Open water waterfowling

[Gordie]

How many are planning on hunting this way?

I have always wished we could do this in Minnesota and now its going to be possible so I will give a try on the big waters and late season on the Mississippi.

[dan z]

I wish they would have opened it to every lake above 1000 acres then it'd be game on for me. I don't see myself traveling for an open water excursion.

[Stringerless!]

I am with DanZ.

[rbs]

I am with you guys but why limit it to how large the lake is? I have plenty of lakes in sw mn that I would love to do this on and can't. I sure would like to try it!

[Feathers Rainin]

I am with you guys but why limit it to how large the lake is? I have plenty of lakes in sw mn that I would love to do this on and can't. I sure would like to try it!

Can you imagine hunting on a 100 acre lake or slough and have two parties set up out in open water? It would pretty much ruin it for anyone attempting to hunt the shore. States that have allowed open water hunting have run into a lot of issues with hunter conflicts between shore hunters and open water guys. I am glad to see they opened it in our state and I hope to try it this year but I am also glad they have limited it to larger pieces of water. Hopefully it goes smooth and they open it up to more water bodies down the road.

[rbs]

A 100 acre lake would not work you are right...how about 750...that would do it!

[BrdHunter01]

Can't wait to have the boat anchored, bobber and leech out, gun loaded, catching walleye and waiting for something to fly by

[dan z]

Don't forget guys you have to be 100' of shore or vegetation. That part ki da stinks also.

[Kettle]

I'm going to give it a shot on Superior, going to be scary!!!!

Kettle

[Muthagoose]

only being 33yds from shore or vedg BITES...

Hit'm hard while ya can guys...

If they change it I'll be building a spread that sets on the boat like ya see on the Bonneville's but until then, its a tease in my book..

[Gordie]

only being 33yds from shore or vedg BITES...

Hit'm hard while ya can guys...

If they change it I'll be building a spread that sets on the boat like ya see on the Bonneville's but until then, its a tease in my book..

I had not seen that, its off to read the regs and brush up on it. Most of my hunting open water will be in the sippi late season anyways.

[Markula]

Don't forget guys you have to be 100' of shore or vegetation. That part ki da stinks also.

Only on one section of the river.

[Muthagoose]

I was in a hurry and misunderstood...

Hummmmmmmm

[Finlander]

As I read the rules of open water waterfowl hunting, I see no restrictions as to how or what boat type, blind, etc., for shooting. As long as you are anchored you are good to shoot. So you could put some blind up and slip your boat inside the blind to hide. Then pull up the anchor to retrieve ducks if needed! Hmmm!

[ribsey_77]

That's how I read it Fin. Any type of boat as long as it is anchored. So any boat with a good blind just off shore or in open water could work.

[Muthagoose]

Think you guys are right.. Now after reading the synopsis its how I see it..

Humm this could be fun...

[TonkaBass]

I'm excited. I don't have a regs in from of me atm. Anyone know what waters this pertains to?

[Gordie]

Quote:

OPEN WATER HUNTING

A small number of lakes will be open to open water hunting this fall. These new opportunities are an outcome of a DNR-led waterfowl hunter focus group and citizen input process. Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Mille Lacs Lake, and Lake Pepin will be open to open water hunting as long as boats remain at anchor. On the Mississippi River south of Hastings, with the exception of Lake Pepin, hunters must remain within 100 feet of shoreline, including islands. This matches the Wisconsin regulations on this portion of the river. Hunters should consult the 2013 Waterfowl Regulations for additional information.

Maj. Phil Meier, DNR enforcement operations manager, said these new open water hunting opportunities will require extra safety precautions. “Hunters should wear their life jackets not just have them aboard,” Meier advised, noting this type of hunting involves small shallow boats and some of Minnesota’s largest and most windswept lakes. “They’ll also have to be on the lookout for recreational boaters, large waves from barges and other commercial traffic and unfavorable changes in the weather. It’s a different type of hunting; it takes a different safety mindset.”

[TonkaBass]

Thanks

[Roosterslayer05]

I'm really disappointed by this law. The biggest issue facing MN duck hunting besides habitat is duck disturbance. Ducks need a place to safely rest and open water in some area's provides the only place for birds to do this. This is already a HUGE issue with angler numbers in this state and opening up open water waterfowling only compounds this issue. The DNR documented an instance last year when a boat drove through a voluntary resting area on the Mississippi and a massive flock of waterfowl got up and flew 60 miles south. These birds didn't even get shot at! The same thing can be said about Pelican lake in Wright county. Before people found out it was a good fishing lake the lake was decent duck hunting. Now that the lake is full of fishing boats all year its hard to shoot any ducks out there. I don't think the correlation between disturbance from fisherman and reduced duck use is an aberration.

Duck disturbance is a huge issue here. We need to be creating more refuge/resting area's, not fewer.

[Gordie]

Duck disturbance is a huge issue here. We need to be creating more refuge/resting area's, not fewer.

Duck disturbance is done every time shots are fired.. we need more options to hunt the waterfowl have plenty of resting places why just take a drive into the metro during hunting season

[Roosterslayer05]

I disagree. Shooting at birds at feeding or loafing area's doesn't necessarily push them from the area. Shooting birds on the roost DOES push them out of the area. Open water hunting promotes this. I'm from the metro area and citing that as a waterfowl resting area is folly. For the majority of the metro area that resting area does not provide ANY hunting opportunities besides on the fringes. A duck using moderate to poor habitat with heavy disturbance needs a much longer period to regenerate its fat reserves to continue migration. This causes birds to spend less time in an area. To improve hunting the birds need security.

There are plenty of opportunities to hunt waterfowl here. Waterfowl use places outside of a refuge, but they need a safe place to roost to stick around and provide MORE opportunities.

[Gordie]

Its not open water hunting on every lake and river either so there are still many places that they can rest and re-coop. Oh and I also disagree because if you shoot and birds in a feeding area they will leave just as fast as if you shoot at them in open water.

It takes a special type of water fowl hunter to hunt these open water birds and I don't see it pushing off any more birds than what it does if you were to just pass by them in a boat.

Also your most likely hunting divers on the big water and those birds will land on the boat given the chance and on the river it will be more like pass shoot for most hunters rather than a disturbance hunt.

[Roosterslayer05]

I hunt multiple feeding ponds within sight of the roost and as soon as you shoot at those birds they head straight to the roost and sit down. I know they don't leave because I can hunt these spots three times a week until freeze up and the birds do not leave. If someone hunts the roost one day half the birds are gone the next day. If you hunt a field you can burn it out and those same birds start using another field but do not leave the area. I don't think the limited open water hunting available NOW will negatively impact Minnesota's duck holding capabilities but I do believe its a slippery slope to opening more waters to open water hunting in the future. Here is a segment of a paper written by the leading waterfowl researchers in North America stressing the energy needs and importance of reducing disturbance. There is an awesome figure that I could not copy into this post that shows energy needs based on habitat and disturbance for Mallards. You can find the whole paper on google scholar.

"Flight is energetically expensive and is usually

estimated at 12-15 ´ BMR (Table 1). For example, a

mallard weighing 2.5 lb would require 3 days of foraging

to replenish fat reserves following an 8-hour

flight if caloric intake were 480 kcal/day (Fig. 2).

However, if food availability were only equivalent to

390 kcal/day, then the mallard would need 5 days to

replenish these reserves. If mallards must fly to

reach food, the time required to replenish lost reserves

is even longer (Fig.2). These time differences

indicate the importance of well-managed areas and

the need to protect waterfowl from disturbances." (Fredrickson, L.H., and F.A. Reed. 1988. Waterfowl Use of Wetland Complexes. Fish and Wildlife Leaflet 13.2.1 1-7)

[Gordie]

I also hunt multiple feeding ponds and have seen birds not return after one day of hunting, These birds are on a migration and are moving because of that and a hunter is a deterrent and will push birds along there merry way south just a little sooner sometimes.

Minnesota has 10,000 plus lakes and I'm sure they will find a place to rest and re-coop.

I don't think this will have a negative impact on the birds at all and if it does go to all lakes which I highly doubt due to the proximity of people/residents along most small bodies of water.

Mallards are NOT what is targeted in most open water hunts. Like I said most open water hunters hunt divers.