Would you hunt the teal season in Sept if offered in MN?

[Goldfish]

How long did you shoot teal and wood ducks last year? Into November almost? And you think an early teal season is going to push them out?

Sent from a phancy fone

[9manfan]

How long did you shoot teal and wood ducks last year? Into November almost? And you think an early teal season is going to push them out?

Sent from a phancy fone

you can look at your statement 2 ways, yes they probably wont all get pushed out by a early teal season, but if they're around until almost November, what do we need a early season for than ??

I really don't give a rip if they have it or not.......

[Trigger]

How long did you shoot teal and wood ducks last year? Into November almost? And you think an early teal season is going to push them out?

Sent from a phancy fone

Shooting one teal in November is much different than shooting a 5 man limit in early September. The whole "oh I see them ALL season long" argument is preposterous. That's like saying if I shot a goldeneye on opener in Mankato, I could use that as an example of outstanding goldeneye hunting year round. Its just wrong.

[get-n-birdy]

I wonder how many guys honestly know what they are shooting at during the regular season? A lot can't identify a bird in hand.

[9manfan]

I wonder how many guys honestly know what they are shooting at during the regular season? A lot can't identify a bird in hand.

yep, had a guy send me a pic last year during the season and was wondering what kind of duck he shot.......have a feeling there will be a lot of mud stompers if this season happens.... ....

[Trigger]

If there is an early teal season, will that not affect the wood ducks that are already around at that time? I don't know about everyone else but I would take shooting a limit of wood ducks over teal any and every day.

If you're hunting teal the same place you're hunting wood ducks you're probably not going to be as successful as you could be. And why would you take a small but good tasting duck you can only shoot three of, over a small but good tasting duck you can shoot 6 of?

I personally like decoying wood ducks better than teal. I like the honey holes I have for wood ducks better than teal too; which comes back to where teal season probably wouldn't affect wood ducks either. Who knows, was just another thought.

Yeah I hear ya, wood ducks are fun, and you bring up a good point that they are not affected nearly as negatively as teal are. One of my biggest reasons for wanting a teal season is that when opener is good, its because there are a lot of teal around. But that just doesn't happen anymore with 3 weeks of disturbance on the sloughs that teal use. The guys who love the whole hunt, including scouting will always hammer birds on opener, and some guys will always get lucky, but the widespread success that opener is remembered for just won't happen with the current set up. Last year we had the earliest opener ever, as close to the traditional peak of the teal migration as we can get, yet it was widely considered pretty bad because of the lack of teal. Why? because teal utilize the same wetland types as geese in September so they are being pressured. The guys who know where to hunt wood ducks had a great opener. Why? Because there were tons of them due to using different types of habitat than where early geese are hunted... ever found acorns in a goose crop? I sure haven't.

Bullets point of a teal season only moving more birds out is true and undeniable, but the way I see it the damage is already being done with early goose and YWD, and that damage is moving teal out of the state prematurely. We are not reliant on mallards or any other species that use the same types of wetlands as geese in September for a good opener, we need teal, so the only way to get a good hunt on them with the current set up is to get them before the goose hunters push them out. The only way to protect the good openers of the past is to eliminate early goose and YWD, neither of which are going to happen. So why not give us a chance to hunt the birds that our money and effort help raise? Now we are getting ZERO chance at these teal, our state lands our providing great opportunity for the south because one greedy POS southerner gave us the "production state" classification in the late 60's, eliminating our chance at a teal season, not because data and biologists thought it would be a good idea. Being a giant teal factory for the south and not taking a small cut for ourself just doesn't make sense to me.

[Trigger]

I wonder how many guys honestly know what they are shooting at during the regular season? A lot can't identify a bird in hand.

yep, had a guy send me a pic last year during the season and was wondering what kind of duck he shot.......have a feeling there will be a lot of mud stompers if this season happens.... ....

Then we shouldn't have a regular duck season either. Lets just cancel it all because someone might break a law. Lets ban driving while we're at it, someone might speed and kill someone. Lets close all the bars, someone might drive drunk. Lets close duck season, someone might shoot early. Arguments like this are the same democrats use to make our laws.... well we can't have permits to carry, there is going to gun fights in the street. We can't have a teal season because Minnesotans are the only people who can't ID ducks.

Why the FLOCK is the ID issue not brought up for southern states?!?!?! Are they that much better at duck ID than us?

[9manfan]

Trigger..take a pill and chill out.....

[Trigger]

Trigger..take a pill and chill out.....

The pills I take usually make me see things.

[h2ofwlr]

Why the FLOCK is the ID issue not brought up for southern states?!?!?! Are they that much better at duck ID than us?

Politics. I am searious. let me explain:

The key back in '65 was this: The early teal season was a 3 year trial and the USFWS said that the attempts on other non legal waterfowl had to be less than 25%. Only 1 state had met the 25% standard, the average was 45% through out the MS and Central flways. Mn was 50% and TX was 78%

MN shot so many teal in that '65 early season that the USFWS refused to continue the 3 year trail run for MN. As MN hunters had shot 1/3 of the total flyway harvest in that early season.

And thus MN has been shut ever since.

Then politics got involved (I think it was '68 or '69) and the Asst Interior Sec was appt and he set up the early season as its been known for decades--it eliminated all production states from having a early teal season and disregarded the scientific findings of the mid 60s study that the harvest of non legal waterfowl was way too high. There was a major uproar about what this Asst Int Sec did (who happened to be from LA). But politics prevailed being key southern Congressmen were on committtees that over saw the funding the USFWS. So thus the USFWS was blackmailed by these southern Congressmen --shut up about the early season--or we'll cut your funding.