society –
American Black Duck, American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall,  Green-winged Teal, Mallard, Mottled Duck, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Wood Duck

Diver Society –
Barrow's Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Greater Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Red-breasted Merganser, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Ruddy Duck

Honker Society –
Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Canada Goose, Cackling Goose, Brant

Salty Society –
Black Scoter, Common Eider, Harlequin Duck, King Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter

METHOD OF HARVEST

• To become a member of the Waterfowler’s Society, the hunter must have harvested each species legally under the laws of that time and location. 
  
  
• Each species must have been taken legally by the individual applying.  Gifted birds do not count toward the Society.  An example of a gifted bird is a bird shot by your friend next to you in the blind, but he gave you the bird. An easy way to determine if a bird was gifted: did you pull the trigger? 

TIME AND AREA OF HARVEST

• Each species of bird must have been taken during the regular federal migratory waterfowl season.  We exclude any species taken under any subsistence license/permit.  An example of this is spring subsistence hunts. Although a federally legal method, it is limited to only local residents not giving equal opportunity to all waterfowl hunters. 
  
  
• We also exclude birds found of natural death.
  
  
• All species must also have been harvested in the wild and of wild birth.  Game farm or captive birds do not count.  Birds can be taken on either public or private land, but the birds cannot be released, or raised in captivity at any time.

THE LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS

• In recent years species have been removed from the list of legally huntable waterfowl and we recognize that species may be added in the future.  An applicant is only required to have harvested the current legal list of North American waterfowl.  If a hunter has harvested a legally huntable bird that is no longer legal, we are happy to include them and their accomplishment on their certificate. 
  
  
• Waterfowler’s Society members will not be removed or required to shoot new species if the list of species is altered after their induction into the society.  All new applicants will be required to harvest all the current legal species at the time of application.