AIS and DNR takes....

[BrdHunter01]

Anyone get checked by the DNR? Did they inform you about AIS and how they were going to enforce it?

We were checked on Saturday at the landing. Our DNR officers (3 of them) said they were not worried about weeds cut above the water as far as transporting them. They understood it is nearly impossible to get all the weeds out of your boat. They did say they will be enforcing weeds on decoy string/decoy anchors, trailers, and boats that contain weeds from "below" the water line. They also mentioned they didn't want to see mud in the boat from wading, the dog, ect. Not sure how you can get the mud out of your boat without bringing a power washer with you but thats what they said...

These officers were there to inform people and were very pleasant to talk to.

Did anyone else get checked and what did they have to say?

[JimBuck]

We were checked by 2 gentlemen after our opener hunt. Checked licenses and plugs then proceeded to tell us about the AIS issue and how they will be enforcing it more later in the season. No weeds on decoys, boats etc. along with pulling plugs on watercrafts. Spent the next 20 minutes cleaning weeds off of everything.....ugh. They were very friendly and professional about everything and seemed to be annoyed by the AIS issue just as much as hunters are.

I'm giving serious thought to changing my j-hook style weights with something easier and quicker to clean weeds off of. Probably going to bring a small broom to brush weeds from the canoe too. Lets hope AIS laws don't get any worse.

[BrdHunter01]

JimBuck, I forgot about the plugs. Funny thing is our hunting partners that were hunting with us. They were checked also. There boat is so old that back then they didn't have "plugs" in them. The DNR told them there is nothing they (the DNR) could do about it. Older boats don't have plugs but all the water still needs to be out of the boat. However they won't receive a ticket for not having the a plug pulled because there isn't one.

[DTro]

I read a troubling story about a hunter that got a ticket over the weekend for having a little standing water in his boat, (even after removing the plug and draining completely). I gotta think there is a lot of that going on, especially in these older smaller duck boats with wet hunters, dogs etc getting in and out of them. My boat holds a little water too, and I think I would try to challenge that one if I ever received a ticket

[mallardnwalleye]

We were checked by 2 gentlemen after our opener hunt. Checked licenses and plugs then proceeded to tell us about the AIS issue and how they will be enforcing it more later in the season. No weeds on decoys, boats etc. along with pulling plugs on watercrafts. Spent the next 20 minutes cleaning weeds off of everything.....ugh. They were very friendly and professional about everything and seemed to be annoyed by the AIS issue just as much as hunters are.

Lets hope AIS laws don't get any worse.

Yep they are just doing there job. The "hole" AIS thing is IMO probably to avoid lawsuits from lakeshore owners claiming the DNR didn't do a good enough job at preventing AIS's from getting into their lake and their property values went down on account of it.

All such a waste of time and silly.

[Scott K]

I read a troubling story about a hunter that got a ticket over the weekend for having a little standing water in his boat, (even after removing the plug and draining completely). I gotta think there is a lot of that going on, especially in these older smaller duck boats with wet hunters, dogs etc getting in and out of them. My boat holds a little water too, and I think I would try to challenge that one if I ever received a ticket

My drain on my boat is about a half inch off the bottom. A half inch can hold lots of water. Just saying.

[Finlander]

Get a big sponge and leave it in the boat so anytime you have water that won't drain just soak it up with your sponge!

Also, leave in the bottom or back portion as this will always soak in the water there!