When the test first came in, people I know who had been duck shooting for years had to buy the training video in order to be good enough to pass the test. I would imagine therefore that they’re a lot better at id in flight than they were before, which is a good thing.
The video is called “Ducks in Sight”. I’ve got a vague memory of seeing it for sale at the BOCA shop, so I get the impression it’s useful for learning id.
I don’t think they’re required to ever sit the test again, so just like a drivers’ licence, there’s nothing stopping people who’ve forgotten everything they learned from shooting/driving regardless. But the tests do stop those who can’t be bothered learning id from ever getting a licence, so I imagine there are far less illegal species shot by mistake than there were before.
How many are shot anyway, I don’t know. Those collected by volunteers are probably a small percentage of the total, given how many shooters use private wetlands. I’m guessing enforcement is the problem now, not id skills.
Peter Shute
> —–Original Message—– > From: birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au > [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of > Dave Torr > Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 6:34 AM > To: Dimitris Bertzeletos > Cc: Birding Australia > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There’s an > identification test? > > Anyone who wants to drive a car has to pass a test, but the > evidence is > that it doesn’t help some people drive safely. I assume the > duck shooting > test is likely to be even less of a success! > > On 7 February 2012 02:35, Dimitris Bertzeletos >
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