Minnesota duck hunters will see lots of changes

Minnesota duck hunters will see lots of changes in their season this fall, including an earlier opening day, earlier opening-day shooting hours and an earlier youth waterfowl hunt.

Bag limits for wood ducks and hen mallards will be higher than last year, according to the Department of Natural Resources. And north and south hunting zones have been added to provide additional hunting opportunity.

“We needed a change,” Tom Landwehr, DNR commissioner, said in a statement. “We heard from waterfowl hunters that they supported these changes, and with waterfowl hunter numbers at record lows, we don’t expect season changes to negatively affect breeding populations.”

The 60-day, six-duck-limit waterfowl season will open Sept. 24. Opening day shooting will start one-half hour before sunrise, as opposed to 9 a.m. in the past. And youth waterfowl day will be Sept. 10. Duck bag limits are consistent with most other states in the Mississippi Flyway.

“The changes are designed to maintain Minnesota’s waterfowl hunting tradition by increasing opportunity and better utilizing the federal regulatory framework set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under which we operate,” Landwehr said.

The changes reflect input from a recently formed citizen waterfowl hunting focus group, according to the DNR.

This year’s earlier-than-usual opener will allow hunting when greater numbers of migrating wood ducks and blue-winged teal are around, yet maintains late-season opportunities.

Hunting north of Minnesota Highway 210 – the North Duck Zone – will be allowed continuously through Nov. 22. Hunters in the South Duck Zone – anywhere south of Highway 210 – will have a split season. Hunting in the South Zone will be allowed Sept. 24-25 to take advantage of early migrations, then close for five days. The season in the south
will resume on Oct. 1 and continue through Nov. 27, which is the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.