Open-water waterfowling in 2014 in Minnesota

[h2ofwlr]

By Nick Ronning Contributing Writer, MN Outdoor News
August 28, 2014
http://www.outdoornews.com/August-2014/ ... Minnesota/

Last year, after about 100 years of requiring waterfowlers to conceal themselves in emergent vegetation when hunting on public waters, the DNR allowed hunters on Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Lake Mille Lacs, and the Mississippi River south of Hastings to hunt among the open seas.

The rule change didn’t seem to stir up a lot of excitement, and no considerable opposition was made public. Most likely the change went unnoticed by the majority of hunters and, either way, with no open-water hunting tradition in this state and only four bodies of water opening the new frontier, few hunters would be affected.

The Mississippi River portion of the rule change was implemented so that hunters on the Minnesota side would have the same opportunity as Wisconsin hunters. They are prohibited from hunting farther than 100 feet from shore, including islands or stands of emergent vegetation.

Hunters in other political jurisdictions of Lake of the Woods and Lake Superior are not bound by the emergent vegetation clause.

On those Minnesota waters where hunters need not be concealed by emergent vegetation, the only rule is the watercraft must be held by an anchor. This means no sculling, a method of propulsion whereby a hunter uses a long oar sticking out the back of the boat and concealed within the cockpit, to maneuver into shooting position of resting ducks. Nor can hunters set a low-profile boat adrift from upwind of resting ducks.

Was it a big hit with Minnesota hunters? The jury is still out, but interviews with state conservation officers yielded reports of few participants and modest success.

CO Ben Huener, who patrols Lake of the Woods, observed only one low-profile layout boat hunting last fall. He also heard of a pontoon boat covered in fast grass and saw a handful of conventional boat blinds.

Officers Scott Fitzgerald and Chris Tetrault observed similar levels of participation on their respective portions of Lake Mille Lacs. None of the three officers saw or heard great success stories, but those hunters leaving the familiar confines of bulrush and cattail seemed to get a few divers.

“Every time we get a new law it takes a while to catch on,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ll probably see a few more each year, but I’m not expecting a flood of new activity.”
Terault said he expected to see more people taking advantage of the rule change, but saw only three or four groups hunting open water throughout the season – all from boat blinds and none very far from shore.

“People aren’t used to it yet, as far as equipment and set-ups go,” he said. “I think it is rather intimidating to people, too – how quickly the weather can change out there.

People like to stick to what they know, but I think it will grow. People will ease into it.”

Huener said the groups he observed also stayed relatively close to shore. The most noteworthy tale of open-water hunting on LOTW came when an open-water hunter set up close to and downwind of other hunters on a point.

“Down-winding is the kind of thing that will put a bad taste in people’s mouth,” Huener said.

Huener also advises hunters to be conscientious not only of others, but also that layout hunting in the traditional sense – with a small, low-profile craft that is tended by a larger motor boat – comes with some rules that might easily be overlooked.

Hunters in layout boats must have a legal flotation device (life jacket) on board. Cell phones and walkie-talkies cannot be used to aid in the taking of wildlife.

“There’s nothing wrong with using radios or phones to say, ‘Hey, I’m bored. Come get me,’ Or to signal that you’ve got dead birds needing to be picked up, or some safety issues,” Huener said.

The officers also expressed concern about the issue of party hunting for waterfowl, which is prohibited.

“Federal regulations prohibit leaving birds with other hunters, so if a game warden checks a tender boat with three or four limits, it could put them in violation. We would be concerned with hunters swapping birds such as hen mallards or canvasbacks,” Huener said.

Thus far, it appears the 2014 regulations pertaining to hunting waterfowl in open water will be the same as last year, so only time will tell if the sport catches on with Minnesota hunters.

[tyler]

fish felon shot many all drake limits in his layout boat last yr

[Waterfowlist]

A few guys in my area got setup with layouts last year. They shot a few, but certainly not as good as what they expected.

[Goldfish]

It's a blast to do. Honestly some of the most fun I've had waterfowling. However they need to look into that ducks in the tender thing. If you keep them sorted or easily designated as to who's birds are who's, there shouldn't be an issue. Trying to keep them in the layout and transferring them all from boat to boat when switching guys is silly.

[Harold Houck]

Been doing this for years and years on the WI. side.

[ducksmuggler]

same hear been doing it for years..... 8 to be exact... gray hoodie group way cooler than the black hoodies that don't hide.

[Fish Felon]

fish felon shot many all drake limits in his layout boat last yr

I have no idea what you're talking about and I think you're confusing me with someone else.

I did actually try layout hunting once last year with a friend who had just bought a layout boat but all we shot was 1 bluebill (knocked down two other goldeneyes but lost them). I agree with the article; I think it will take some time for it to catch on in MN. From the little experience I have I can say there was a lot of potential for success but my gear wasn't rigged right. We were limited to how far we could hunt from shore due to anchor weights (we put out about 8 dozen individually rigged divers).

It was a fun hunt where we saw lots of ducks and "decoyed" a lot outside of shooting range. I can definitely see where it'd be effective if you were set up right and I am looking forward to trying it again next year.