Youth waterfowl weekend is Sept. 10-11

During the youth waterfowl hunt Sept. 10-11, youth hunters will have a special opportunity to learn how to hunt waterfowl with an adult who is not hunting.

During the two-day hunt, waterfowl hunters age 17 and younger, when accompanied by a nonhunting adult age 18 and older, may take ducks, geese, mergansers, coots and moorhens from a half hour before sunrise to sunset. Bag limits are the same as the regular duck and September goose seasons (mndnr.gov/hunting/waterfowl).

Tribal closure of wild rice waters for early waterfowl hunting seasons

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the White Earth Nation have closed all wild rice waters within the boundaries of their respective reservations to all over-water waterfowl hunting during the traditional wild rice harvest. Affected by these closures are the experimental early teal season (Sept. 3-7) and the early goose season (Sept. 3-18).

The DNR advises all waterfowl hunters to be aware of these tribal restrictions and urges hunters who have planned to hunt within the boundaries of the Leech Lake or White Earth reservations to contact each tribe’s natural resource department for more information:

• Leech Lake Division of Resource Management (llojibwe.org/drm): 218-335-7400.
• White Earth Division of Natural Resources (whiteearth.com/divisions/natural_resources/contact): 218-983-3201.

Other hunt details

Hunters ages 13 to 17 must have a firearms safety certificate or apprentice hunter validation in their possession while hunting. In addition, youth hunters age 16 and 17 must have a Federal Duck Stamp and a youth small game license. All other migratory bird hunting regulations apply. Because the accompanying adult will not be actively hunting, the adult does not need a license. All hunters must carry proof of answering “yes” to the Harvest Information Program (HIP) survey question (files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/hunting/waterfowl.pdf#page=10) of whether they intend to hunt migratory birds. There is no minimum age to participate and firearms safety requirements for youth are listed by age groups on page 35 of the Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations (files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/hunting/full_regs.pdf#page=35).

Information to help hunters properly identify waterfowl is available in an illustrated guide contained in the 2022 Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting Regulations (files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/hunting/waterfowl.pdf#page=18). Complete regulations and the illustrated guide also are available in Hmong, Karen, Somali and Spanish, available on the DNR’s hunting regulations page (mndnr.gov/Regulations/Hunting).

Access to complete information on Minnesota’s waterfowl hunting seasons is available from the DNR’s waterfowl hunting webpage (mndnr.gov/Hunting/Waterfowl).