Possession Limit

When I hunted Kansas and Nebraska on the same day, I separated and tagged each bird with where it was killed. A Game warden stopped me when I was headed home with a limit from Kansas and Nebraska, seven total. He wanted to know if I had any proof that I had been in Kansas? I showed him a receipt from a convenience store from earlier that day and he commented on how I had the proof of being in Kansas and had the pheasants separated by state. He said I was legal and sent me on my way.
A federal warden chastised my wife and a couple others because they didn’t have their ducks separated into different piles when they came to the dock. No ticket but he made sure they understood that he could give them one.
 
airmedic1 said:
When I hunted Kansas and Nebraska on the same day, I separated and tagged each bird with where it was killed. A Game warden stopped me when I was headed home with a limit from Kansas and Nebraska, seven total. He wanted to know if I had any proof that I had been in Kansas? I showed him a receipt from a convenience store from earlier that day and he commented on how I had the proof of being in Kansas and had the pheasants separated by state. He said I was legal and sent me on my way.
A federal warden chastised my wife and a couple others because they didn’t have their ducks separated into different piles when they came to the dock. No ticket but he made sure they understood that he could give them one.
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airmedic1 said:
When I hunted Kansas and Nebraska on the same day, I separated and tagged each bird with where it was killed. A Game warden stopped me when I was headed home with a limit from Kansas and Nebraska, seven total. He wanted to know if I had any proof that I had been in Kansas? I showed him a receipt from a convenience store from earlier that day and he commented on how I had the proof of being in Kansas and had the pheasants separated by state. He said I was legal and sent me on my way.
A federal warden chastised my wife and a couple others because they didn’t have their ducks separated into different piles when they came to the dock. No ticket but he made sure they understood that he could give them one.
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Note—
I had enough experience with the Fed. Officers to say without reservation—most—maybe but not all
Are notoriously strick on that kind of thing—Need I say to the point of —-Avian Excrement!!
Dont even get me started on what they consider baiting☹️

But that is not what we are talking about here-no federal issue here —UNLESS-you are transporting illegally taken/possessed across state or u.s. boarders.
 
Theres a lot of gray area on possession limits but my grampa always said that if you ain't saving the legs, you might as well not bother shooting the roosters. Wantin waste is something no hunters should be doing.
 
Smasher said:
Theres a lot of gray area on possession limits but my grampa always said that if you ain't saving the legs, you might as well not bother shooting the roosters. Wantin waste is something no hunters should be doing.
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OK. So if a guy ate or gifted all the breasts, but had a whole bunch of legs (say 50) saved up for stocks, soups & whatever...is THAT poaching? (Humorous comments encouraged, including the UPH ethics police)
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
OK. So if a guy ate or gifted all the breasts, but had a whole bunch of legs (say 50) saved up for stocks, soups & whatever...is THAT poaching? (Humorous comments encouraged, including the UPH ethics police)
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No that ain't poaching cuz they the legs are getting eaten. The people who keep the breast and throw the legs away are the ones who are being wasting. Are you obsesed with breasts or something? lulz
 
If we mandate that the legs must be eaten in order to be ethical, should we require the clean plate club, too? Nothing goes to waste? I filet some thigh meat off most of the time, that’s it.
 
benelli-banger said:
If we mandate that the legs must be eaten in order to be ethical, should we require the clean plate club, too? Nothing goes to waste? I filet some thigh meat off most of the time, that’s it.
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Poaching heathen. I suppose you chuck the feet & gizzards too.😂
 
My group usually crock pots the leg & thigh with onion/carrot/celery/spices. When the meat falls off the bone, drain it, cool it, pick out tendons/shot and then chop up and use for pheasant salad sandwiches. Great for taking lunch to the guys in the combines & grain carts too.

With a lot of meat, you can freeze it and use it later for things as well.
 
I'm amazed at how long this thread has gotten and how much is up for debate. I don't think it could be any simpler...

The law says daily limit is ___.
The law says possessions limit is ___.
That's it, end of conversation. If you shot it that day, it's part of your daily limit. If you have it in your possession (basically, you have not yet ate it), then it's your possession limit. If the daily limit is 3, and the possession is 15, but you already have 14 in your possession, then you can legally only shoot one that day (unless you happen to eat 2 that day, then go back out and get your remaining 2 to get your possession back up to your full 15).

The only gray area I've been confused on, is if you were to mount a bird. At what point does it move from your possession to a "decoration"? If you mount it yourself and it takes you awhile, or is sitting in your freezer wrapped up, or it's sitting at the taxidermy freezer for awhile. When is it "out of your possession?"

It's also not hard to keep track of. Keep a piece of paper taped on your freezer, write down each time you add one or take one out and you'll always have an accurate count without having to dig through the freezer. When putting in the freezer, label and date what state they are from on the package and also add it to your paper you're keeping track of.

I hunt MN and SD, I have a goal each year to end the hunting season with my possession limit in the freezer from both states. In large part because I enjoy cooking and eating pheasant, along with the outstanding nutritional value of it, and I want enough to last me through as much of the year as I can.
 
jackrabbit said:
It's also not hard to keep track of. Keep a piece of paper taped on your freezer, write down each time you add one or take one out and you'll always have an accurate count without having to dig through the freezer. When putting in the freezer, label and date what state they are from on the package and also add it to your paper you're keeping track of.
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That is what I was getting at multiple times in this thread. Clearly there are some hunters on here that don't keep track and very likely go over the possession limit. Apparently simple math is too hard for some people too.
 
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I don't have time to read this entire thread but as to the original poster. Once your at home or abode you can remove species identification for upland birds and migratory birds.
 
Big picture is clear, but the nitty gritty details can get confusing.

For example, say I bring home 10 birds from SD, all legally taken and transported. When I get home, I quarter them up. Breasts go in one bag, thighs and legs in another. The breasts get cooked and eaten quickly, leaving just the thighs/legs to work with. I take half of them, cook em down, and make phez pot pies. Eat one, freeze two. Do the two cooked but uneaten pies count toward my possession? How many birds do they count for?

The other half of the thighs/legs I throw in the pressure canner and boom, now I have some long shelf life protein. Those are cooked and processed, but not eaten. Do those count towards my possession limit?

Or maybe I'm weird and take every pheasant, pluck it, and smoke it whole. Now my freezer if filled with smoked, whole pheasants. Fully cooked, but wholly uneaten.

This is all academic, as my phez always get eaten way too fast! But it's something I've thought about. Does a bird in possession only go away once it's been eaten? Or once it's been cooked?

Edit: I almost forgot about sausage! I add 15lbs of phez to 15lbs of pork, make 30lbs of lil-smoky-size sausages. Any single sausage could have meat from all 15 birds, so if I have one tiny sausage in my freezer, does that count as 15 birds?

Like I say, big picture easy, nitty gritty confusing.
 
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3car said:
I don't have time to read this entire thread but as to the original poster. Once your at home or abode you can remove species identification for upland birds and migratory birds.
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Where did you get this information? And it may vary by state. But in most states if it's in your possession it must be identifiable.
 
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