# 1 Hen Mallard, 1 pintail limit



## niener (Jan 7, 2008)

Is this the last year of the study on the Hen Mallard, Pintail, Canvasback. Shoot one of the three and you can't shoot the other? Our group that comes each tries to only kill drakes but I don't care who you are with some of the lighting situations while hunting it is very tough to kill only drakes. That law makes it very tough, and has cut a lot of our hunts short. I'm not complaining because the hunt isn't always about the end result, just adds alittle stress to the situation.

Another thing on a side note I'm from Iowa and yesterday I received a survey from the US Fish and Wildlife service on hunting coot, rail, snipe and something called guillananes? in North Dakota. They asked that after I make the trip this year to fill out the survey and send it in which I intend to do. My question is does anyone other than the USFWS really care about hunting those species of birds? I have never set out with the intention of shooting any of them, how many people out there in ND do? Anyway just curious. I will be coming ot that great state on Oct. 5th this season can't hardly wait.


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

Did your parents ever tell you the story of the birds and the bee's? Hen mallards are the one laying the eggs 8) If you're not positive on the bird ID, don't shoot, easy as that. With the low populations after the dry spring here I could care less if I had to ONLY shoot drakes. They're keeping the 1 hen in there for safety of flock shots.


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## bowhunter04 (Nov 7, 2003)

I tend to agree with Chaws. Last year we hunted a few times early in the year where we had 3 people with flocks of 30 to 40 birds coming in. We would take 1 shot, drop 1 drake and wait for the next flock because it was tough to identify birds. We just made sure we found big feeds or else it was tough to get into a lot of birds. Also, 1 of the hunters was my wife in her first real season hunting and she got into the action as well. It can be done. If you're not certain, don't shoot.


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## blackmamba (Sep 5, 2008)

where the h### have you been !! You haven't been hunting till you've been on a good coot and rail shoot ! And gallinules are 10 times better than sky-carp ! Have to lead 'em just right when they're lilly-hoppin' tho. One thing for sure - you're stress-free on this hunt because drake coots , rails and gallinules are cross-dressers and usf&w don't seem to get upset what gender you're cleaning. If you go -I've got a great coot/rail recipe involving a pine board - but you may already know it.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

:lol: :withstupid:


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## niener (Jan 7, 2008)

So Chaws what your saying is you've never shot a hen or in low light conditions? Gotta throw up the BS flag on that one. I don't care who or how experienced or great of shot you are that doen't happen 100% of the time. All I was pointing out is that it makes it difficult and we have quit hunting early on many occasions as to not shoot the egg layers. So anyway is this the last year of the study?


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

I've shot a hen in years past but never on purpose, always on accident and never an accident because I couldn't identify the birds coming in. Generally in our groups, a downed hen is usually because of another bird in the background of the main target getting caught in the crossfire. I have no idea on the study, but I would like to see the study continue.


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## just ducky (Apr 27, 2005)

Chaws said:


> ...and never an accident because I couldn't identify the birds coming in...


Not calling you a liar, but I'll be the first one to admit that in the nearly 30 years that I've been playing this game, I've dropped a couple hens by accident. Call it the excitement of the moment, brain fart, shiz for brains or whatever else, it does happen. Especially with inexperience. Now yeah it's been years, but "never" is a very big word.

I find it much easier to pick drakes in field hunting, but still if the light is not good, like early or late in the day, it can be tough. But in field hunting you often have wave after wave coming, so you just don't shoot if you aren't 100% sure. Water hunting can be a bit tougher...at least for me.

I think the hunter's choice rule is good...nothing wrong with looking just a little bit harder before pulling the trigger.


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## bowinchester (Aug 31, 2008)

i agree withe the fact that if you shoot all the hens the duck population goes down. but i dont understand why we here in nd can shoot 1 hen and in canada you can shoot 8 (i may be wrong but thats how i read it) and in most of the rest of the country you can shoot at least 2. i know it is an experimenal thing but i dont know if im much of a fan of it.


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## crewhunting (Mar 29, 2007)

Niener you will never win. i agree with you Its very very hard in north dakota to id drakes and hens in the early season. I wish there was a buffer there atleast two hens would help alot better. Some people on this have to always be right and will never give in they are gods and just like to get after other people. And YES you know they have shot hens!!


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## wetspot27 (Jul 16, 2008)

I am the first to admit I have shot hens in nasty weather it can be hard sometimes and have saw a darker head on real dark day and realized it was a hen once it was to late. I agree any one who hunts ducks have shot hens. everyone tries to shoot drakes yes but accidents happen I am from MIssouri we have the 2 hen limit but I can not remember the last time I shot 2 hens in one day. I think it should be one hen the only part I am confused about is what does shooting a pintail have to do with a mallard hen. I am really asking not being a smart a$$. Is this just another way to get people to stop shooting mallard hens.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

The last hen I shot was an accident. And if I had to replay it over, id shot her again, she looked JUST like a drake the way the sun was hitting her. Pretty sure ive only whacked one or two hens in the last 3-4 years though.

But as for the hunters choice law. So what if you have to cut a hunt short every now and than. If your doing it alot though than your shooting to many hens. Sounds like your to hung up on limits and shooting. If your in doubt, dont shoot, pretty simple. Deal with it or stay home.

As for one hen, one pintail, on can....obviously they don't want you shooting many hen mallards, and they don't want you shooting many pinnies and cans as their numbers are supposedly down.


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## shiawassee_kid (Oct 28, 2005)

Chaws said:


> I've shot a hen in years past but never on purpose, always on accident and never an accident because I couldn't identify the birds coming in. Generally in our groups, a downed hen is usually because of another bird in the background of the main target getting caught in the crossfire. I have no idea on the study, but I would like to see the study continue.


whatever. go hunt your way and everyone can hunt theirs......if everyone stays within the rules no one is wrong.

you are no better or worse than the guys that shot a hen to fill out their bag. If you think everyone goes out to shoot a bag of hens....gimme a break.


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## mnbirdhunter (Sep 15, 2005)

I shoot nothing but hens.. drakes taste funny


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## birdog105 (Aug 23, 2008)

mnbirdhunter said:


> I shoot nothing but hens.. drakes taste funny


NICE, haha... I am pretty decent at bird ID and i will be 100% honest, I shoot a few hens a season, IT HAPPENS. for those who won't admit that they too are capable of mistakes, :******: stay on your pedistal(s) because it will be less likely for someone to confuse you for sportsmen.


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## niener (Jan 7, 2008)

I agree with birdog105, all I was doing is asking and the lords of hunting appear. I am very against shooting hens but it does happen and I know a lot of guys that do it regularly because the law allows. All this I'm better than you BS gets ridiculous, right to the douche that says stay home if you can't ID them. I can ID them just fine under good lighting conditions and simply I'm stating the law cuts our hunting short under poor conditions. Should we not hunt in poor conditions? Maybe not but I do at home so if I drive 13 hours and have the legal right to I 'm going to here as well. Then the douches come out and say it all about limits and that bull, I love when these macho studs can hide behind a computer and put themselves on a pedestal. Masybe this year I'll shoot everything that flies by to save the effort of being politically/legally correct. :withstupid: :beer: uke: :******: :eyeroll: :evil: :x   :lol:  :wink:  8)   :-?  :roll: oke:


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## Scraper (Apr 1, 2002)

my beef with this law is that there is no biological tie between hen mallards, pintails, and cans. Why not be able to shoot a hen mallard and a drake pintail. Cans are divers anyway, who eats those???


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## just ducky (Apr 27, 2005)

barebackjack said:


> The last hen I shot was an accident. And if I had to replay it over, id shot her again, she looked JUST like a drake the way the sun was hitting her....


Yep, me too. The last one I recall was that way, and I'd do it again too. Just an instant reaction, and I was sure on the wing. As I said, you play this game long enough and Chit happens.

Now that's not to say there is a time or two when I say to hell with it and pop a hen to fill the limt. Once or twice a year I'll do that...I admit it

HI...MY NAME'S DAN, AND I'M A DUCK AHOLIC. I EVEN OCCASIONALLY SHOOT A HEN.  8)


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## MrSafety (Feb 22, 2005)

Wasn't the original question whether or not this was the last year of the study???


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

Dude, get off your :soapbox: and read what you've typed. You've basically said that in low light, bad weather, or fast flying flocks it's tough to pick out the drakes/hens. Well if you're not sure what the ID is, don't pull the trigger. ND gives you the single hen buffer and if you take that shot, pick up and head home. Why allow a person who's willing to take 50% positive ID shots after they've already downed a hen?

Maybe it's because I live in ND and do my hunting here, but I can always come out the next day or the next weekend to shoot birds. I'm not pressing my luck when it comes to maintaining the integrity of a sportsman and shooting outside the limits or outside the species regulations. If you feel 100% sure that the bird is a drake, poke it. If you're not totally sure and you decide to take that shot, don't shoot at other birds in the folk until you are sure after picking the bird up. Easy as that.

Regarding the other portion of your question about the test period. Yes, I do believe that this is the last season and they review over next summer whether to continue the enforcement of the limits and types of birds you can shoot. After this lousy nesting season across much of ND and Canada, my vote would be to continue the current regulations.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I believe there will be another year or two of the Hunter's Choice limit, as the USFWS needs to see if it pans out the way the believe as far as sex/species protection.

I personally have no problem with Hunter's Choice, or shooting a Suzie to fill when field hunting or a Can when pass shooting or diver hunting. In fact, I look forward to getting Cans as they are such a fine table bird, and to me they epitomize waterfowling. As a rule, I don't shoot my Hunter's Choice bird until last.

Waterfowl identification has been part of hunting since I started back in the late 60's. I took Hunter Ed the first year it was offered in Minn, and species/sex identification was stressed as I don't believe it is done now.

As kids, my buddies and I studied and memorized our Ducks At A Distance booklets with more attention than we gave our school books. 
It was a point of pride to be able to correctly ID birds...

I suspect that starting in the mid 80's, waterfowl ID had begun becoming lost on waterfowlers in general. I don't know why. Every time I see a posted picture of a dead duck with a "what did I shoot?" question, or as happened recently, a picture posted with a young guy proudly holding two dead Grebes he bagged still believing them to be some sort of duck, or share a blind with a guy who shoots a bird and THEN tries to identify it, this seems for certain.

For old school guys like me the rule is simple, if we can't identify a bird with 100% certainty as a legal target, we don't shoot. During the Resident Only Week in particular, this often means letting scores if not hundreds of mallards come in & and leave unmolested.

If it makes for a long morning, that's fine by me. No place I would rather be than out in the field hanging with my labs & good buddies, drinking a good cup of coffee and watching birds work the spread...


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

Scraper said:


> my beef with this law is that there is no biological tie between hen mallards, pintails, and cans. Why not be able to shoot a hen mallard and a drake pintail. Cans are divers anyway, who eats those???


Scraper I totally disagree.. I totally disagree

Cans are widely considered the best table fare bird in the world. :eyeroll:

Please send me every Can you shoot. I'll take every last one. Have you ever looked at historically which bird commanded the the highest price at fancy restaurants along the east coast back during the market hunting days?..

It's only in the last 10-15 years that we have certain waterfowl elitists trying to change that perception, as field hunting has unfortunately become king and the norm, therefore the mallard has become the status quo.

Furthermore, I'm not sure what you mean about "biological tie", and I won't assume you are naieve enough to make the connection I think you are trying to...

'nuff said. :roll:

edited by me...sorry Scraper, I'll rephrase my meaning...


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

Well put!


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## DOUBLEWEIM (Sep 25, 2008)

Well, its happened to me. Sitting in the blind and the first bird of the morning... I poke a hen mallard. I then will just target solo drakes, teal, or gadwall. I have no problem targeting teal and gadwall early season to fill my bag. I keep hunting. Otherwise I would spend too much time watching football in the local bar... :beer:


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

DOUBLEWEIM said:


> Well, its happened to me. Sitting in the blind and the first bird of the morning... I poke a hen mallard. I then will just target solo drakes, teal, or gadwall. I have no problem targeting teal and gadwall early season to fill my bag. I keep hunting. Otherwise I would spend too much time watching football in the local bar... :beer:


Well in ND you would be hunting illegally after you drop that first hen. Pack it up and head on out. What happens if one of those solo "Drakes" that you positively ID is actually a hen on the ground? You're over the limit.

Be smart people.


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## DOUBLEWEIM (Sep 25, 2008)

In that case, one would probably have a fine to pay.


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## niener (Jan 7, 2008)

So you are saying if you hen mallard or pintail that you have to put your gun down and quit hunting by law?


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

No jsut to be safe. You ca keep hunting I would


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## Guest (Sep 25, 2008)

Chaws said:


> If you feel 100% sure that the bird is a drake, poke it. If you're not totally sure and you decide to take that shot, don't shoot at other birds in the folk until you are sure after picking the bird up. Easy as that.





Chaws said:


> Well in ND you would be hunting illegally after you drop that first hen. Pack it up and head on out. What happens if one of those solo "Drakes" that you positively ID is actually a hen on the ground? You're over the limit.
> Be smart people.


What are you talking about hunting illegally? All you gotta do is be 100% sure your shooting a drake. Its that easy isn't it? Come on dude, quit the hollier than thou stuff and be real! EVERYBODY makes a mistake now and then. Even pros like yourself. :eyeroll: :eyeroll:


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

Alright, I got a little over zealous with my "drop a hen and hunting afterward is illegal" comment. Technically it's not. However my point I was trying to make is that everyone who's made a comment about how they've accidentally shot a hen thinking it was a drake are also the same people that say they would continue hunting after shooting a hen. Doesn't make sense in my book.

Of course, this situation of packing it in would only be when you're hunting alone obviously.


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## Darryl Mathews (Sep 8, 2008)

This is my first real post. After reading all of the replies on this topic. To all you duck gods !!!!! get over yourselfs uke: . I have been hunting ducks for 40 years and everybody makes mistakes on birds that they thought were Id ed right. Jeez, lets factor some wind in, and you don't change your lead. OOPssss the wrong bird drops. Cold spell hits, add extra clothes your lead slows OOPSSS wrong bird drops. lets add to the wrong bird equation. Blinding snow, sleet, pouring rain. All of this affects how the steel flies.and also your sight perception You may have had a small flock of mallards do a fly by and you seen a flash of silver on a greenies leg and they turn around and commit straight at you and you figure eight that bird and block him out. squeeze the trigger and the bird behind him drops. Does that mean you shouldn't have shot? NOOOOOO It means you simply missed your shot. I have nothing to base these next few lines on. It's really more or less a rib. But........... I think that the people who say that they have only on the rarest of times like maybe even rank it with a miricle have shot a hen. Either have really poor hunting dogs that can only find a few ducks and they just so happen to find the drakes or have no dog and let the wind blow there ducks to shore and only hunt on calm days :lol: Or maybe JUST maybe leave there so called mistake birds (hens) in the marsh so they can say they never shoot hens. Or my final Idea is they just blast holes in the sky and never get any ducks except for ground swatting so in turn get only drakes. On a final note: I myself shoot about 1,000 birds a year they are all banded drake mallards and I only shoot at these birds when they are flying east to west in flocks that have only 7 birds in them and they can't be any more that 21 yards away and then it can only be on a overcast day between 8:01 and 9:17 and I only fire 1 shot per flock. I am known now and in the future as swamie doctor guru advisor duckgod.


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

Still curious as to why those of us who don't fill our bag limits with hen's are getting flogged here today. We've all admitted that we've dropped them but never purposely.


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## DOUBLEWEIM (Sep 25, 2008)

A lot of you may hate this, but this year I actually want to taget a hen mallard. I have a beautiful drake mallard on the wall and I want to make a nice double drake / hen mount. I most likely will wait for a big late season hen. :sniper:


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Good lord and some of these people go afield with a loaded gun?

You drop a hen or Pintail or Can on your first shot, you can continue to hunt. You can remain afield with a limit of ducks and even have a loaded gun in your possession. You could have a limit of ducks and geese and still have that gun and remain in the blind or field etc...

The key is not to be shooting at any birds of which you have limited for the day.

No big issue, it happens all the time! In regards to mistake ducks, they do happen, most people I know do not target hens and let them pass. Last year I killed one hen pintail that I mistook to be a gaddy, but it was the last duck of a five bird limit and to be honest it really did not matter because any duck was legal for me. Now there where a lot of times especially early on I did not shoot when birds where in range. Either I could not tell for sure or other birds where in the line of fire. No big deal, I have taken my fair share of birds over the years and limits are not what trips my trigger.

In reading these threads I realize that a good number of guys never have hunted with species being closed in a season. When I first started hunting Redheads and Cans where off limits and you best know what you where shooting. Some years we would have a lot of redheads in and around the areas we hunted. Cannot remember one ever being taken by mistake and we where young kids without a lot of experience. As bag limits became more liberal, it was less important to ID a duck, two hen mallards and a pintail and can being legal, it did not matter to much what you killed on the first volley. I admit I became lax on making sure myself.

But I live with the law, and like the law as it has made a lot of us stop and work on our on the wing Identifications. This helps all of us be better hunters and to be honest may be preparing us for future seasons if some species continue to plummet!


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## shiawassee_kid (Oct 28, 2005)

Chaws said:


> Still curious as to why those of us who don't fill our bag limits with hen's are getting flogged here today. We've all admitted that we've dropped them but never purposely.


because the way your saying it is rubbing everyone the wrong way. That simple.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

birdog105 said:


> NICE, haha... I am pretty decent at bird ID and i will be 100% honest, I shoot a few hens a season, IT HAPPENS. for those who won't admit that they too are capable of mistakes, :ticked: stay on your pedistal(s)


I agree. If you ethically try to be selective...good for you. But hens fall - I wasn't perfect last year either.


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## water_swater (Sep 19, 2006)

Has anyone ever gotten a fine from the hunters choice law??????? I don't know of anyone. Has it slowed some of your shoots? Yes. Is it easy to pick drakes especially easy in the year? No. Is it good practice for a youngster? Yes. Does it make it more expensive for the people who really don't care what they shoot when they get busted? Yes. The only drawback is that it makes getting your limit a little harder. I think sport is the wrong word for waterfowling. Everybody getting ****** off on this site does nobody any good, your too busy being competitive trying to be right about your hobby. Games have winners, everybody with an opportunity to hunt is a winner not the guy who shoots his limit the fastest or has the nicest equipment. We in ND are lucky basically everyone has an opportunity to hunt in other states land is not so easy to find.

I know they chose states by random draw to test hunters choice but to me that doesn't make much sense. Why not pick states like MO or Arkansas that get to hunt full plumage birds all season, or the states that shoot the highest amount of birds of which ND is not in the top 5 if i remember correctly.


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

Ron Gilmore said:


> Good lord and some of these people go afield with a loaded gun?
> 
> You drop a hen or Pintail or Can on your first shot, you can continue to hunt. You can remain afield with a limit of ducks and even have a loaded gun in your possession. You could have a limit of ducks and geese and still have that gun and remain in the blind or field etc...
> 
> ...


Great post Ron

This about sums it up for me too...

Ryan


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## cgreeny (Apr 21, 2004)

water_swater said:


> Has anyone ever gotten a fine from the hunters choice law??????? I don't know of anyone. Has it slowed some of your shoots? Yes. Is it easy to pick drakes especially easy in the year? No. Is it good practice for a youngster? Yes. Does it make it more expensive for the people who really don't care what they shoot when they get busted? Yes. The only drawback is that it makes getting your limit a little harder. I think sport is the wrong word for waterfowling. Everybody getting ticked off on this site does nobody any good, your too busy being competitive trying to be right about your hobby. Games have winners, everybody with an opportunity to hunt is a winner not the guy who shoots his limit the fastest or has the nicest equipment. We in ND are lucky basically everyone has an opportunity to hunt in other states land is not so easy to find.
> 
> I know they chose states by random draw to test hunters choice but to me that doesn't make much sense. Why not pick states like MO or Arkansas that get to hunt full plumage birds all season, or the states that shoot the highest amount of birds of which ND is not in the top 5 if i remember correctly.


I heard a rumor last fall around DL there were quite a few pinched for having a hen or two over the limit, and or forgetting and shooting a drake pintail. One or the other not both. Well you never know if we don't get really good precip this winter we may not have to worry about shooting our 5 birds limits, maybe it will dwindle back down to the 2 or 3 birds a day limit. And I totally agree with random states but doing these test where shooting fully greened out headed mallards compared to us and our early season brown ducks.


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## MSG Rude (Oct 6, 2003)

R y a n said:


> Have you ever looked at historically which bird commanded the the highest price at fancy restaurants along the east coast back during the market hunting days?..


Not with standing the above, at a point in time not too distant in our history, only the poorest of poor ate lobster as it was considered a scavenger (which it truly is) and the elite did not eat it.

Times change, so does a persons taste and what ever is in vogue today will be hated tomorrow.

My .02$


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

cgreeny said:


> water_swater said:
> 
> 
> > Has anyone ever gotten a fine from the hunters choice law??????? I don't know of anyone. Has it slowed some of your shoots? Yes. Is it easy to pick drakes especially easy in the year? No. Is it good practice for a youngster? Yes. Does it make it more expensive for the people who really don't care what they shoot when they get busted? Yes. The only drawback is that it makes getting your limit a little harder. I think sport is the wrong word for waterfowling. Everybody getting ticked off on this site does nobody any good, your too busy being competitive trying to be right about your hobby. Games have winners, everybody with an opportunity to hunt is a winner not the guy who shoots his limit the fastest or has the nicest equipment. We in ND are lucky basically everyone has an opportunity to hunt in other states land is not so easy to find.
> ...


I heard its the most cited waterfowling "crime" since its inception a few years ago.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Darryl Mathews said:


> On a final note: I myself shoot about 1,000 birds a year they are all banded drake mallards and I only shoot at these birds when they are flying east to west in flocks that have only 7 birds in them and they can't be any more that 21 yards away and then it can only be on a overcast day between 8:01 and 9:17 and I only fire 1 shot per flock. I am known now and in the future as swamie doctor guru advisor duckgod.


Im gonna have to go ahead and call BS....    :beer:

Haha, the sad thing is theres a few guys on here (mostly on the canada goose forum) that REALLY think this way.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

NDTerminator said:


> I suspect that starting in the mid 80's, waterfowl ID had begun becoming lost on waterfowlers in general. I don't know why.


Probably because there wasnt much waterfowl to be had up here in the 80's. I know when I went through hunters ed they didnt even bring up waterfowl ID other than "be aware of what you shoot".

Im with you NDT, ive always prided myself in being able to ID em both by color and sillouhette. And I know ALOT of guys that shoot first and ID in hand.


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## fishhawk175090 (Sep 27, 2007)

that's it I am now going with the motto, if it is brown it is down. Bring on those lovely ladies  Maybe Obama and McCain can debate the matter so we can all sleep better at night.


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## ND trapper (Nov 14, 2006)

water_swater said:


> I know they chose states by random draw to test hunters choice but to me that doesn't make much sense. Why not pick states like MO or Arkansas that get to hunt full plumage birds all season, or the states that shoot the highest amount of birds of which ND is not in the top 5 if i remember correctly.


I agree 100% with water swater. I like the hunters choice but the fact that all states were not included in it makes no sense what so ever.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I and I'm betting more than a few of the older guys like me hunted during the failed Point System experiments of the late 70's. You want to see a can of worms, you should have seen that.

I was in college in Minn the couple seasons they had it in place over there. In a nutshell, birds were assigned points ranging from 10 to 90 depending on species & sex. When your bag totaled/exceeded 100 points, you were done for the day.

Teal & bluebills were 10 or 15 points (too long ago to recall for certain, but we could legally shoot a pile of them) drake mallards, gaddies, widgeon, redheads and such 20 points, pintails (both sex) & cans 90 points.

If a guy stuck with low point birds, he could have some big days. Suited me fine, as to this day I love nothing better than a day when the bluebills are really moving. Too bad we can't shoot enough to make targeting them worthwhile anymore.

Anyway, the problem was the hunters. The system relied on the honesty, ethics, bird ID skills, and ability to add up double digit numbers of the average hunter. As it turned out, the average hunter's math skills were OK, but he failed miserably in all other areas.

You see, if a guy shot a Suzie first, he could then legally shoot one or two other birds and he was done for the day.

*HOWEVER*... If he shot, say, 4 drakes mallards first and THEN a Suzie, he was legal as the last bird bagged took the points up to/over 100.

It took no time flat for the average hunter to understand this nuance...

It was an enforcement nightmare. Rather than allowing a reasonable bag while conserving the resource, the birds, particularly mallards, were grossly overshot for a couple seasons, and there was little or nothing a field CO could do about it.

Remember, these were the days when the highest tech piece of gear in the CO's arsenal was a pair of binoculars. I recall a CO telling me every guy he checked that had a Suzie in the bag, swore he shot it last.

As far as I was concerned, I loved the point system as it allowed me to hunt the hell out of bluebills...


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## bowinchester (Aug 31, 2008)

to me this law has made hunting less fun. not because its harder to limit out, but because if i shoot a hen first the rest of the hunt i am stressed out over not only which birds im shooting at but also which birds are behind the target bird and so on. i think this law had a good concept but it didnt turn out. just my opinion though.


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## Ocean Hunter (Aug 24, 2008)

How bout this for a "shooting a hen" story;

My buddy and I drive by my brothers pond that NEVER has any ducks in it and low and behold there are at least 50 big greenheads sitting in it. We park the truck and crawl through the weeds for about 75 yards to get within shooting range, stand up and about 20 feet away all of these big drake mallards jump at once. We both unload our guns, six shots total and down comes one duck, A HEN MALLARD! Neither of us ever saw a hen and were 100% positive that every duck in the pond was a drake mallard. So not only did we completely whiff on 5 shots at point blank range, the one load that found a home hit the only hen in the pack.

This from a couple of guys who pride themselves on accuracy, rarely missing a shot and who compete to see who can correctly identify the species correctly from the furthest away and have been shooting limits of ducks for about 20 years each.

IT HAPPENS!!! No matter how good you are, how long you have been at it or how many ducks you have killed everybody has seen it happen at one time or another, probably more often than your ego will allow you to admit.


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## shiawassee_kid (Oct 28, 2005)

NDTerminator said:


> Teal & bluebills were 10 or 15 points (too long ago to recall for certain, but we could legally shoot a pile of them) drake mallards, gaddies, widgeon, redheads and such 20 points, pintails (both sex) & cans 90 points.


pintails were 10pts if i remember right.


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## mlrdklr (Jul 11, 2008)

I am %95 sure that this year is the third year of the hunters choice study. So therefore it being said we still have 2 more seasons after this one. I personaly like this study because you have to know your birds alot better now because it is protecting 3 species Like people in MN i belive it is can't shoot a canvasback this year. This being said i will not take a Can. even though i live in KS where we can due to the hunters choice because if the pop. is low enough they can't shoot one i don't need to my self. Also i tend to limit my self to no more than 5 pintail a year and as for hen mallards well guys i try not to shoot them but people make mistakes i shot one last year and felt bad enough. Things like this happen and there is nothing you can do. A bit of advice in low lighting conditions. Look for their peckers and you will find a drake.


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

mlrdklr said:


> as for hen mallards well guys i try not to shoot them but people make mistakes i shot one last year and felt bad enough.


You actually felt bad about shooting a hen mallard eh?
Dan


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