Questions about duck regs

Not to hi-jack this thread.... But what are the mn restrictions on open water hunting and what is their intent?

M

It says something like a boat must be partially covered by emergent vegetation. The reasoning I have heard is that some believe ducks will stick around longer if they aren't hunted in the open water. It sort of makes every lake a refuge 50 yards from shore or weeds. I tend to believe the benefits are overstated. Ducks leave when the ice and snow come.

Tim
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If I were going to pick up and move..........Montana, and every fall up to Sask. for 3-4 weeks, and get plenty of Waterfowling out of my system.
 
Not to hi-jack this thread.... But what are the mn restrictions on open water hunting and what is their intent?

M

It says something like a boat must be partially covered by emergent vegetation. The reasoning I have heard is that some believe ducks will stick around longer if they aren't hunted in the open water. It sort of makes every lake a refuge 50 yards from shore or weeds. I tend to believe the benefits are overstated. Ducks leave when the ice and snow come.

Tim
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Not quite right. Open water hunting is not allowed in MN except for a very limited number of places. It used to be two places and they changed it this year to include a few more. Don't know off hand how many as I don't open water hunt.

Mark W
 
If I were going to pick up and move..........Montana, and every fall up to Sask. for 3-4 weeks, and get plenty of Waterfowling out of my system.
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I think Chris would love Montana, but not enough green carp for him.
 
Don't overlook CA as a waterfowling haven. 100 day season plus more for early and late geese and even more if you travel to different parts of the state. 7 ducks/day and 10 geese/day. We have more water than you could scull in a lifetime and you will have no competition as VERY few people scull out here. SF bay is LOADED with divers.
 
Todd i actually get very excited about golden shiners, testlated darters, and sculpins. Real carp are a blast to fish for and depending where i move to i could see my self getting into inshore saltwater or catfishing.

While california im sure is beautiful im sure i would get a smog bill for farting to much there.
 
While california im sure is beautiful im sure i would get a smog bill for farting to much there.
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We've got our problems and loonies, that's for sure. But we are pretty tough to beat for duck hunting.
 
I was kind of surprised to read the other day that California ranks as #3 or #4 in total number of ducks harvested per year, but once I got looking into it it seems like it really is a waterfowl heaven. I might have to start saving up for a trip out there pretty soon....
 
I was kind of surprised to read the other day that California ranks as #3 or #4 in total number of ducks harvested per year, but once I got looking into it it seems like it really is a waterfowl heaven. I might have to start saving up for a trip out there pretty soon....
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It sure is no NJ.
 
More population than NJ, I think. I'm too lazy to look it up. I lived in NJ (North Jersey) for 4 years, and I don't remember running into a lot of duck hunters. There is surely a pocket of high duck-nut density in South Jersey, but I bet there are pockets in CA, too.
 
More population than NJ, I think. I'm too lazy to look it up. I lived in NJ (North Jersey) for 4 years, and I don't remember running into a lot of duck hunters. There is surely a pocket of high duck-nut density in South Jersey, but I bet there are pockets in CA, too.
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According to the USFWS for 2010 California had 55,500 duck hunters and took 1,734,000 ducks for an average of 30 ducks per hunter. For 2010 New Jersey had 6,500 duck hunters and took 69,200 ducks for an average of 10 ducks per hunter.

California is 18 times larger than New Jersey and only has 8 times the number of hunters, so few hunters per area and WAY more ducks taken per hunter. I'd say CA is a fair bit better of a waterfowling state, myself.
 
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There's a lot of quacks in this state (both kinds). Merced county is almost always in the top two of birds killed per county in the whole country. Hunting is just starting to get good now with the cold weather coming in, only getting up to about 65 today :-) But if you like big boats breaking ice and birds riding freezing winds, it's not for you.

If anyone wants to swap a hunt, let me know.
 
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