Southern DNR Ag Column:
Hunters will soon be on the way
(2005-08-15)

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

Ag Connections Column

(DNR Information Officer Tom Conroy writes this column the first week of each month. The column is intended to help private landowners better understand DNR programs, policies and positions and to provide information on various assistance programs that are available to landowners.)

Hunters will soon be on the way

They'll be coming your way soon. Minnesota's hunting seasons are just a few weeks away and rural landowners can expect visitors. It's an annual event that's been happening for generations.

In the late 1800s, various commissions and departments were set up to manage Minnesota's natural resources. According to one historical report, the work of those early agencies was "at best, uneven, and at worst, ineffective and fraudulent." Finally, in 1931, four units of Minnesota state government - forestry, game and fish, drainage and waters, and lands and timber - were combined into one agency called the Department of Conservation.

With the birth of the Department of Conservation (re-named the Department of Natural Resources in 1971), Minnesota got more serious and focused about protecting and managing its' fish and wildlife and other natural resources. Previously, game and fish laws were thought to be sufficient to protect the state's dwindling wildlife. By now, however, it had become clear that without sound habitat conservation wildlife populations of many kinds would begin to go the way of the passenger pigeon.

Prior to WWII, drought and the Depression littered the Midwest and northern plains with abandoned cropland. When the rains returned and those abandoned acres reverted back to habitat in the 1940s, it is estimated that hunters in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska harvested an estimated 80-plus million pheasants.

That all changed following WWII. Improved technology and a growing demand for food and fiber resulted in wetlands and idled lands being converted into cropland. The small family farm, which heretofore had survived by growing a variety of crops, began to be replaced by large operations dependent on large capital and energy investments to grow a single crop.

Spurred by drastic declines in habitat and wildlife, programs were begun to reward farmers for implementing certain conservation practices. And state agencies and organizations began to buy land when and were they could to set aside for wildlife and public recreation, such as hunting. Today, Minnesota is the envy of many other states for the impressive tracts of public land available for hunting and other outdoor recreation uses. Still, the fact remains that approximately 97% of land in the agricultural zone of Minnesota (which also coincides with the pheasant range) is in private ownership.

Public hunting lands (state Wildlife Management Areas and federal Waterfowl Production Areas, for example) can provide excellent early season hunting opportunities. By mid-season, however, many have been burned out. And to where do those pheasants and other game escape? Nearby private land, of course.

Erma Bombeck once said "My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint." For many hunters, approaching a farmer to ask permission to hunt his or her land is about as much fun as hitting one's head on a bunk bed.

An old hunting partner of mine flat out refused to do the asking, claiming he was afraid of those ever-present farm yard dogs. Even if there was no dog in sight, he believed that there was an angry dog hiding somewhere nearby. Eventually I became accustomed to taking hat in hand and making the request. I've been turned down plenty of times in the process but never once bitten by a dog.

I don't know how many farmers I've asked for permission to hunt their land. Hundreds, probably. With rare exception they have all been polite and friendly. At the same time, my batting average success has gone down over the years. The reasons are several:

? Most old family friends and relatives who used to live on farms are no longer farming. Those old connections that always guaranteed a good place to hunt have been lost. Today I'm a stranger to most of the farmers I meet.

? There are fewer farmers today and individual land holdings are much larger. When those large tracts are leased, or reserved for friends or family members, more individual hunters are locked out. Hunters with deeper pockets clearly have the edge these days.

? Finding the landowner, who can live miles or counties away, can be difficult and time-consuming.

There always have been, and unfortunately probably always will be, a small percentage of 'bad apple' hunters who can spoil things for the remainder. But the majority of hunters are friendly, ordinary folks who would prefer hitting their head on the bunk bed to asking for favors.

While it is the right of every private landowner to decline a hunter's request to hunt his or her land, at least those hunters are stopping to ask. That's not a bad thing, is it?

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