Will Minnesota’s early teal season continue in 2025? Survey finds hunters still split – Outdoor News
St. Paul — Results from the Minnesota DNR’s waterfowl-hunter survey for the 2023 season have been tallied. The focus of the survey leaned heavily on participation and attitudes surrounding the early teal season.
Respondents were essentially split on whether to continue with the early season, which ran for five days this year beginning Sept. 1. For those who did participate, satisfaction rates were high.
The agency conducts periodic surveys of hunters to measure and understand their preferences for management and regulations, as well as to track participation and harvest in hunting seasons. Waterfowl-hunter surveys are conducted roughly every three or four years.
“Hunter surveys are vital to (knowing) what hunters want,” said Nate Huck, DNR resident game bird specialist in Brainerd. “We rely on those surveys to inform the season-setting process.”
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Per usual, opening-weekend waterfowl results varied around Minnesota
The DNR sampled 4,000 Minnesota waterfowl stamp holders (aged 18-65) from around the state. Each participant received a letter in the mail inviting them to visit a website and complete a questionnaire. A total of 1,257 eventually responded.
Over the years, survey response rates have declined, Huck said, which requires extra work and extra expense.
“As we’ve seen declines in response rates, we’ve had to send out more surveys to get a sufficient sample size,” he said. “This ultimately means it costs more money.
“If stamp purchasers receive a survey, it’s really important that they complete it,” he added. “We really do want to hear from hunters, and that’s the perfect opportunity to give us your opinion.”
According to the survey, in 2023, 70,751 duck stamps “were held.” Of those, the DNR estimates 58,015 participated in waterfowl hunting.
Below are some of the 2023 survey results.
Participation and harvest in early teal season
Of those who reported “any waterfowl-hunting activity in the state,” 39% participated in the early teal season. At the close of the season, 34,340 waterfowl hunting stamps were held. Of these, the DNR estimates 13,392 participated.
Participation declined sharply during the five-day season. An estimated 84% participated on opening day, while only 21% hunted on the last day. Participants hunted an average of 2.18 days. Hunters harvested around 71,000 teal, with most being bluewings (65,394).
Primary hunting location during early teal season
Most respondents reported hunting in the central zone (40%), then the south zone (34%), followed by the north zone (25%).
Satisfaction with the early teal season
Overall, participants reported “very high levels of satisfaction,” with 64% being either slightly, moderately, or very satisfied. About a third (34%) reported being very satisfied. About 24% reported being either slightly, moderately, or very dissatisfied with their overall hunting experience.
Observance of shooting outside legal hours and non-target species
Legal shooting time for the early teal season begins at sunrise (rather than one-half hour before sunrise as during the regular waterfowl season) to allay concerns about the take of non-target species.
Respondents were asked if they witnessed other hunters following the regulations. Minorities of early teal season participants reported witnessing other waterfowl hunters shoot a non-teal species (13%) or shoot before sunrise (17%).
Support for continuing early teal hunting season
The DNR decided to implement an experimental early teal season in 2021. The experimental period lasted three years, including one bonus season (this year) authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Respondents were split in their support (42%) or opposition (41%) to continuing the early season in Minnesota. An additional 18% reported having “neither support nor opposition” to the hunt moving forward.
The USFWS already has approved an early teal season for Minnesota next year. The DNR gets to decide whether to offer state waterfowlers a season, although that decision won’t be made until roughly next spring.
Huck said the DNR has a season-setting process. The state’s waterfowl committee will make a recommendation, which will then go to the wildlife management team, which is composed of higher-level managers within the Division of Wildlife. That recommendation will be reviewed by Kelly Straka, division chief. Eventually, DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen will make a final decision.
“At this time, there have been no decisions made on whether or not we will have a season,” Huck said. “We will meet next March or April to make that decision.”
According to additional findings in the survey, respondents on average bagged 11.5 ducks and 4.4 geese during the regular waterfowl season in Minnesota in 2023. A majority of respondents (59%) reported being either slightly, moderately, or very satisfied with their “general waterfowl-hunting experience” in Minnesota in 2023.
An additional 10% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, while 32% reported being either slightly, moderately, or very dissatisfied with their general waterfowl-hunting experience.
The survey included other general questions – from beliefs about bag limits to the preference date for the regular duck season to season dates and splits, among others.
Those findings, including additional questions about the early teal season, are in the full survey, which the DNR will post online in the near future.
For more information, visit the DNR website.
