# Why can you hunt 1/2hr before sunrise but not sunset?



## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

I have a question. Why do they allow shooting 1/2 hour before sunrise but not 1/2 hour after sunset?


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Good question, probably because in the morning after you shoot them in the dark you can find them as it gets lighter out? Too me I can see better the 15-30 after sunset then before sunset.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Great question that deserved it's own thread. Let's see what the guys think....

Ryan


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## Bandcollector02 (Oct 4, 2005)

I always wondered the same thing :huh:


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Isn't it because when you shoot them in the morning, even if you can't see what it is, it's likely that you'll have a good chance of finding it. But if you shoot them when you just about can't see anymore you might as well forget about it?

I mean I get lost trying to walk back to the decoy spread after I park the truck in the dark, you might as well kiss me good bye if you send me after a little duck in the dark. Which gives me another idea. Maybe it's a safety thing. Maybe it's so people (like me) don't go out chasing cripples and screwing around in the dark where they could get lost or fall over in the mud or something. It's going to be a lot easier to locate the missing guy and get help if the sun is on its way up than if the sun is on its way down.

Or maybe it's just because no one would wait until sun up anyways and the warden would have to write everyone a ticket.


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the change take place approx 10 years ago to enable the birds to get back to the roosts so they could get some rest instead of water decoyers blasting them that extra crucial half hour?
I think identification problems w/ non-game birds at dusk had a lot to do with it too.


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## morel_greg (Apr 16, 2007)

But why is it that waterfowl and small game are until sunset and big game is 1/2 hour after sunset. If it was to better identify or be able to locate game afterwards they should be the same. If it was to allow waterfowl to get back to the roost while is small game at sunset too? I have pondered this before.


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## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

All seem like good reasons to me. I am not sure about the safety thing, I believe you can hunt deer 1/2 hour after sunset in MN (I would have to check) and that would be a much bigger safety issue than shooting waterfowl.

I personally believe it is so birds can get back into the roosts without getting beat up by water hunters.


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## Goon (Apr 3, 2005)

bandman said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the change take place approx 10 years ago to enable the birds to get back to the roosts so they could get some rest instead of water decoyers blasting them that extra crucial half hour?


You must be a field hunter...


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

The I.D. thing makes the most sense to me because it's usually just dark enough that you cannot differentiate hens from drakes, or sometimes species. Lots of conservation order snow goose hunts go til dark, and almost all big game seasons run from 1/2 hour before sunrise 'til dark. I've hunted around water enough to tell you that full moon or no full moon the ducks and geese WILL find their way back to the roost one way or another. One thing you can be sure of is that in most places, shooting after hours is one of the #1 most-written citations, this is why I believe it still stands as "the law" in the land....way too lucrative a rule to change. That half-hour has saved more ducks and geese than any non-profit ever will IMO.


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## Goon (Apr 3, 2005)

HATCHETMAN said:


> The I.D. thing makes the most sense to me because it's usually just dark enough that you cannot differentiate hens from drakes, or sometimes species. Lots of conservation order snow goose hunts go til dark, and almost all big game seasons run from 1/2 hour before sunrise 'til dark. I've hunted around water enough to tell you that full moon or no full moon the ducks and geese WILL find their way back to the roost one way or another. One thing you can be sure of is that in most places, shooting after hours is one of the #1 most-written citations, this is why I believe it still stands as "the law" in the land....way too lucrative a rule to change. That half-hour has saved more ducks and geese than any non-profit ever will IMO.


Well now with the 1 hen I have held back even when its legal shooting hours because It was still dark because of clowd cover and I didn't want a bunch of hens laying on the ground. Now days it seems to be more confusing than it used to be, only 2 red heds, 2 blue bills, one hen, canvas back or pin tail hell I haven't seen any of the latter. Makes a guy want to stick to gadwells, teal and shovelers. I say that tounge in cheek. :lol: but 5-10 minutes before dark is time to pick up the deks and walk back to the truck.


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## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

Aren't the same duck ID problems that would exist 1/2 hour after sunset there 1/2 hour before sunrise?


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Gooseguy10 said:


> Aren't the same duck ID problems that would exist 1/2 hour after sunset there 1/2 hour before sunrise?


I'd think people would be more hard-pressed to carelessly shoot after sundown to fill their bag instead of knowing you got the whole morning/day/evening left like at dawn to do so. I'm sure they took this into consideration.

I'm pretty positive they did it just to take a step further to protect birds that were non-waterfowl species if I recall right though.

Doubt the wardens liked having to battle the inevitable darkness at sundown either.


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

Personally, I can identify birds better 1/2 hour after sunset than 1/2 before sunrise-I think it is the intenseness of the light that allows you to differentiate between the two. I can remember a hunt last year where we limited early and just sat in the dekes til dark just watching and observing the birds. I wouldnt imagine it would be anymore difficult to track down your downed birds, most birds drop within 20yds or so


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Seems pretty simple, from sunrise to sun-up it gets lighter outdoors, from sunset to sun-down it gets darker.

Bob


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Bob Kellam said:


> Seems pretty simple, from sunrise to sun-up it gets lighter outdoors, from sunset to sun-down it gets darker.
> 
> Bob


Bob, brilliant! :beer: Sometimes we all just think to hard about these things.

I think this is a rhetorical question that who ever wrote the law would know the reason, probably is a federal law since the pioneers arrived on the praires.

MN changed deer hunting only about 7-10 years ago to allow 1/2 after sunset.


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

The deer hunting regulation that allows shooting 1/2 hour after sunset is downright stupid. On a cloudy day it is so dark 15 minutes after sunset that you have no idea what you are shooting at. No doubt that there a lot of deer hit during this questionable time period that are never retrieved.


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