# What do you consider a limit



## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

when hunting waterfowl. Do your count any "lost" birds? In my younger years I never did but find myself doing so as I have grown older.


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## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

lost birds dont count in a limit, our group makes every effort to retrive a downed bird, but somtimes even th dog cant find them and we dont count them in alimit. :beer:


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## Booster (Sep 8, 2003)

you'll count them in your limit when the game warrden brings them to you and says they are "your" birds......trust me on that.


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## maple lake duck slayer (Sep 25, 2003)

Legally, lost birds must be included in your limit. Of course, that is after a sufficient effort was given to recover the bird.


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

> lost birds dont count in a limit, our group makes every effort to retrive a downed bird, but somtimes even th dog cant find them and we dont count them in alimit.


You probably should start... :eyeroll:


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## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

OK daddy!! :lol:


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## Drake Jake (Sep 25, 2007)

we count them in our limit. it's the right thing to do. you killed the bird but cant find it, it should be counted to your limit.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

I noticed that when I started doing that I became much more selective of my shots. If I'm standing in a cattail slough I'm likely to pass on any birds that are flying over thick cattails because if they are just crippled (like steel shot tends to do) they are too hard to find.


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Drake Jake said:


> we count them in our limit. it's the right thing to do. you killed the bird but cant find it, it should be counted to your limit.


I agree, I make every effort to find with my dog, if we do not succeed I count.

Well, most of the time until another rooster gets up in front of me on the way back to the truck.... oke:


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## water_swater (Sep 19, 2006)

I started counting them after I started to acquire some stuff I didnt want the state to have, like decoys. I agree with others if the warden finds it its not lost, and they generally know where to look. Limit are such a wierd thing, but that is how most hunters define a good duck hunt, why not cut it back to four think of the # of birds you'd wouldnt have to regenerate each year, the hunting overall would seem better because not only would you have more birds but it would take less to limit.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Do you count wounded birds your dog finds that some other previous hunters did not find?? I do and it happens a lot especially pheasant hunting.

My point is if you hunt with good dogs it evens out over time.

I do believe its honorable to count all the birds you know you dropped just pointing out another side of it.

Whats bad is when your hunting pheasants on a WPA and your dog brings in a crippled mallard and you only have an upland license so you have to toss it in the weeds when the dog isn't looking.


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

If dog finds a bird and you put it in your bag, it counts.

If dog finds a duck and you do not have a duck license, leave it lay as you will be given a ticket.

Those are the rules.


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## bowtechin (Apr 8, 2007)

> If dog finds a bird and you put it in your bag, it counts.


What if the dog puts it in your bag?


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## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

so when i post a picture with 4 guys in it with two snow geese and say i got my limit, no questions asked then right? i just couldn't find the rest but i shot 78 more!!


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## MrSafety (Feb 22, 2005)




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## woodpecker (Mar 2, 2005)

xxxxxxxxxxxxx


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## bjertness07 (Jan 4, 2005)

The way I see it, unretrieved birds definitely count. Don't look it as a limit that you can keep for yourself. It's not that the government wants to limit your rewards or how many YOU can have- it's placing that limit to help maintain bird populations. By not counting birds that you can't find towards your limit, youre not only setting yourself up for trouble but also contributing to improper wildlife management aka poaching.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

Ethically, I think your lost birds should count. But, to what degree? If you "think" you hit a passing goose, do you count it? At the local park I see a lot of healthy geese that limp.

I'm also thinking that a "lost" bird doesn't "legally" count in your limit here in Minnesota if you'd done your part to attempt to retrieve it. I know our laws state that you must make a "reasonable attempt" to retrieve your game but it doesn't say that if you don't find it and someone else does, you are suddenly guilty of over bagging.

I'd be really interested in knowing if there is a law written anywhere that states this.

Thanks.

Randy


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## headshot (Oct 26, 2006)

We count lost birds that drop. If the bird flies out of sight who's to say if he is going to live or die. I have "beaten" the feathers out of a mallard with 2 shots this year at less then 30 yards and the thing flew away unscathed. Others have appeared "untouched" and have dropped like stones 200 yards away.(collateral damage) I have shot a lot of ducks and I still have to force myself to remain calm when they come in and keep an eye on the falling birds. I usually don't fire the third round but we haven't lost very many this year. The "limit" is put in place to protect the resource so we can continue to shoot waterfowl forever. Hunting shouldn't be a competition, I wouldn't think any less of you if you didn't shoot a "limit" :beer:


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## maple lake duck slayer (Sep 25, 2003)

From MN regulations:



> RETRIEvAL
> A person may not kill or wound any migratory game bird without making a
> reasonable effort to retrieve the bird and include it in the daily bag limit.


I always took that to mean that even if a bird wasn't retrieved, it must be included in your limit.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

Nope, it just says a reasonable effort shall be made to retrieve it *and* include it in your bag limit.

Along these same lines, how about a deer that's hit but not recovered? If we are only talking about what is good for the resource, in many places it would be good for the resource to go out and shoot an extra doe anyway.

And, I've killed 4 deer in my life time that had gunshot wounds.


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## maple lake duck slayer (Sep 25, 2003)

I see it as saying kill or wound any bird, so if you write the law separately with each word it would say:

A person may not kill a migratory game bird without making a 
reasonable effort to retrieve the bird and include it in the daily bag limit.

A person may not wound any migratory game bird without making a 
reasonable effort to retrieve the bird and include it in the daily bag limit.

I guess thats just how I interpret it.


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

That's an interesting take on it.


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## rsetty (Dec 5, 2006)

I have always interpreted it that you had to count a wounded bird in your bag limit. If you hit a bird and only dust a few tail feathers and it keeps flying we don't count it, but if you cripple the bird and it hits the water/ground I feel it should be counted in the bag limit.

my .02


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

Think of it this way,.......

If you're crippling a bunch of birds, u shouldn't be hunting in the first place. Why take a shot that you know that u can't knock down? If u think u can it doesn't drop, go shoot some clays to practice what you can and can't hit. I understand that everyone cripples birds at some time or another, but im just saying if you're crippling numerous birds on every hunt, u shold reconsider your shots before you take em


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## rsetty (Dec 5, 2006)

I don't think anyone is talking about crippling birds on every hunt, I'm just saying that if you do I feel it should be counted in the bag limit. If you have never once crippled a bird then I guess you are near perfect, or have been using that mis-free ammo that I haven't found yet.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

u see, you're from minnesota so when u cripple a bird, the bird has a lot better chance of hiding in all the cattails of the big slough you're hunting. Im from ND, when we cripple a bird we just walk to the other side of the chiseled field to pick it up


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

> If dog finds a bird and you put it in your bag, it counts.


Naw ....She has her own license. 

If they are warm and alive I will count them. If they are ice cold and dead I generally won't.



> Along these same lines, how about a deer that's hit but not recovered?


 I apply the same standard if there is strong evidence I did indeed fatally wound the animal. If not a fatal wound I may continue to hunt specifically for that animal. I t has happened to me once.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

averyghg said:


> u see, you're from minnesota so when u cripple a bird, the bird has a lot better chance of hiding in all the cattails of the big slough you're hunting. Im from ND, when we cripple a bird we just walk to the other side of the chiseled field to pick it up


 :lol: Have you ever been to Minnesota? It isn't _that _much different.

Yes crippled birds should be counted towards your limit. That doesn't mean that 50% of the hunters out there today aren't total slobs though. I was at a place this weekend asking permission for a field and as we talked the farmers brother and nephew came driving back from a pond they were hunting just over the hill. He asks them, "How'd ya do?". They say, "Well we sailed about 6 or 7 of em into the corn and weeds! Didn't find them though, don't even have to clean them now! That's the way to do it!" And these people drove a thousand miles to do this.

Sometimes people make me ashamed of being human.


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## Turner (Oct 7, 2005)

Put a spin on this one. How many call it quits if you shoot a deer (bow/gun) draw blood and not find the animal. Or how long does it take to talk yourself into saying, it wasn't that good of a hit, they will be just fine and go right back out there to shoot another one?


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## WaterfowlJunky (Mar 16, 2007)

i would have a hard time believing that anyone would rip up there tag and say well i filled it

or you would be lying to yourself saying that animal is fine, if you drew blood chances are its a kill

you do all you can to find it and sometimes it just happens if i only have one deer tag this year i know i would go back out after i had given up all hope i look foward to eating the meat some people depend on it, not me but i certainly want my meat

waterfowl is a different story you learn to choose your shots wisely but cripples happen and you should count those cripples as your limit but when the hunting is at its best its hard to do im not going to lie


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## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

I did that last year with my bow tag, bad shot on a buck, knew he prolly wouldnt survive so hung that tag up for the year


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

I suspect that Game and Fish factors in unrecovered wounding losses when they determine the number of tags issued, my opinion is you should do your best to recover a deer, but if you cannot you should continue to try and fill the tag.

Of course you should also not hunt at all, if you have not practiced with bow and rifle until you are competent


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## WaterfowlJunky (Mar 16, 2007)

Congrats, but sorry i couldnt do it


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