[Chuck Smith]

'Blue-collar hunters' from Minnesota, U.S. should watch Manitoba's moves carefully (startribune.com)


If you read this article they claim it is for the betterment of "local" hunters. Yet local hunter numbers have been declining over the years. This is all a power grab by outfitters.

 

[Canuck]

And then there is this from Montana
https://billingsgazette.com/news/st...cle_cf7a74b6-b48c-11ed-b79b-43d90351728f.html

 

[Chuck Smith]

Canuck....

the difference is that they are not limiting the number of hunters who can come. They are just limiting the days. Now again I don't agree with it. Just like I voiced my opinion when ND switched to it and what not. Because it is taking opportunity away from people. It is turning hunting into a "rich man" game. It will make people lease land and what not. BTW... I have seen more "leasing" of land in ND the past 5 years or so.

In that article it states that 93% of the NR bird hunters right now in MT are there for 14 or less days. Out of the 10,000 NR bird hunters.... 9300 are there for less than 14 days!!! Out of that number 81% hunt 7 days or less. SO 8100 HUNTERS.

But like I mentioned the difference is that in Manitoba they want to limit the number of hunters period... .and give dedicated licenses to outfitters. Where this one in MT is trying to cut days. I disagree with both.

 

[Chuck Smith]

On a side note.... I saw somewhere that the Number of NR early goose hunters in ND rose by 1000 licenses between 2020 to 2021. Now i go out and do this. But I listen to my friends complain about the pressure now. I told them the #1 way for then to get rid of that pressure by the Game and fish.... is to move the date of the NR opener to Sept. 1.... make it like all the other states in the area. Also lower the number to 8 geese instead of 15.

Here is peoples mentality... they see 15 geese a day limit. They think geese must be over running the whole state and any idiot can go get huge numbers. Well not the case. Then they think well our season doesn't open until Sept... why not take a trip to ND and knock the old cobwebs out and what not before we hunt in our home state.

Also in August 15th.... wheat is just starting to get harvested in full swing. So you have everyone fighting for the few fields that are harvested.

Anyways i can talk until I am blue in the face on this one but it would take R in ND to have the game and fish make the change.

 

[Canuck]

A lot of hunters go to NE Montana because their licence s valid for the whole season. They go early for the Sharptail hunting and stay well into the pheasant season. Many of these folks park their motor homes at a popular small town campground for the season. Some of those folks may well decide to try ND if the licence and time limits are the same.

What has happened in Manitoba sucks bigtime even for us residents. DU funding by Americans will wain. Doors in other locations will close and competition with outfitters will be fierce. And the resource will go under-utilized in many parts of the province. The good old days are definitely ending.

 

[Chuck Smith]

Canuck...

agree with you especially about the funding from conservation groups from the USA. They might stop pushing money towards habitat. Even though we all know the breeding grounds are up in the prairie pothole region. But it is something that will happen.

 

[Plainsman]

A fellow from where I live was one of the first guides/outfitters in North Dakota. Then the high fence people started and many were also outfitters. I was one of 30 sponsors of a measure to ban high fence hunting in North Dakota. I see them first of all as game disease factories, and second as enemies of common sportsmen. Unfortunately the majority of sportsmen are naive.

 

[speckline]

My Grandpa told me years ago that pay to play will be the demise of hunting!!
My solution, ban guides, game farms and harshly limit the access to NR hunters. SD has the right idea!

 

[Chuck Smith]

Speck...

Not to open up the can of worms of R vs NR. When people talk about SD they forget that they dont limit the number of NR upland hunters at all. In fact they promote it to the fullest to bring NR hunters in for upland hunting. Which in turn in the pay for play hunting you see in SD when it comes to upland. So SD really isn't one to follow at all. Now I know you mean Waterfowl hunting. The reason why SD can do that is because of the revenue they get from the upland hunting. Just saying. They exploit one to the max so it funds everything else. Just saying.

Plus like I mentioned about the whole Early goose in ND.... that is on the Game and Fish. Make the start date Sept 1 and you will see a decrease in NR hunter pressure. Plus also lower the bag limit as well.

 

[speckline]

Chuck, I was talking about waterfowl hunting. Honestly, upland should be lottery as well. I use to live next to a large game farm in southern Wi that raised 40 -50k pheasants. In August, the had a "round up" of pheasants to ship them to SD for release... wild birds! More bastardizing the sport.
Set up a limit on the # of licensesl, ban guides, ban game farms. Save the sport, otherwise our kids won't have a chance to hunt.
Just look what the south has done to hunting.

 

[Chuck Smith]

Speck.... yeah I always get a kick out of the "wild" birds and then when you see a truck show up full of pen raised birds.

 

[speckline]

My kids and I help the roundup for several years. Our instructions were very clear to cull out the roosters with broken tail feathers or short tails. They knew that the pheasant ranches were selling them off as wild birds.

 

[Sasha and Abby]

I agree with Canuk

 

[blhunter3]

The super early season has run its course in ND. I use to hunt it hard when it was 5 birds, then it went to 8 birds and then 15 birds. I don't see the reason for anything more than 5 birds or starting August 15th. Start it on the 1st. Count it against the NR days too.