2021 Season

Do you guys really find it challenging to carry your hunting license with you when you are hunting?
Should be able to just show your phone. Literally every state around us that all I have to do. So backwards. Don’t forget to sign it also 😔.
 
Sorry in advance if this has already been mentioned. I saw that the Minnesota youth deer season starts tomorrow through the weekend. Make sure you meet blaze orange requirements if you hunt the next several days.
Does a game vest with some orange meet the requirement? Or does it need to be a whole separate piece of clothing? DNR website is a bit vague for my liking.
 
Does a game vest with some orange meet the requirement? Or does it need to be a whole separate piece of clothing? DNR website is a bit vague for my liking.
No, that is not good enough. Whatever the requirement is for deer hunting is what you need even if you are not deer hunting. I posted it below for you. An upland vest is not good enough (unless its full blaze orange) during any portion of the firearms or muzzle loader open deer season, which includes the youth season which runs through Sunday. You will also need an orange hat if you don't already wear one. There are exceptions, but upland hunting is not one of them.

All hunters and trappers in the field during the open firearms/muzzleloader deer seasons must display blaze orange or pink on the visible portion of the person’s cap and outer clothing above the waist, excluding sleeves and gloves. Blaze orange or pink camouflage patterns are allowed and must be at least 50 percent blaze orange or pink within each square foot.
 
Most states let you have your license on your phone now. Wallet no longer needed.

ND Warden can pretty much just open his computer and see your license and selected dates.
 
I believe in Minnesota, a hard copy of it still has to be on your person. I know it does for a deer license. My Father got in some legal trouble with that a couple years ago. In your truck is not good enough.
 
I believe in Minnesota, a hard copy of it still has to be on your person. I know it does for a deer license. My Father got in some legal trouble with that a couple years ago. In your truck is not good enough.
Correct- you have to have the actual hard copy for any license that requires a tag such as deer, bear and turkey
 
Correct- you have to have the actual hard copy for any license that requires a tag such as deer, bear and turkey
So do you have to carry a hard copy of a small game license too or is a digital photo acceptable? I always just carry the hard copy of my small game license in my vest, since I'm always using that when I bird hunt. I always have a hard copy of my angling license on me when I fish too.
 
So do you have to carry a hard copy of a small game license too or is a digital photo acceptable? I always just carry the hard copy of my small game license in my vest, since I'm always using that when I bird hunt. I always have a hard copy of my angling license on me when I fish too.
This is what I got when I asked.
For small game, you could scan your signed paper license and carry that on your phone, as long as it is clear and legible. You could not do this for any animal that requires a physical tag to go on the animal, like turkey, deer, or bear.



Barb

Customer Service Specialist | Office of Communication and Outreach

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

500 Lafayette Road

St. Paul, MN 55155

Phone: 888-646-6367

Email: info.dnr@state.mn.us
 
The tag must be in your possession because by law you must tag your deer where it died.

If you hunt public land or an area where the warden can drive up to you as you drag out ... Tag your deer before you gut it so you do not forget.
 
Hunted last weekend. Overall I saw less birds than opening weekend but more roosters! Bagged two on Saturday evening. I was very grateful to to be out with my young dog and such a beautiful day. It was awesome to watch him work and retrieve.
 
I see this as predominantly a MN problem (at least in the upper midwest). I have never been encroached upon in the Dakotas, IA or even WI (well a couple of times and it was always a Minnesotan).

Many Minnesotans have the opinion that it is public land and open to all.

In MN between the Walk In areas, WPAs and WMAs ... there are plenty of "other" spots.
I live in South Dakota and it happens just as much here in the area I hunt. If you hunt within an hour and a half from Sioux Falls it's just like MN.
 
I enjoy reading all the conversations here, lots of knowledgeable people on this forum!

Just got back from a weekend of hunting a mix of public and private, overall a successful weekend with good friends! Still plenty of corn up where I hunt but once that disappears, the public areas should be much better.

Here is a picture of my Halloween AM Hunt, my first limit of the season!
 

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First hunt of the season on Friday for me yielded success. I hunted four spots on Friday afternoon and raised 24 pheasants, 2 coyotes, and a small buck. There is still a fairly significant amount of crops standing though, including beans. Not sure why.
 

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We hunted saturday west of the cities and of course there were lots of other hunters around. We pulled in about 8:30, and 10 minutes later a guy pulls in and rolls down his window and starts bullshitin' with us. He says a buddy is meeting him here. I'm not sure if he was waiting for us to invite him along to hunt with us or what, but eventually he says, "I'll let you have it" and drives away??? We hunted the spot and never put up a bird, although my buddy said he saw a bird run into cattails in front of him(he thought it was a hen). We hunted a 2nd public spot and 2 hens and 1 rooster jumped very wild from us. The 3rd public spot we didn't see any birds, although hunters were still thick in the general area. The last spot we hit was private and we saw 10 hens and 8 roosters. Knocked a few down, but nothing in the bag. It kills me to lose birds, but it seems way more common than I thought before I got into this sport. Even when the hunting is tough I still love going, I just really want to blast one for the dog, she works harder than I ever do. The only thing I know for sure, I will 100% go pheasant hunting at my next possible opportunity. And I hope I don't let my dog down. Thankfully I haven't yet because she just loves to go.
 
Went for a Saturday morning hunt with the boy in hopes of him getting that elusive first rooster, boy there was a crap ton of hunters out! Thankfully my brother in law had some private land spots and we moved a few birds on those, no shots on the first one... but then - on the second one, we saw a rooster get up wild in front of us and land in a slough. Went in after it and was getting very close to the property line when it popped up in front of my kid and the youth mossberg 20 gauge did the job, shot it in the butt and a good retrieve from my brother in laws lab! Heres my son with his trophy. Hes put in quite a few miles walking with me over the past couple years, I'm super proud.
 

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I went on Friday afternoon for a couple hours in central MN and took home a couple roosters. It was a glorious day to hunt. Honestly even if I didn't get a shot at one, I still would have enjoyed it. One spot had a nice covey of about 15 birds. Unfortunately they were all getting up on the other side of the tree line/fence line, so I couldn't shoot at them by myself. Luckily a couple of single dummies got up in front of me and they were easy shots.

Has anyone noticed how bone dry it is out there? I think my dog is having some trouble scenting some of these birds because of the super dry conditions. Every time I take a step on dirt, the dust flies up. Every ditch is completely dry. Every patch of cattails is completely dry too. We are going to need an epic amount of moisture this winter to make up for the drought.
 

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