Meelosh, dually noted as a person that hasn't hunted ducks and geese with any real passion for many years. I think for most of us that are very avid hunters and spend as much time in the field as we can, we're going to find this to be very disruptive and damaging in how we are able to pursue our passion and the right to the wild-life that is owned by all people of the state. I'm on the train that why fix something that many do not perceive to be broken. I probably only missed two to three weekends of pheasant season where I didn't chase birds. On any given weekend you might find me anywhere from McGregor to the Montana border, from Max to Parshall, down by turtle lake or Washburn, around Velva or Drake, possibly up near Glenburn, or somewhere along the lake. We make it a point NOT to hit the same place over and over and over again. We spread out our hunting activities and try to be good stewards of the wildlife. IF we find a really good spot with lots of birds, we might hit it 2-3 times the entire season but try not to go there more than once a month. It give the wildlife a break and allows that spot/location to be good for not only us, but for others that may also hunt it.
If we're to rely on public land that is currently available and or places that will allow access, I can assure you it will be overran within the first week or so of any given hunting season. I used to hunt around Audubon pretty often but with a continuous rise in pressure on the state land and refuge in that area, the bird numbers have plummeted. I have avoided it this year (2018), last year (2017) with two guys and three good dogs, we managed one lousy bird in 3 hours of continuous walking on opening day starting at daylight. This will be how much of the open land will end up.
If it's the time and or cost to post that is the concern, or the ability to prosecute those that do trespass on posted property, then I am all for finding ways for the state to ease the burden on the landowners. But lets not just jump to the nuclear launch button that's being pushed! Some argument has been made that landowners can post "Open to Hunting" if they want to avoid phone calls and or interruption if they intend to allow hunting. Every person should be able to acknowledge that there are vast expanses of private land where the land owner does not care and in the end they are not going to go through any extra burden to post that it is open to hunting. On top of that phone call will often times be avoided when the person doesn't recognize the number. In turn, that will be opportunity lost. I would about bet this will be the case with 50% or more of the current land that is not posted.
I've been actively following this thread and these are just some of the many thoughts that have been floating around my head.
