Move up the duck opener?

[jparrucci]

Who else is in favor of bumping up the opener a week (OR TWO!) The lack of wood ducks and especially teal has finally reached the breaking point with me. Most states south of us are already hunting before we are. Does anyone else see a problem with this? The DNR even says that the majority of these ducks leave before opener begins. This is now bordering on stupidity. It is bad enough in most years with a lot of teal being gone before opener. If you hunt in the northern 2/3 of MN you probably had a slim chance at shooting the 2nd most common duck in the state, because it was likely gone by opener. It is really time we move the season forward and split it (both geographically, and split early and late season) Before a shot was fired, many of us had little chance of shooting many ducks. Now that most of the woodies and teal are gone, and the local mallards have moved to refuges and private property, what is a hunter to do for the next 30 days before we get a real push of some migrants? Each year I travel all over the state throughout the month of October scouting and hunting-to see few ducks. You can take all that habitat stuff and throw it out the window. Yes, we produce far too few ducks, but the ones we do produce are gone anyways, so what does it matter. The only hope you have to shoot ducks in this state consistantly is to have a field or private land for Mallards and Geese (or too much time and money to scout on a daily basis). I have about reached my breaking point on this sport. Far, far too many hours wasted away during the doldrums of October, when the locals are LONG gone, and the migrants have yet to arrive. Maybe I'll get luck and there will be a few divers around up north this weekend.

P.S. All of this is rant is from somebody who actually shot a bunch of ducks last weekend. Judging from the DNR reports, I was one of the very few.

[CatchPhotoFilet]

There are not any ducks on opener the way it is! northern ducks are not even thinking of moving south a week earlier then what is already in the books. In reality I dont think it even pays to hunt ducks until crappy weather pushes the northern ducks south for the week or 2 they are in the state. I do feel that you should be able to shoot hen mallards. For how little green heads are around and how little the duck population is I thin Minnesota needs every little bit of help it can get.

[jparrucci]

I think most people (especially the further north you get) don't realize just how many Blue Wing Teal and Wood Ducks are gone before they hit the duck blind on opener. I would guess on an average year, 1/2 the summer duck population in MN is gone from the northern 2/3rds of the state by opener.

[Finlander]

Don't you know all the input we hunters express to the lawmakers won't make any difference!

It's our DNR which means: "Do Not Respond" to logical thinking!

[Musky Buck]

It's bad jparrucci, I have all private land at my disposal and there's nothing there but chilly water, rarely any birds. I used to sneak up on various ponds years back because you knew there were or would be ducks on them, that's not the case anymore. So I moved to the Morris area figuring ok, now I've got ducks, saw a few more, but it wasn't good either. With 2 weekends of deer season now what few birds will move in are around then and with tons of deer stands along the rivers they get driven out of the area as well. The usual DNR report and I'm not blaming the DNR. Grouse opener, too many leaves. Pheasant, too much standing corn. Waterfowl, the local birds moved out just before season and we're waiting on the migrants. I've been reading that report for 25 years now. I'm not even so sure opening it earlier would help my area, the birds are few if any, but it may help other areas and hunters so I'd be for it. I almost feel guilty hunting ducks in my area, I just hunt geese exclusively and they are very educated already in my area, coming in at 100 yards high to the refuge and dropping straight down. I hope just once I can eat my words on ducks in our area, I'll find out the next 2 mornings while goosin'.

[chub]

I'd be fine with an earlier opener as long as there is a split. How many years did we sit with warm temps and no ducks through most of October?

Someone answer this........

Why is it that we get the "front" that pushes out our early migrants about every year, yet in the dakotas they still have teal up the gazoo? I suppose it could be said that they've got alot more to work with than we do, but the fact of the matter is, other than some wood ducks, I don't think anything nests or hatches(relatively speaking), anymore.

People are crying about no ducks to shoot in the first part of the season, because "they all get pushed out", when infact the crying should be about what a pizz poor state this has become for raising any birds.

[Buckcountry]

All this [PoorWordUsage] and moaning about no ducks, I am sick of hearing about it...move to SD or ND. There are no ducks in this state, there are a variety of reasons for it, I would not blame the DNR, what can they do, raise ducks and release them into the wild. The DNR is not out there killing ducks, everyone complains about the DNR and what they don't do, WHAT SHOULD THEY DO. Perhaps the birds have adapted and no longer want to fly through when they can fly over ND and SD and eat when and how much they want from the farms. Oh Wait, amybe the DNR should make more farms in MN then maybe the ducks would come back, get real people, everyone is to blame, the developers, farmers, and hunters.

[jparrucci]

I agree Chub, we don't raise enough ducks thats for sure. But all the hail calls about habitat don't matter when all we get for good hunting is a few days of a good push at the end of the season. Its the fact that the locals are gone by opener. I don't know if the early season youth hunt has anything to do with this (I think it may play A part, but not all of it before somebody jumps down my throat) I made the point last year about hunting early season goose, and watching 2 groups of early youth shoot a couple of boxes of shells EACH. Not that this is going to chase all the ducks out (the area I was at on opener, I highly doubt had any youth hunters, and there were still no teal. The woodies numbers dropped by about half in the week leading up to opener this year, and last. Granted we did have some major fronts push through, but its that time of the year for THOSE type of fronts. I'm just getting sick of not being able to shoot at the few ducks we do have. Late season mallards are a riot, if you have the gear and place to hunt them. Can we get a moderate to create a poll...Split season yes/no, bumping up opener yes/no. Split state in half yes/no

[Musky Buck]

Maybe you answered some of the ? Buckcountry. 3.5 million people in North and South Dakota combined and 6 million in Minnesota alone. More people to ruin what we had here. I don't blame the DNR and I don't think revitalizing a farm for waterfowl, I don't think I hurt things too much. You are right the birds can fly freely through the dakota's much easier than MN and it's forests and cities, a lot of the dakota's populus is along the red river, on the border. I know I'm reaching, I'm going to research the flyway and when and how many birds they can take, just for curiosity.

[luckycrank]

Quote:

I have about reached my breaking point on this sport. Far, far too many hours wasted away during the doldrums of October, when the locals are LONG gone, and the migrants have yet to arrive. Maybe I'll get luck and there will be a few divers around up north this weekend

WASTED TIME ???? I

[tb7108]

There is plenty of people to blame for not helping the lack of ducks, how many people FemaleDog on these sites but dont belong to DU or MWA.

How many people volunteer time with DU or at least put Wood Duck houses in some pond around the State, I dont always agree with the DNR but they are under staffed and lack funding to please everyone. The lack of Hunter ethics put a sour taste in my mouth years ago in this state, I hunt almost every weekend during the MN waterfowl season, during the slow days I think of my annual trip to Saskatchewan that will always put a smile on my face.

At least we have Geese and Walleyes.

[Flash]

It's plain and simple boys and girls. The MN DNR is not managing our waters for waterfowl. They are being managed for the fishing and tourism industries. A lot more money in that.

[RumRiverRat]

Plenty of Ducks around you just have to scout.

I prefer people staying at home and complaining about the lack of birds.

Also the DNR does not care about Duck Hunters they manage the water in this state for fishing not hunting.

So until something changes everyone continue to stay home, I will be out killing ducks.

[B. Amish]

and the prairies are being managed for pheasants and deer, not ducks.

[jparrucci]

For the record, this post wasn't started about the lack of ducks. That is a whole different discussion. This is about the timing of our seasons. There is no question that duck numbers in Minnesota could be much, much higher. I do contribute to DU, varmit hunt, put up wood duck houses, and do plenty to help when I can. That isn't what this thread is about. This is about the choices of seasons starting and ending dates from OUR DNR. Never once did I blame the lack of ducks on the DNR. I simply stated that I wished we would change our seasons to take better advantage of the ducks that we do produce here. Anyone have any more thoughts on THAT subject?

[RumRiverRat]

So in a few years when the opener is at the end of September you will be happy?

The next few opener dates will be

2010 Oct 2nd

2011 Oct 1st

2012 Sep 29th

2013 Sep 28th

[tb7108]

Yep I agree why shouldnt the duck openor get moved up a week or two. I would also like to see the 9AM openor go away as well.

[jparrucci]

I've spent many, many days scouting RRR. Some of us do have a limited time to hunt and scout. Take my opener last year. I found a great small lake holding lots and lots of ducks. This was throughout the late summer, and up to about 3 days before opener. This was west and south of the cities. Driving an hour and a half after work to get down there and check it out at least twice a week, checking ponds, WMAs, knocking doors, etc. The pond I settled on was loaded 3 days before opener last year. Opening morning, less than a dozen ducks on the pond. The pond was full of teal the weeks leading up to this, then gone a few days before opener. Now I did shoot a few woodies and 1 btw and 1 gwt. If I was hunting the weekend before, I would have had one of the best hunts of my life. This is my gripe. I did put in all the time, effort, money etc. How great will everyones hunt be when people who are devoted as I am finally hang it up (and I'm only 29) Why can't we move this thing forward, and allow us to actually harvest a duck or two. I can't imagine what duck hunting is like for the person who does less homework than I do. What happens when all the money people like me put into the sport, is gone. No more license, stamps, DU, MWA, pick your poison. At some point, people are going to give up. Again, I raise the question, why aren't we hunting the duck we produce before they head out of town?

[jparrucci]

NO RRR, I would like it mid Sept in all reality. Why not, we are the Northernmost state in the continental US, yet we start duck hunting last? Doesn't anyone else find this odd. The only people I can see being against this, are those who have access to prime private farms/lakes.

[RumRiverRat]

Why are they still shooting gobs of BWT and GWT in Nodak right now?

I laugh at people that get so whipped up about all the woodies and teal leaving because of the cold.

I have shot Woodies and GWT when there was ice on the lake.

I have shot BWT well into November.

[RumRiverRat]

The only people I can see being against this, are those who have access to prime private farms/lakes.

I can name 3 public lakes that are holding lots of Ducks right now.

I verified it this morning and plan on locating more this evening.

[jparrucci]

I don't know why they are RRR. I too have shot some woodies and BWT around ice up. But not many. Again, you are missing the point of this. If the teal and woodies are generally leaving (at least the majority) then why wouldn't it make sense to move the season up?

[jparrucci]

If I wasn't working a m-f job like MOST, I would love to be out scouting and or hunting. For most this is not an option. I scout whenever I can before and during the season. I'm sure there are plenty of places holding ducks in MN right now! Not all of us (even us die-hard hunters) have unlimited time to scout. I take vacation days before and during the season to hunt and scout. I'm glad my DU donation went to good use on public water.

[RumRiverRat]

I don't know why they are RRR.

The reason is habitat.

ND produces more ducks than MN.

MN does not produce many ducks so when a few the BWT and Woodies leave there are even less ducks in the state.

The answer is not opening the season earlier it is about habitat.

[RumRiverRat]

If I wasn't working a m-f job like MOST, I would love to be out scouting and or hunting.

I work Full time Second Shift and go to school full time.

I also have a wife and 4 month old son.

If I can find time to scout, everyone should be able to.