# non residents



## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

i really feel you guys and what is happening. I am from minn and hunted north dakota near harvey three years ago but all of it was private land friends have been going to for years. Normally I go to south dakota but we did not get a license that year for the first time ever . This year we only got a three day but I would rather have that then unlimited nr in south dakota.Since they keep it at less then 4000 keeps the pressure off of the ducks. Everyone here in minn is *****ing about north dakota and the new rules but from from I read it sounds like a zoo now and if not for the rules the ducks would be gone in a hurry.As for guys saying minnesota is too crowded they just need to scout. We have lots of public land especially west of the cities that I hunt alot and usually have the marsh to myself at most spots.If you want to talk crowded talk to Iowa guys. You are talking 50 boats at a marsh. Plus you can always hunt spots when others dont . I hunted a spot 50 minutes from minneapolis today from 2 to 4 pm and got three greenheads. Not too bad in my book. Now it seems our govenors are going to meet because people are mad about the restrictions.The way I see it if these ducks keep being pressured they will figure it out quick and maybe change the migration in years to come. I think instead of less restrictions more should be added and a quota like south dakota to assure a a good hunt. So maybe a guy wont get a license every year but at least when he does it will be good hunting,uncrowded and help keep the birds in the state.I am sure I will take heat from this from other minnesotans but I believe a quality hunt is better then turning north dakota into a crowded marsh.Dont ruin a good thing for everyone!


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## bigblackfoot (Mar 12, 2003)

recker i couldnt agree with you more. In the area that i hunt there was a ton of ducks before the season. And now after 3 weeks of hunting(1 resident only, 2 nonres) there isnt **** for ducks left. The pressure is unbelievable and the shortage of birds is the result. I thought that the restrictions would help but evidently they need to be tighter. Im know im not the only one who appreciates when someone not from north dakota can see our point of view. Have a good season.


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## goosemn (Sep 11, 2003)

Recker,

I'm there with ya. However, I do not think that pressure plays the largest role in determining where birds will migrate. Weather systems in the fall can have a huge impact as well as water conditions on where birds will be found. Example......The Grand Passage of 1994 in October with the big blow. There were birds showing up in IA and Ill that had not been seen since the early 1960' (Snow Geese) and Whooping Cranes (last seen in IA in 1834). Now,there is a regular fall migration of snow geese in the central part of IA since that year. Was it pressure? Probably not. Was it poor water conditions in MN and ND. Maybe. Everyone gripes and complains about the quality of wetlands in MN but take a hard look at IA. Mostly fish lakes and I have seen better hunting on those lakes than any water I have hunted in MN so far. I think that waterfowl are so dependant on agricultural crops now that birds and migrations occur based on weather and water conditions....i.e. enough water...where areas are intensively farmed.

As for ND....After hunting there for a few years I was somewhat dumbfounded by how the NR Zones were determined because it Concentrated NR's in some of the best habitat in the state and shrank those zones. Thus....impacting the quality of resident and NR hunting by pressuring these areas more. I feel for the residents of ND and what they are going through but I think the bigger issue here in MN and why so many people go to ND to hunt is the quality of the hunt here. I always make a new friend everytime I go out to hunt. I have yet not to be harrased by another hunter and each time I have gained legal permission to hunt private land. So why is this? I think the answer is simple. Enough is never enough in this state when it comes to birds, deer or fish. I'm going to stop before I say something I shouldn't but I do agree with your point about scouting and there are birds to be had in this state if you go to a little work.


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

Minnesota does have excellent opportunities. We have50 acres of land in Maple lake with a private duck pond. It may not be up to N. Dakota standards, but my dad, brother, and me have never been skunked. We usually get about 4 a day, and if our shooting was better, I'm sure we could limit out sometimes. A friend and I went out Tuesday morning and got 7, on a clear dayand no other hunters to move them around. While we have good shooting at our land, it was a real treat to get to hunt ND last year for thefirst time. I love the state and was amazed at the number of ducks. I was sad when I had to leave. I don't mind the restrictions put on us NR, for the most part, but when we went last year, I didn't really notice a problem. In 4 days, we saw 4 other hunters. There is a lot of land out there in ND, and isn't the states population about 300,000. Ifyou add another 100,000 NR, spread over the season, there still seems like there should be plenty of room. However, I may be wrong and maybe it was just the area we were hunting. I'm just trying tounderstand the whole dielema.


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## Sprig (Sep 10, 2003)

In 5 days I never seen another duck hunter.
I hunt in the western part of the state.

Anywhere you duck hunt in the US you will find pressure in the first 2-3 weeks. I think what a lot of people are seeing is this

DRY YEARS
1. it's dry 1 pothole per 10 square miles at best
2. few places for the birds
3. every Tom, Dick and Harry hunts the little water that is there.
4. birds are not stupid NO SAFETY
5. the birds don't stay
6. it's gotta be the NR

Local birds don't stay

WET YEAR
1. alot of water 10 potholes per square mile in a wet year you can't drive a stright line unless your truck is part boat
2. hunters spread out (they don't bump into one another)
3. the birds can fly to pot holes and sloughs until they feel save, leap frogging 
4. the birds stay (because theres more places to find safety (water) darn near every little basin or depression has water.
5. guess what (same number of hunters) just spread out

Local birds stay longer

If you want to know pressure hunt duck hunt Wisconsin

*Dont get me wrong I think a NR cap is needed for preseving a wonderful resource *

But I think the zones need review and a density cap for each zone.
And we need to listen most to the guys who, for social economic reasons need the hunters, FARMER believe it or not, they hold the resource. 
Need to find the balance.


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

Sprig,
I would have to disagree with you on listening to the people the most who have an economic insentive. We should be listening the most to the Game and Fish first. We have to manage the resource on a sustainable harvest plan. We can only harvest the amount of game that can be replenished given the water conditions and personally I would rather error on the side of conservative and have a 4 duck limit then overhunt and shoot 6 ducks.

This is the only way that we can have an economic impact in the long term. North Dakota could have a hunter in every pond and every field and we could call that economic development but who really wants that. Its not what I would call fun hunting and the birds will surely not put up with the pressure.

Many of you guys will claim that there is no pressure in the area that you hunt. I don't mean to say that you are lying but this is the most pressure that I have seen in 5 years of hardcore hunting and it is reflected in the bird numbers. When I go out to a field I have scouted and start setting up and see three other rigs pull into the field with us in the morning, that is too much pressure. This has happened almost every hunt this season. One of my friends now farms in an area that traditionally has large numbers of ducks all season and now he says he can burn a tank of gas and not find a duck when at the beginning of the season there were thousands. Something doesn't jive guys. Why does Sand Lake have 60,000 ducks on it the second week of October and the weather has been warm?

I think economic development is fine but it has to be done intelligently when it is done with a renewable resource.


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## Sprig (Sep 10, 2003)

I was just thinking of the Farmers and property owners who are having a hard go of it as of late. Any little ecomomic boost provided through hunters paying for lodging and filling their refrigerater full of food. Not the power of the dollar for reasons detrimental to the resourse.

Hunters need to work togeather and present viable solutions to preserve the sport for our kids and their kids.

I love North Dakota and the people as well as the resources.

Until a happy median is found between all the factors there will always be someone not happy. And even when it is found someone will still be upset.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

goosemn said:


> However, I do not think that pressure plays the largest role in determining where birds will migrate.


IMO weather fuels the major migrations but pressure will also move a ton of birds. Take an area like Lakota this year. Before the season and even through the resident season, tons of birds. After that first week when it was open to everyone there was more people than I've ever seen in the area and I'd say a good 90% of the birds are gone, and I'm not exaggerating. All this in 80 degree blue bird weather. The only places that have a lot of birds on them are the rest areas.

MN does have decent waterfowl oppurtunites...if you can find an area that isn't hunted by another 50 guys so the birds aren't pushed out. MN is the same as ND (or anywhere for that matter), get away from the crowds and you'll usually find birds. It's just easier to do that in ND, for the time being at least.

IA's wetlands (the few that remain) are as polluted, if not more so than MN. Hell, Des Moines has to pump in water so it can dillute it's own drinking water supply to meet government levels deemed safe for consumption. Puddle ducks that feed in grain fields will sit on anything as far as water goes, they just need a little water to drink because they have all the food they could ever want lying on the ground...a water treatment plant even works. Divers and other ducks that feed more so on aquatic vegetation and invertebrates that are found in healthy wetlands are screwed...just look at bluebills.


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## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

I have been hearing about latoka alot and on waterfowler all kind of nr asking about it and looking for spots. Just curious as to what at least used to make it so great . I assume alot of wetlands with not mudh pressure at least before .One other thing that really bugs me is the nr putting up the post always asking for info. Being from minn in so dak and when i hunted north dakota i did my own leg work. Scout scout scout. With what is going on in north dakota now people are not going to give out the few great spots they have left anyway and I do not blame them. The good spots in minn have taken me many years to find and i will not give them out on the internet these days. Kind of sad it has come this


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## greenheaded (Sep 22, 2003)

I am a NR and i was wondering about the new restrictions that they put on us. I haven't heard them so if someone would fill me in, i would greatly appreciate it because i am coming up on the 30th of October.

thanks


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