How nearly 1,000 public comments sank the DNR’s proposed change to duck hunting rules

MINNEAPOLIS – Earlier this month, the DNR abandoned plans for a change to the state’s duck hunting rule after a debate highlighted a philosophical split in the duck hunting community.

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On one side are those who want to make duck hunting, or at least its rules, simpler.

On the other: those who say the proposal would have dumbed down their pursuit, which is anchored in conservation.

Here’s how it went down:

– The backstory: Nate Huck, migratory game bird consultant for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, sought, and got, approval from his superiors to pursue a change that would allow each hunter a choice at the beginning of each season for what their daily limit would be.

Option 1: Keep things as they have been for decades, with a limit that varies based on the species and gender of each duck and how many birds biologists believe hunters can kill without harming the population. For example, this season the limit is six ducks in general, but only four mallards, only two of which can be female.

Option 2: Three ducks of any species or sex. This “three-splash rule” would be new.

– The conversation: Supporters of the new option argue it could make duck hunting more attractive to newcomers – a major concern as the number of duck hunters continues to decline – because the current rules require hunters to distinguish between more than a dozen types of ducks as they’re zooming past, often in the thin light around sunrise or sunset.

South Dakota and Nebraska adopted the new option, and younger hunters were more likely to choose it, presumably from a desire to be unburdened of mid-air identification of birds zooming by. Huck said a contingent of “older hunters with vision problems” also appreciated the option.

Checks of hunters showed it was rare for any type of duck to be “overharvested,” such as three hen mallards being shot, although there was little data to suggest it buoyed hunter numbers.

But critics, including a number of prominent retired wildlife officials, decried the proposal as dumbing down waterfowlers, who pride themselves as stewards of the species, supporting their conservation not only with money but a keen eye – and a restrained trigger finger – when identifying birds on the wing.

The state, which was among the last to legalize motorized decoys and has a shorter early teal season than many, has a history of conservative duck hunters.

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– By the numbers: The DNR received 993 total comments, far more than the agency expected.

Huck said they were generally evenly split for and against, although large numbers on either side were confused about the proposal. For example, some thought a hunter could pick which limit to follow each day, as opposed to at the start of the season.

In the end, he said, the divide was too great to move ahead, and the agency decided to abandon the idea for the foreseeable future.

Huck, a Wisconsin native who previously worked in Wyoming and Pennsylvania, said the division of viewpoints struck him.

“There’s really varied viewpoints on waterfowling here, more so than in other states that I’ve worked,” he said. “There’s certainly a lot of history and tradition in the state.”

How we set waterfowl seasons might change

How Minnesota sets its 60-day duck season is changing as part of an effort to incorporate more data from hunters and science.

Little about the state’s 60-day season or its three zones will change before 2030, Huck said. But the process, which will start with a new duck hunter survey next year, could result in any number of changes, ranging from a later opener to changing the mid-season breaks in October to the state’s zone divisions.

Huck is leading a webinar Wednesday to explain the process. One of the goals is to improve communications, he said. Register on the DNR’s webinar page.

Ice fishing expos coming

The first of the metro’s two major ice fishing expos is coming this weekend.

The North Metro Ice Show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Adrenaline Sports Center in Ramsey.

The St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sports Show will be held Dec. 4 to 6 at the St. Paul RiverCentre.

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This story was originally published October 21, 2026 at 5:47 AM.