Why 9am to 4pm?

[Jari Razskazoff]

I called the dnr and asked why its 9am to 4pm for first day duck hunt, and they responded they don't know... its just historical they said.

But i want to know the real reason, conspiracy or otherwise... any clues?

[Gary Crichton]

Heck it has gotten better. Way back it was NOON.

I asked way back and never got answer either.

G.C.

[Hammer Handle]

I think it is to allow people to "find their" spot the first day.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

so hunters can see exactly where you are setup before they sit down 50 yards away from you 20 minutes before shooting time.

Note from admin: Please re-read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.

the 4pm rule is to allow birds to rest in the evenings and hopefully keep them around until migrators start to trickle down.

[JustLOVEit]

Last time i was told by the DNR was that it was put in place to not overly spook the birds and not run them out of the state. This would mess up there natural migration cycle. Which would really hurt us duck hunters. Just think if every year the birds were spook and not allowed to return to there summer resting area. They would migrate earlier and earlier. Duck hunter's present would be like winter present. Forcing them to migrate.

Just hope this help to clear some of the things up.

GoodLuck to all this weekend and be safe.

[mwal]

a few years ago the DNR used to have a forum. The question of why 12 noon opening came up. The Dnr reply said it was due to a fight over hunting spots in the dark at Heron lake in the 1920 or so that resulted in the drowning of the hunter in the dark. No one could see to rescue them. So they thought everyone could see every body at noon. I found it a stupid idea. Then how come the 2nd day being in the dark is OK? Any how Senator Parriseau tried to eliminate it but they would only change it to 9AM. They said going out in the dark on opener is to dangerous etc. What a bunch of bull. Other states don't do it. The 4pm is to give birds a chance to roost until migrators come.

Mwal

[mngoosehunter]

I believe it is to so the birds have a chance to get smart during the day and we dont shoot as many..kind of like the mille lacs walleye ban..they dont want us to catch as many walleyes in the spring so they put the ban on. just my thought.

[riversmallmouth35]

I heard it is because there are so many people out opener and if you can't see where everyone is someone might get shot. Some people out there don't think and just shoot whatever direction they want.

[Scott M]

So it's not a complete massacre. I remember hearing that something like 30-40% of the harvest happens during the first weekend.

[Dahitman44]

yeah --

it just gives them a fighting chance.

But what about the southern states? I hear it is open all year ...

[USPENAMC]

This is the answer from the MINNESOTA HUNTING REGULATIONS WATERFOWL 2008 HANDBOOK 2nd to the last page it reads

WHY DOES MINNESOTA SET EARLY SEASON SHOOTING HOURS

"Early season shooting hours help manage duck harvest in areas with high harvest and high hunter numbers. They reduce harrasment of newly arrived migrants, allow feeding and roosting patterns to be established and maintained, allow mixing of locally reared birds with lightly harvested migrants and extend hunting opportunity."

[Jari Razskazoff]

This is the answer from the MINNESOTA HUNTING REGULATIONS WATERFOWL 2008 HANDBOOK 2nd to the last page it reads

WHY DOES MINNESOTA SET EARLY SEASON SHOOTING HOURS

"Early season shooting hours help manage duck harvest in areas with high harvest and high hunter numbers. They reduce harrasment of newly arrived migrants, allow feeding and roosting patterns to be established and maintained, allow mixing of locally reared birds with lightly harvested migrants and extend hunting opportunity."

So DNR, the extra 2.5 hours on one day in Minnesota alone helps manage duck harvest in areas with high harvest and high hunter numbers?

Maybe its because the devil has found his way in to the DNR regulations and wants to give the bird flu an extra 2.5 hours or so to expand before we are able to do the right thing and shoot those disease carrying birds out the air.

Maybe they should zone up the duck hunting to realize that thats the biggest load of something or another thats ever been quoted.

Much like my "devil" theory, the quoted theory just don't make much sense in a 2 hour window...

[carpshooterdeluxe]

it helps based on 1/2 of the ducks harvested in minnesota are shot opening weekend. have a real opener and that stat would be even higher.

[chub]

it helps based on 1/2 of the ducks harvested in minnesota are shot opening weekend. have a real opener and that stat would be even higher.

So it's a crime, or somehow wrong to shoot our locally raised ducks before they migrate to southern climes to be killed by Bubba, a half hour before sunrise?

The 9am thing doesn't bother me one way or another I guess. But after all these years of the biologists telling us "you can't stockpile ducks", the notion of it's helping the resource doesn't seem to hold much water with me. But there's 59 more days to set off in the dark of the morning so I won't lose sleep over it.

[Jari Razskazoff]

Yeah, I agree, its not a big deal, but these answers that I hear from people and whoever, are just whimsical. Its like, do you really believe what your saying?

And also, if half the ducks are killed on the first day of hunt, then if i think about it, all those birds must just lined up at the starting gates way up there in Canadia... what an amazing sight it must be.

[spivak]

You know, it certainly doesn't make sense from an ability to harvest ducks but it does ameliorate the hunter situation. It's the busiest, most crowded, and highly charged day of the season. It takes the edge off and allows for a calmer start and the chance for everyone to get settled in a somewhat reasonable way although there are still plenty of conflicts and hard feelings. I claimed my spot on a rice lake north of Duluth and listened to some grumblings of those going by and then we all sat and guarded a duckless lake. Everyone was much friendlier on the way out as we commiserated on the lack of ducks.

[dan z]

its a rule dude just follow it

[Jari Razskazoff]

well of course i'm going to follow it.

[HugoBox]

Short of confusing everyone and discouraging hunters from heading out that weekend, would it make sense for them to reduce the limits a bit. Personally I'd rather get another real morning in even if it meant I could shoot fewer ducks. Again I don't much care and had the chance to blow a bit of the dust out of my barrell this weekend so I feel lucky. I do think that they should use the same limits for all the states in the entire flyway, but that's for another thread...

[Gary Crichton]

To bad that rule doesn't apply to everyone, as there was a fair amount of shooting b-4 9:00AM.

G.C.

[chub]

I was yelling at morons that were shooting at 7:45 on saturday.

[Quackaddict9]

7:21 am...shots fired at 2 geese and dropped em. On saturday morning. They put decoys out at 5:15 am, tried to call the TIP line.

[Matt Breuer]

I find it interesting that many people came on this thread and gave their thoughts and opinions, and it wasn't until page 2 that the quote from the regs was posted....

Quackaddict9, what do you mean you "tried" to call TIP? No answer? Were these people right next to you or what?

[Crusty old Swede]

Just a short history lesson on the 9AM (old noon openner) Back in the early days of sport hunting most people worked on Saturdays (6 day work week)but could get off for hunting. Travel was by horseback, train or early cars, which made for slow going. The noon opener allowed for working people to get a fair chance at birds - took away the advantage that people with money had by being able to arrive the day before.

[Kyle]

well, most people dont work 6 days a week anymore. Ive heard that the reason for the 9am time is because the DNR wants the ducks to have a chance. If thats the case then obviously these DNR people have never duck hunted. Its not that easy! Not only that but it seems to me that MN is quite strict on regulations seeing how we dont shoot nearly the ducks that the southern states do, and we really dont have the flyway like we used to. I think the DNR needs to rethink the way they manage our wildlife, uncluding fish. Times change, and so do populations, I just think there are some regs. that seem a little backwards, and I dont mean to conservative. I think some regs are far to liberal, while others are so conservative it makes ya think, "whats the point of even trying".