It's a cold, blustery winter day. The sky is cloudy and a mix of snow and freezing drizzle is falling. It's a terrible day to be outdoors, correct? Maybe for most folks, but not if you're a waterfowl hunter!

Bluebird skies may be good for couch potatoes to stare at through a window, but waterfowlers much prefer a little gloomy weather. Hunters who are looking to fill their bag limits with resident and migrant waterfowl relish wintry days that get the birds up and moving. Every waterfowl enthusiast in the Hoosier State wakes with a smile and plenty of anticipation when the perfect nasty day arrives.

No matter where you live in Indiana, there are many places to scatter some pellets skyward in pursuit of ducks and geese. Of course, not all areas of the state fall under the same season dates, regulations and zones.

Indiana is divided into three waterfowl zones. They are the North Zone, the South Zone and the Ohio River Zone. The zones are designed to give waterfowlers maximum hunting opportunity throughout the season.

Because Indiana is a long state running north and south, waterfowl migrate through the state throughout a wider interval. With only one zone statewide, hunters would have limited hunting opportunity in certain parts of the season. With the three-way division, each part of the state is allowed to offer hunting opportunities at peak migration times. Additionally, hunters willing to travel to different areas of the state can enjoy a more lengthened season than those who hunt only close to home.

There are different ways for zones to be determined. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) sets a framework for the season and then states can determine how their zones will fall within that framework. Indiana's zone breakdown actually falls outside of the typical USFWS framework, but it was grandfathered in and therefore gives us the maximum amount of flexibility within each season. Although there have been several attempts to change the Indiana zone system, doing so would cause us to lose the grandfather status and degrade the options we now have, so our system remains unchanged.