Season limit

[MattKeller]

Sorry, the post was supposed to say -17 last deer opener. That kind of weather moves ducks. The 2 weeks previous to that day were UNREAL. The migration was here in full force. Couldn't blame it on the weather that year except that it closed things up too early.

[bigbucks]

I'm with you on that one biglake. Opening morning I never even put gloves on, I'd love to say I'm that tough, but I'm really just a wuss that's determined to stay out there cold or not. It was about 25-30 here in Central MN anyway, really pretty nice by my standards.

[LABS4ME]

Tom... and as I've stated in past posts, we as MN hunters are now relying on everything lining up perfect in Canada to give us a week or two of shooting.... gone are the days where we shoot OUR birds raised in OUR state. As I've stated in the past posts also... the Dakotas are not complaining about the birds not coming down... they shoot their birds until more birds move in, it does get better with the northern migration, but they shoot birds all season, you just don't have that in MN. It is now a 2 day opener shoot and then pray for a migration. Even 10 years ago, a guy could go out to a well scouted out spot and rely on shooting birds mid-season, that just is not the case any longer. We no longer produce enough birds in the state to hold over till any type of migration starts, and when it comes though it generally is in the western half of the state for a very brief period. We see very few large flocks of mallards or bluebills along the river anymore. It is not all weather dependent either as a lot of birds (cans, bufflehead, widgeon,) are calander migrators. These birds are not coming through in any numbers to speak of. I have seen some big flocks working the border the last couple years, so I'm not saying there are NO birds, but something(s) is(are), besides weather is going on to greatly diminish the amount of birds using this state. I'm sure it is more complex than all our collective minds can figure out on this forum... but it is interesting to read each guys perspective.

Good Luck!

Ken

[honker23]

I think this problem is definately a multi-headed monster. Can we fix it in a year, NO.

Did it happen in a year, NO.

With a good population of ducks, I think weather and food conditions play the largest part for us "southern" boys shooting birds. This year I belive Canada had very little snow cover and large fields open for the birds all year. If the mallards have water and food they don't care if it blows 50 mph from the NW they will stay in Canada.

The idea regarding tags and yearly limits will never work for one main reason, enforcement of the law. The COs can't keep up the way it is and I don't see people honestly reporting all the birds and paying additional fees.

Per hunter MN is down the list in terms of harvesting birds. Why should we continue to miss out and decrease our already limited harvests, while we watch the southern states repeatedly kill limits of greenheads in a tee shirt.

We have decreased habitat and quality hunting land with EXTREME amounts of pressure. Water quality issues. Early openers that take late season hunts away. Weather that hasn't cooperated. Shifted flyways because of water in dakotas. Many others that I haven't listed. It all adds up to a few poor years overall, but lets not get down on the guys actually shooting birds, because anyone complaining about "meat hogs" would shoot limits if they could.

[hobbydog]

Joining this late....a lot of good points have been made but I will add a couple. First of all the local duck problem has to do with poor and declining resources but I think more of a problem is the relentless pressure. The Delorme atlas is the real culprit More people can find the out of the way places were guys like Labs4me say it perfectly....they did their homework but the ducks weren't there.....problem is a lot of others did the same thing and not only did they move ducks out of old "honey holes"....ducks can no longer find sanctuary. Adding to this....more people are hunting weekdays and traveling more to hunt ducks. I see this in my out oif the way spots. Place we never saw anyone, especially on weekdays....we are seeing them. I always ask....how did you find this place? either delorme or DNR online aerial photos and scouting.

I personally had a pretty good year as we average a little better than 4 ducks per person per day in my blind. I had to work a lot harder though and find a few new places.

Limits are not the problem, especially in MN. We are dependant on duck movement....not the big push but a succesion of cold fronts. We also need ag crops to cooperate. Not much corn got harvested in October. Then you had an incredible wet Manitoba and Sask with farmers unable to harvest small grains.....on top of a mild fall.

Pretty hard to get them to move off of this.

What we need is education. Skybusting kills more ducks after the fact than most imagine. Everyone sees it when they hunt yet no one admits it....how many here skybust?

And last but not least, HABITAT.....close the season and without habitat there will be no ducks. Get involved....show up at the rally in April.

[lumbertick]

You are right...habitat is key. We all know game hogs...and even if we reduce the limit to one...the game hogs will have a freezer full. We need to improve our habitat quality..especially in the southern half of the state. Not to take anything away from Matt, I know that he puts in the work, but the biggest reason that the ducks stay north is because they still have decent wetlands. even when the ducks do come through my neck of the woods they are never here for more than week. Nothing to eat, nowhere to rest...why should they.

lt

[hobbydog]

Quote:

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We all know game hogs...and even if we reduce the limit to one...the game hogs will have a freezer full.

lt

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Define game hog a little better....I want to know if I am one.

[lumbertick]

The definition of a "game hog" is not something that Webster defines, if that's what your looking for. A game hog is something that we each define that is based on our own ethics and morals. You have to know yourself...I can't tell you what your definition is. In a nutshell for me it's anyone who takes more than they consume.

lt