Youth Waterfowl Day Yea or Nay?

[B420]

Honker23

That idea sounds great! Those two weeks after opener tend to suck anyway as we wait for the migrators.

[Gordie]

only problem I see with this idea honker is what happens when the weather turns unexpectidly and you know it can happen and the flight starts and were not able to hunt because the seasons shut down.

alot of P and M going on about about that deal then. Just my

We live in a State that has had a major growth in everything since the 80's and the hunting not like it used to be so there are things that are tring to be done to better up the state for waterfowl hunting but it will never be as it was.

I hope that it will be but I dont see it happening unless some major things happen and I know that I have no control over those things. Yes together a bunch of people can make a small differnce but Urban sprawl is just taking over little by little.

For me the best way to deal with it is to enjoy what I have and still am able to do especially when it comes to the youth or my kids with out them no changes for the good will be made so its up to us to invole youth when ever possible to the outdoors on a possitive level.

Happy hunting

[Bowfin]

Yea for me - I'll be out for my 12 year olds 4th duck season. Us adults can't start till Oct 2nd when the teal and woodies will be gone anyway. Mise well let the younguns get a few before they head south.

[strait-meat]

I say Yea---We are both really looking forward to it and I think it will be a great time for the both of us.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

there should be some good oppertunities this weekend for the kids; i scouted last night and this morning in western minnesota for a spot for 2 kids to hunt, saw wood ducks hitting fields by the hundreds, and there is a lot of mallards and teal just hanging out in flooded crops. i will be putting 2 boys on some flooded wheat stubble for mallards in the morning!

[honker23]

Really you would only be missing 1 week under the current season. Would all ducks leave at that time in northern MN? If so, then you would appreciate opening a week earlier to get 2 days of hunting in before it got so cold.

I just think right now the opener has lost a lot of luster for me. Whether it is from the goose on water, youth, or loss of habitat. I think by a 2 day early hunt for everyone would allow all of us to enjoy the local birds for a weekend. I would definitely enjoy a few extra days at the end of the season.

[Gordie]

To be honest with you I would like the season to go later in the year but this has its faults also like the Bluebill population falling but the Goldeneyes are so much fun and I love those Decemeber mallards.

Dont get me wrong I love shooting and most of all eating teal but divers are where its at for me. and that means late season big water and cold temps

Yea I'm a bit Nutz

[Beast26]

To be honest with you I would like the season to go later in the year but this has its faults also like the Bluebill population falling but the Goldeneyes are so much fun and I love those Decemeber mallards.

Dont get me wrong I love shooting and most of all eating teal but divers are where its at for me. and that means late season big water and cold temps

Yea I'm a bit Nutz

This + I am a big fan of layout blind hunting in fields and having hundreds of Mallard circling over head. You don't see that until really late in the fall/early winter. There is nothing better than watching a flock of bills a half mile up dive bomb the spread.

[Barbelboy]

I believe youth waterfowl day gives them a unique opportunity to experience unpressured birds without too much competition. I don't have kids, but I've trained at least 4 to be waterfowlers. Each one I would take them until they were too old, then they had to find their replacement. It worked wonderfully and I had an awesome time teaching each kid. Each one that was too old also helped me teach the new one. Before I knew it I had a little cadre of duck scouts/partners and access to all their spots during regular season! I even had the little rascals trained to set the decoys and make coffe in the duck blind before I showed up!

The time spent teaching them what I knew, how to properly scout, ask permission politely and put my decoys out for me paid off big time. I'm for anything that helps retain or recruit hunters in a time when our numbers are decreasing and our sport is under increasing scrutiny.

[Mlaker3]

Yea, big time. Took my kids out each youth day. They are 25 and 28 now. Big time waterfowl enthusiasts. One was my daughter, she thinks the sound of cupped winged mallards coming into field deke's like mini-jets is the coolest sound on earth. I am so proud of her!

How could you take that away from other families!

[dan z]

Nay. They can go on opener like everyone else in MN. Ever sense they started youth season i have shoot less ducks on opener. Im totally not a fan of the youth day. sorry kids. i was a kid one day i got no youth day. i had to go with the adults on opener.

one more thing there are less ducks around to shoot so lets scare them out are state before opener even gets here.

[Stringerless!]

Well kids day has come and gone and so have the ducks. I watched countless clouds of mallards ,woodies and teal rise up off the lake circle once and head south as fast as they could fly. Wonder if I can get my $ back for my stamps ? It is over. They are gone .Might as well fill the duck boat with black dirt and plant flowers in it !

[RumRiverRat]

Well kids day has come and gone and so have the ducks. I watched countless clouds of mallards ,woodies and teal rise up off the lake circle once and head south as fast as they could fly. Wonder if I can get my $ back for my stamps ? It is over. They are gone .Might as well fill the duck boat with black dirt and plant flowers in it !

Yep, better stay home this season.

[Twins23]

Went out this morning, only managed to get 6 ducks total 5 wood ducks, 2 were drakes, and got a hen mallard. Saw a number of birds many were just landin outside our decoy spread. Saw many flocks of geese. Overall a great day out on the river.

[SledNeck]

We decoyed in over 100 mallards today (on a pond in the woods). I kid you not. We didnt go 15 minutes straight without any action.

[koonie]

Had my nephew out today and he wound up with his limit. His first birds ever. I had a ball watching him. He is hooked.

[Swampbusters]

If the youth day ruins the great opener. I personally think no one should go on opener, it ruins sunday! Opener is for fairweather hunters anyway, the real season dont start till mid november! The youth hunt is a great day! If it pushes the ducks south, who cares! Im pretty sure that there will be more ducks to replace them. I dont mind not haveing a spectacular opener if it were because two weeks prior some kids had a blast with there dads or who ever took them out. Sorry for the rant but just tired of hearing about how kids are getting lazy and playing to much xbox and then the same guy turns around and complains about kids haveing a special day.

[PEATMOSS]

I have no idea what effect YWD has on ducks moving south etc, I just know that my chubby 14 yr old walked about five miles today and he has called both his grandpas and all his uncles to tell them about the birds he got. I'm a yea.

[Stringerless!]

If you think the youth day scares all of the ducks out of the state how are you gonna feel when they put blinds IN sanctuaries ?!?! The Dnr is trying 2 blinds in Carlos Avery. I went and talked to Dan Rhode, Wma manager and he said the idea came from headquarters in St Paul. They were gonna make a lot of Carlos controlled hunting blinds ! Why don't they do it on a refuge where waterfowl hunting is not allowed ? Something about getting more ppl interested in hunting by providing a "quality " hunt ! They have had "quite a bit of interest- lots of phone calls and emails". Quality hunt ?! That is like calling the trout pond at the sport show quality fishing ?!?! Mark my words, Any of you that hunt WMAS with sanctuaries should be concerned because this is a model/test run for the rest of the state. What holds ducks in these areas ? The only reason they stay there is because it is safe ! How can we drive them out of there ? Easy ! Go in and start shooting ! Absolutely one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard ! Gotta go take a blood pressure pill !

[machohorn]

I wish they would do that hunt over the po op pond in rogers or the little pond behind the bowling alley in Monti. I swaer thats where 90% of the ducks hide out. lol

[Stringerless!]

Yeah I agree. There are a million other places where somebody could have a "quaility" hunt besides shooting birds out of an existing sanctuary. Sorry did not want to hijack the thread. The kid I took out shot a box and a half of shells and got a mergie hen and a suzie. It was his first time hunting . He can hit 19 out of 25 clays but thought that the ducks would fly into his shooting window. I would say " ducks coming from the right ! " and he would pull up his gun in the hole in the dekes and wait for the birds to come to it without ever looking for the ducks. Lots to learn ! I got a text from his Dad today that said they were out pricing duck boats today so they must have had fun !

[Ray1]

Im a yeah.For those of you that say no you must be very selfish people and want everything for yourselves. END OF MY OPINION.

[Bryce]

Nay. Admittely influenced by the fact we have no children ourselves. Decision made so that they didn't turn into trolls. (see above post)

Young hunters always welcome in our camp. Every day is their special day to enjoy with the rest of the crew.

[Gordie]

Well Youth Waterfowl day came and went and my boys were not out to hunt as they wanted to spend time with friends but I have noticed that all the birds have not left the state... and we will be out to cancel there flight plans on OPENER

[Scott M]

Yea for all the reasons already listed. I don't buy the facade of the youth day ruining an entire 60 day season. Ask any waterfowl biologist, a duck will hang around an area even in the midst of hunters and gunfire if there is food and habitat, two things we should as duck hunters be more concerned with. I also don't buy the "no one should be treated special" or "they should have to work at it like the rest of us" lines either. If the last couple generations were passing along duck hunting and we weren't losing hunters every year, we wouldn't even have a youth day. I agree with a number of posters on here, I'd like to see youth day extended to youth that would never have the chance to hunt otherwise. I have taken out 3 youth in 4 years that would never have hunted if I hadn't taken them. The one I brought out this year is going to turn 16 in 3 months; he's more concerned with what duck boat to buy than what car he should purchase.

We sold ~77,000 duck stamps in Minnesota last year; I will guess we lose another 5-6 thousand this year. We need every hunter we can get, including the next ones in line to be eligible.