DA Calls for end to YWD

[lanyard]

For whatever people hated about Landwhere at least he moved some biblical "that's how we do it MN" bull shite...... .

Not that many years ago people were praising him for bringing on the split season framework, the early shooting hours on opening day, not pushing the early Teal season pretty much did him in................

.......and I liked the split season when it first came out, 1 week, this southern zone 12 days off now for frozen water at end of season makes no sense......

I agree on the Southern split. What I can't figure out is how many people fill out the survey saying they like it. Would like to see a geographic distribution map of surgery respondents. Guessing Hastings through Winona has a later population of duck hunters than Marshall to Worthington? Mankato people hunt Swan in December?

[hobbydog]

For whatever people hated about Landwhere at least he moved some biblical "that's how we do it MN" bull shite...... I'm all for moving the pheasant hunting earlier. Hell, be different. Go we 1/2 hour AFTER sunrise.

He also got us a crane season and a dove season. I don’t know why people bad mouth him. Is it because of giving duck hunters the split they begged for. I think the same might be true the teal season. A teal season, geese over water, youth season and then the early open duck season? I think it pushes ducks too hard, too early, kind of dilutes the “opener”, then the split closes it down during peak migration.

It does get tiring seeing everyone’s lack of success blamed on the DNR. Didn’t he get the wolf season going as well? APR in the SE?

[lanyard]

For whatever people hated about Landwhere at least he moved some biblical "that's how we do it MN" bull shite...... I'm all for moving the pheasant hunting earlier. Hell, be different. Go we 1/2 hour AFTER sunrise.

He also got us a crane season and a dove season. I don’t know why people bad mouth him. Is it because of giving duck hunters the split they begged for. I think the same might be true the teal season. A teal season, geese over water, youth season and then the early open duck season? I think it pushes ducks too hard, too early, kind of dilutes the “opener”, then the split closes it down during peak migration.

It does get tiring seeing everyone’s lack of success blamed on the DNR. Didn’t he get the wolf season going as well? APR in the SE?

On balance, I was a Landwhere fan. Compared to any other DNR Commish in my adult life he was Shania Twain to KD Lang


Nothing is going to change with YWD or Early Goose. Current Administration is going to be all about the "feels".

I generally think DA is running out of things to blame for not shooting birds. While I tend to be in favor of eliminating unnecessary/ineficient programs, I don't think his anectdotal reasons (pressure) are as solid as "not working" in the case of YWD or "no longer needed" in the case of early goose.

[Mallard_maniac]

He also got us a crane season and a dove season.

I don't really care, as I don't participate in either but I'm certain that cranes and doves both happened prior to Landwehr under Mark Holsten? Somewhere in 2005-7ish?

[lanyard]

Crane and doves, regardless under who's watch, were new opportunities. Same with Prairie Chickens.

YWD and Early Goose are redundant opportunities.

1) I guess I can't site a source, nor do I have the time to dig it up.... but "common knowledge" is pressured birds will move to areas of lower pressure. i.e. Roost busting. So stacking Early Goose and YWD in 'early season' primarily affects rearing/roosting wetlands, which could with a decent likelihood, affect returning molt migrators which would reduce goose and duck availability. The bastards can fly a few hundred miles a day. Not hard to skip West into very wet Dakotas.

2) Is this the reason DA can't shoot birds, ever, on opener? Doubt it. Is it the cause of this year's single dismal opener? Doubt it. Would average openers be better for MORE hunters, including DA in his crap spots, if they protected roosts and rearing areas before the official opener? More than likely.

3) Is YWD working? Um, no. At this point any idea that YWD is a recruitment tool is a Tool's tool. Going to two days and expanding the ages to try to make it work is like a 3x Tool's tool. When you need a drill but have a hammer, two more hammers aren't going to help.

4) Was there a sh!t load of Canada geese causing problems all over the State? Yep. Is there now? Nope. To the point that places that used to hold concentrations are now devoid of geese. Our season runs pretty much a full four months. Take this back to "not within 100 yards of water", get some geese back to people actually see some when they go hunting, and the population dynamic will likely balance. If it gets too big again, blast the roosts.

[Nershi]

I don’t think ywd accomplishes it’s original goal of recruiting hunters but I really have no problem with it. Allowing 16-17 year kids and 2 days is a little much but not a huge deal in my eyes. I think most people against ywd are worried about the effects on opener and someone taking ‘their ducks’. I don’t think it hurts much in most areas. Let the kids bang em up and have some fun. At least someone in the state can shoot at the bwt before a majority are gone.

[Hansen]

DA is a dick head. I didn't read the article but I'm sure it was full of doom and gloom. I wish the southern split was a little smaller because looks like the southern zone will be mostly frozen out by this weekend. I know that rivers, fields and big water will still be open but most small potholes will be frozen.

[lanyard]

I would think someone like DA that cares so much would do some research and pick birds per Hunter counts and compare them pre-YWD and post-YWD.

Maybe I'll email Cordts and see if there is a chart already out together with those historical counts