[Matt Jones]

I kind of like the idea of having the first week being resident only but would have some concerns. The main issue with NR is access and how it's increasingly getting tougher due to NR's purchasing and leasing land for hunting. Opening a week earlier with residents only might just cause landowners to not let anyone on their property if their expecting friends and family from out of state to come and hunt.

I agree with Fetch that someone (Hildebrand) needs to step up and get off the fence. All the politicians are so concerned about not upsetting anyone (which is virtually impossible with an issue such as this), that I'm afraid nothing will be done. I know Hoeven's not going to step and take the reins on this one.

 

[Matt Jones]

Currently ND isn't allowed to have an early teal season under the current frameworks. Southern states that have teal seasons do not have teal seasons count against their regular season days.

States classified as productions states (northern midwest states) can't have a true teal season due to the fear that too many mistake ducks will be taken due to the fact that the ducks are still in eclipse plumage when teal migrate through.

The only production state that has anything close to a teal season is IA. What the IDNR did was subtract 5 days from their regular season and place them 2-3 weeks in fron of their traditional mid October opener. Some years IA opens two weeks before ND, and some years just one. Since it is not a teal season all ducks are legal but the "emphasis" is on teal.

I wouldn't mind seeing a two day split in ND two weeks before the regular opener. If they did this I would like to see it remain a teal season, but allow for one mistake duck. It's pretty sad teal seasons failed in the past because of the overharvest of other species. It's pretty easy to tell teal apart from other species even out of plumage. It's a pretty simple concept; if you can't identify your target as a legal duck...then don't pull the trigger.