September 20, 2005
Press Release

Minnesota DNR - News Releases

Hunters can locate public hunting land with DNR PRIM maps (2005-09-15)

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Public Recreation Information Maps (PRIM) can assist people in finding land open to public hunting this fall.

The set of 51 separate maps identify a wide variety of federal, state and county lands available for public recreation activities such as hunting, camping, hiking and boating.

"PRIM maps are updated on a three- to five-year rotation, so they are kept as current as possible," said Amy Ellison, DNR cartographer. "Nineteen maps have been updated for 2005, including the very popular metro area maps. We are also adding GPS coordinate grids to the updated maps this year."

Minnesotans who hunt are fortunate because the search for that place is not nearly as difficult as it is in many states, where public land is rare. In this state, hunters can choose from 1,300 state wildlife management areas, 56 state forests, two national forests, federal waterfowl production areas and county lands.

Not all public lands allow hunting. It's a good idea for hunters to check ahead and become familiar with boundaries of public-owned land so they do not inadvertently trespass onto private property. Hunters can find information about these sites by picking up PRIM maps.

PRIM maps are available at Minnesota's Bookstore, the DNR gift shop and many sporting good stores.

PRIM maps may also be purchased online at:
 http://www.comm.media.state.mn.us/bookstore/category.asp?category=F5&CatID=30.

Give the gift of hunting and fishing

Lifetime licenses provide a perfect opportunity for adults to pass family hunting and fishing traditions to youngsters. Buying a youngster a lifetime license also creates an incentive for them to stay involved in the outdoors.

With a lifetime license, hunters and anglers simply need to authorize their participation by obtaining an annual license at no charge. Residents and nonresidents may purchase lifetime licenses as gifts for children or adults of any age.

"It's a great way to get kids involved in hunting and fishing at an early age and it keeps them involved as they become adults," said Pete Skwira, administrative services manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "Think of it as an investment in the future of conservation."

Lifetime fees are based on age at the time of purchase. Fee schedules are available on the DNR Web site www.dnr.state.mn.us and in the hunting and fishing regulations books.

Purchasing a lifetime license as a gift, requires a copy of the recipient's driver's license or birth certificate at the time of purchase. Lifetime hunting licenses may be purchased as a gift without providing proof of completion of a hunter education course at the time of purchase, but the licensee must provide proof of hunter education before the annual license can be issued.

For more information about how to purchase a lifetime license for yourself or as a gift, visit the DNR Web site or call (651) 296-6157 or toll free 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367).

Make the shot in five steps

Every ethical hunter strives to make clean, humane kills. Unfortunately, according to studies, the unretrieved loss of waterfowl is about one bird in four in North America. In other words, if hunters could retrieve every bird, they would increase their annual harvest by 25 percent without affecting the waterfowl population.

Expert waterfowl hunters and researchers agree that there are five ways to make sure that everything goes right. Here's what they recommend to make the shot.

DETERMINE YOUR EFFECTIVE RANGE

Some hunters are gifted wingshooters. Most of us, however, have to work at mastering the mental and physical skills to consistently perform with a shotgun. How good is good enough? Experts say breaking 75 percent of clay targets thrown at a crossing angle will provide consistent performance in the field. The range depends on an individual's skill level.

Hunters can start by shooting crossing targets at 20 yards. This is similar to shooting from the center station at a skeet field. When they can consistently break six out of eight targets, they should move back five to 10 yards and repeat the challenge.

Hunters should not become discouraged if they initially are not as consistent as they would like.

The maximum distance at which a hunter can break three out of four crossing targets is their effective range. For most hunters, it will likely be less than 40 yards.

SELECT THE RIGHT LOAD

The most commonly harvested waterfowl in Minnesota vary greatly in size from the diminutive teal to the giant Canada goose. Hunting conditions range from T-shirt weather to blustery freezing cold. No single gun and shotshell load is appropriate across all hunting conditions.

To ensure a lethal, or at least immobilizing hit, the bird should be struck by at least four pellets.

- Each pellet must adequately penetrate the bird.

- Smaller shot sizes are more likely to provide multiple strikes because there are more in a comparatively sized shotshell. Unfortunately they may not penetrate the bird because of their small size and light weight.

- Larger pellets deliver more striking power, but the shot shell contains fewer pellets making it difficult to achieve multiple hits on the bird.

Hunters need to anticipate their hunting conditions. Hunting ducks hunts over decoys in the early season requires a dense shot pattern density to cleanly take teal and wood ducks. Canada geese requires loads with adequate pellet energy for these large birds with enough pellets to deliver multiple strikes.

Shot shell selection is only one step to good hunting. Hunters must also pattern their shotgun with selected loads at the distance they expect to be shooting. That distance is similar to their effective shooting distance plus perhaps five yards to create a margin of error.

PATTERN YOUR SHOTGUN

The only way to measure pattern density is to shoot the selected gun and load at paper and evaluate the pellet strikes. The process is relatively simple:

- Select an area that has safe surroundings for shooting. Many shooting ranges have areas specifically set aside for patterning shotguns.

- Hunters will need a backstop or holder to handle the paper they are going to shoot at. Paper at least 36 inches wide (45 is better) will make the job easier. Hunters should be sure to wear hearing and eye protection.

- Hunters should test gun and selected load at distances they are likely to encounter while hunting. For example, if an individual hunt ducks over decoys they may want to pattern test at ranges from 25 to 40 yards.

- The goal is to achieve at least four hits on the bird regardless of species or range.

- Hunters should shoot at least three patterns of each shot shell load at each distance they select (five is better). Draw a circle 30 inches in diameter around the densest center of each pattern. Count the number of pellet hits and compare with the table.

KNOW THE DISTANCE

When people have determined their effective range and shot shell load, the next step is learning to judge distances under hunting conditions. Changing light and variable backdrops make judging distance difficult.

The solution is relatively simple concept known as subtending. Subtending involves creating a mental image of the bird over the barrel of your shotgun. By focusing on the size comparison rather than the appearance of the bird, the hunter can overcome the misleading effects of brightness, lighting, and the backdrop.

Learn subtending by developing life size silhouettes of ducks and geese, then hang them perpendicular to the ground. With an empty gun and open action (if possible), individuals should mount their gun at a known distance as if they are going to shoot the silhouette. Then they can make a mental image of the size of the silhouette over the gun barrel. The length of the bird is the best field mark on a crossing bird. The wingspread is the best learning tool for incoming and overhead birds.

The most important distance to be able to recognize in the field is a hunter's effective range determined by their shooting and patterning exercises.

SET UP FOR SUCCESS

Seasoned waterfowl hunters making consistent, clean kills by employing several important concepts when setting up their hunting situation.

Here are a few tips:

- Plan decoy or pass shooting setup so hit birds fall into open water or open fields rather than dense vegetation such as cattails.

- Establish strict zones of fire to maintain safety and maximize the probability of retrieval.

- Rotate shooting opportunities among the hunters in the blind. Limiting the shooting to one or two hunters increases the focus on shooting performance and allows those not shooting to make quick follow-up shots on birds down but not dead.

- Flocks of waterfowl can be confusing to the eye and reduce concentration. Focus on a single bird or the head or bill of a single bird.

DNR Southern Region Outdoor Column: Squirrel hunting, then and now

Tom Conroy Information Officer DNR Southern Region 261 Hwy 15 South New Ulm MN 56073 507/359-6014 tom.conroy@dnr.state.mn.us

Squirrel hunting, then and now

While grandma, the moms and dads, aunts and uncles gathered inside the old farmhouse, a handful of the older cousins would grab a couple of .22s and head for the grove out back.

The woodlot was no more than an acre or so of mature mast trees but to us it could just as well have been the Ozark Mountains. As we stepped into that grove, we instantly became Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett and assorted other frontiersmen of note. Instead of grizzly bears, however, we were on the watch for squirrels, gray and fox.

For kids of previous generations, stalking squirrels was often how they received their introduction to the world of hunting. Heck, back in the 50's and 60's it was even common to see squirrel and raccoon tails tied to car radio antennas. It's a different story today. As recently as 1979, hunters were taking between 400,000 and 500,000 gray and fox squirrels annually. Over the past few years, the total harvest has dropped to about half that number.

The reasons are likely several: lack of opportunity in terms of connections with rural landowners with places to hunt and adults to take them, competing interests vying for a youngster's free time, and other fall hunting opportunities for the more "glamorous" game species such as deer, pheasant and waterfowl.

The other day, as I sat in a chair and studied the remarkable number of gray hairs that were falling into my lap, the conversation turned to hunting. The young lady cutting my hair, I knew, is a hunter. What I didn't know is that squirrel is her favorite quarry.

"It really doesn't matter much if I don't get a squirrel," she said. "What's really great is just being out walking around in the woods in the fall. I love it."

Those who savor any opportunity to explore an autumn woods before the winds of winter howl, or who is looking for an opportunity to teach a young person about woodsmanship, gun safety, marksmanship, and wildlife, should consider squirrel hunting.

Squirrel hunting need not be complicated or expensive. Camo clothing is fine but not necessary. A pair of blue jeans and sweatshirt can work as well. An old single-shot .22 is sufficient and also a good way to ingrain in a young person the importance of not taking "iffy" shots at any game. Some squirrel hunters like to sit, others prefer walking. Dawn and dusk, as with most wild game, are the best times to be afield. Consider introducing a kid to nature's ways via squirrel hunting. And while you're out there, you can impress your young companion with the following squirrel facts:

? A gray squirrel can hide 25 nuts in a half an hour and can later find roughly 80 percent of those it buried. Squirrels have been seen digging through a foot of snow to find their buried food.

? The squirrel's tail serves as an umbrella. It puts it up to stay dry when eating nuts in the rain or snow.

? Like other animals in the group called rodents, a squirrel's teeth never stop growing. That is necessary because a rodent is always chewing and gnawing; if the teeth stopped growing they would soon be ground down to nothing.

? Squirrels prefer to live in tree cavities but will build nests if suitable cavities are not available. They begin by placing leafy twigs in the fork of a tree, then add leaves, grass and small twigs.

? While squirrels prefer to eat nuts and seeds, they will also eat pine cones, berries, grain, mushrooms, insects, spring buds, flowers on trees and shrubs - and baby birds!