Releasing birds

[rmkod]

Does anybody know the laws on buying game birds from a game farm and releasing them on some land to hunt? I was thinking of going to a game farm pheasant hunting Wed, but can get them a lot cheaper by just buying the birds myself up in Princeton. What is the difference between buying the birds and releasing them myself versus going to the game farm and having somebody else release them and pay double for them? Nothing I assume.

[LABS4ME]

Game farms are licensed and monitored by the state. The aspect of 'releasing' birds and hunting in essence would not be much different... but a game warden would most assuredly tag you for hunting birds out of season and maybe even over limit...

With that said, I have released game birds for training on land that I knew held no pheasant, but did so only in season and made sure several license holders were there to cover the limit.

I have done releases of pidgeon and chuckar in the 'off' season to work on sit to flush and tracking. I figure they are birds with no season in MN and hopefully would not become a legal snare for me should I be checked.

Good Luck!

Ken

[setterguy]

I have asked and you can get a permit to release birds in the off season. The CO told me he would want me to mark the birds somehow to make sure they were not wild birds.

[rmkod]

Thanks guys, I guess I would probably be safer if I just purchased chukars because no season on them.

[gundoglily]

With the depth of the snow this year, chukars would be harder to use, unless you want alot of trapped/caught birds. To hard for them to get in the air.

That said, ask the preserve you were planning on going to if they would cut you a deal on using theiir facilities. they too are hurting for business with the ecomony, weather etc.

Any income is better than no income!

[gspman]

Your best bet is to read the regs and call the DNR. You need a permit and a way to mark the birds. Call the DNR if you need more clarity.

Here's an excerpt from the regs...

Dog Training

A person may not train hunting dogs afield on DNR administered

lands from April 16 to July 14. A person may train hunting dogs

afield on other lands.

A person training a dog afield and carrying a firearm may only

have blank cartridges and shells in possession when the season is

not open for any game bird, except by permit. An organization or

individual may obtain permits to use firearms and live ammunition

on domesticated birds or banded game birds from game farms for

holding field trials and training hunting dogs.

[tybo]

Be very careful about releasing birds on public lands. This is very vague in the book, see above, and when I asked for clarification I got three different answers from three different people. The last question was to a CO. I trusted him since he'd write up a ticket for it if it were wrong. The other people were office people.

I just went to some private land to avoid any issues.

[elkhuntingfan]

Call the DNR info line. Tell them you want a permit for training your dog with your birds. They mail the application to you. You fill it out and send it back to them. They wil sign and stamp it. You'll probably have it back in about two weeks. Any birds you release have to have a ribbon tied to the leg, or something similar, so you can identify them as released birds when they fly. The permit limits when you can train your dog on public land.