Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/news/blog ... uck-stamps
Kyle Wintersteen, Managing Editor on 07/20/2016

Why I Buy Two Duck Stamps

“Two duck stamps, please.”

How I look forward to uttering those words every summer. They signal it’s soon time to quit waging war with my lawn and start tossing decoys with my buddies. Soon there will be wood ducks and mallards and geese and … well, you get the picture.

Why two stamps? One is for me, and one is for the ducks. It’s such a simple gesture, plopping down those extra 25 bucks, and yet with the swipe of a credit card I gain the satisfaction of contributing a little extra to waterfowl conservation.

I didn’t invent the concept of buying a second stamp. Plenty of other duck hunters partake, but imagine if even 10 percent of the million-plus waterfowlers in the United States bought two stamps. Given that 98 percent of every dollar spent on duck stamps directly supports habitat (all but 50 cents of each stamp purchased), think of the extra hundreds of thousands of dollars we could add to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. Think of the added buying power this would provide to conserve vital duck habitat through direct purchases, leases and conservation easements (5.37 million wetland and grassland acres have been conserved since 1934).

No, I’ll never frown upon a hunter who buys the one required stamp, which is in itself a fine contribution to the ducks. Money is tight, and hunting expenses aren’t exactly decreasing — I get it. But for about the cost of a box of steel shotshells, an extra stamp is a worthwhile investment in waterfowl.

There are many ways to help support waterfowl as a whole.

From being a mentor to teens, a firearms safety instructor, to building and maintaining Mallard Hen Houses, to assisting your local wildlife refuge or state wildlife management area on projects. To if you are fortunate enough to own land - to converting some of it to upland nesting cover, restoring a wetland, to trapping predators on it to enhance the success of nesting waterfowl, [I know some on here that do not toot their horns but do in fact do this and it costs them thousands (if not more) of $ in lost farm income each year]. And of course helping $ wise too.

For those not volunteering a bunch of time in some way, why not buy 5 or even 20 duck stamps? I am serious about this. For example, lets look at DU's basic Sponsor program, that $300 membership covers the cost to preserve 1 acre.
Often church's talk of tithing 10% of ones income. So are you as a waterfowl hunter even tithing 1% of your income towards the ducks? For example if you make $20K that is $200 or if you make $100k, that is $1000. Imagine if every hunter tithed 5% of their income towards waterfowl related endeavors what the result would be long term.

So if not doing so already, how about giving the equivalent amount in volunteer hours and or $ to equal 5%?

I won't give money any more, it gets wasted and lines people's pockets.

Not in the case of duck stamps. Hands down the most efficient way to conserve waterfowl habitat.

I would bet more than 10% of duck hunters already buy more than one.

They estimate 25% are purchased by "collectors" ... Some of whom most likely hunt.

Most hunters I know buy extras

maplelakeduckslayer wrote:I won't give money any more, it gets wasted and lines people's pockets.

You apparently have no clue how efficiently the duck stamp and Pittman Robertson funds are spent. If only every other federal program could be that way...

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I've looked at the budget, there's waste in every single govt program and just because this one may have less than others doesn't make it right. I don't support that. I don't mind buying one and helping out the cause, but I'm not going out of my way to buy a second when in all honesty, if they managed money they had from general taxes etc, they wouldn't even need the stamp. 60 mil is a fart in the wind in the fed budget and could easily be found somewhere in the 3.7 trillion dollars spent in 2015. This stamp is nothing more than additional tax and I will not give more than I need to to the govt. My money will go into improving habitat on my own land where it actually does all go into the land...not most of it.

Why buy one, let alone two?

maplelakeduckslayer wrote:My money will go into improving habitat on my own land where it actually does all go into the land...not most of it.

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That spells a Bingo!

maplelakeduckslayer wrote:I've looked at the budget, there's waste in every single govt program and just because this one may have less than others doesn't make it right. I don't support that. I don't mind buying one and helping out the cause, but I'm not going out of my way to buy a second when in all honesty, if they managed money they had from general taxes etc, they wouldn't even need the stamp. 60 mil is a fart in the wind in the fed budget and could easily be found somewhere in the 3.7 trillion dollars spent in 2015. This stamp is nothing more than additional tax and I will not give more than I need to to the govt. My money will go into improving habitat on my own land where it actually does all go into the land...not most of it.

X's 2.....

Charity starts at home.