By admin 
MINNEAPOLIS – In another attempt to sell more duck hunting licenses and stamps, the Department of Natural Resources might free waterfowlers from the time-honored tradition of identifying mallards, blue-winged teal, canvasbacks and other duck species before they shoot.
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Instead, they could plug anything that quacks.
That’s not hyperbole.
In a development that even some retired DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) wildlife biologists say is “shocking,” the DNR is proposing that Minnesota waterfowlers be allowed to shoot three ducks of any species or sex, so long as they shoot only three.
The DNR believes one reason Minnesota duck-hunter numbers have plummeted from more than 130,000 to about 55,000 in recent decades is not because the state has too few wild fowl – which most hunters believe – but because prospective wingshooters don’t know how to identify one duck from another.
Or don’t want to.
So, DNR waterfowl managers are floating the idea of dumbing down duck hunting.
Under the DNR proposal, hunters would have to choose the three-duck daily option for an entire season, foregoing Minnesota’s more customary six-duck daily limit. The latter comes with species and sex restrictions, such as two hen mallards daily (with four mallards total allowed), two redheads, two canvasbacks, two black ducks and three pintails.
South Dakota and Nebraska have offered similar three-duck “splash” limits in recent years, with the blessing of the FWS.
Research from those states indicates that while the three-duck limit doesn’t markedly affect harvest, neither does it attract significant numbers of new hunters. According to a University of Nebraska study, “Our findings did not indicate that the implementation of (three-duck-daily) regulations will result in an immediate increase in recruited waterfowl hunters.”
If the DNR is intent on rebuilding waterfowler numbers, they might try producing more quality duck habitat in Minnesota, aggressively fighting wetland drainage and invasive species, and, in general, making the state more accommodating for ducks – while worrying less about license sales, which will take care of themselves.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what former state and federal wildlife biologists say about the DNR’s three-duck daily limit idea.
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– Fred Bengtson, DNR area wildlife manager, retired: “The three-duck daily limit idea, with no species or sex restrictions, is almost unbelievable. I see it as just another attempt to sell licenses without any regard for ducks. The DNR’s first priority seems to be to get more hunters in the field, and somewhere down the line is the welfare of ducks. Right now in Minnesota, we have unoccupied mallard and wood duck habitat. You would think that would be the DNR’s priority. But apparently not. Even some current DNR wildlife managers are shocked the agency would propose it.”
– Tony Rondeau, Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, retired, and a founder in 1989 of Woodie Camp, which teaches young people about waterfowl and waterfowl hunting: “Duck identification is a critical component of becoming a proficient waterfowler. Protection of hens is as important now as it always has been. So, too, protection of critical species. You can’t do either without knowing how to identify ducks. With the DNR’s proposal, you can pick up a shotgun and walk down to a lake or river and a half-hour before sunrise blast away. If the DNR is concerned, and the Fish and Wildlife Service is concerned, about hen mallards and about species such as canvasback, scaup and pintails, I’m confounded how this three-duck limit with no restrictions could be proposed.”
– Dave Rave, DNR waterfowl research biologist and area wildlife manager, retired: “Except in the early part of the season, when there are no, or very few, bluebills in the state, and the limit on them at that time is one, you can already – within current state limits – kill two ducks of any species and sex you want and still be legal. And they think allowing one more duck in a daily bag will entice new hunters to finally say, ‘Yes, now I want to go duck hunting?’ I don’t think so. More ducks and better management of ducks, that’s what will bring Minnesota duck hunters back.”
– Scott Glup, Fish and Wildlife Service project leader, Litchfield Wetland Management District, retired: “I don’t think the three-duck option would have a significant impact on duck populations. But the impact this regulation would have on harvest isn’t the point. It sends the wrong message to duck hunters. Is teaching people how to do the right thing when in the field important? Yes, it’s critically important, because we’re not only making hunters out of them, we’re making conservationists. Duck identification is a big part of this. We should be conserving hen mallards, for example, not shooting more of them, and to do that, we need to know how to identify birds.”
– Ray Norrgard, DNR wetland wildlife program leader, retired: “First, state and federal managers liberalized limits on geese. Then, in spring, on light geese, there were no limits, plus you could use unplugged shotguns and electronic calls. Now come ducks. Increase the limits, liberalize the seasons and shooting hours. Push the envelope until it tears, then, if you’re a professional duck manager, circle the wagons and put up walls of data and irrefutable statistics to prove your innocence. The question for duck hunters now is, ‘Who do we believe? Their science or our own eyes?'”
Want to weigh in on the three-duck idea?
Comments can be emailed by Aug. 17 to [email protected]. Or send your comments via snail mail to Nate Huck, DNR Fish and Wildlife Division, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155.
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This story was originally published August 12, 2026 at 2:58 AM.