Hunters felt the need to improve hunting prospects. We're the only state that I'm aware of in the Mississippi Flyway to accept a lower bag limit than the feds offered.
We've had restrictions on motorized decoys for several years. This was the first year they could not be used on private hunting areas for the first week of the season.
A little more than half of our annual duck harvest occurs during the first week of the season.
What's troubling to me is some of the grassland losses in South Dakota, where there are some of the highest densities of pintails. I'm from South Dakota, and a lot of those grasslands are soybeans now.
We had safety concerns (about an early dawn start). Rather than have hunters open the season in the dark, we chose a time where people can see where other hunters are set up. We didn't want people fighting for position at 1 a.m.
