MN stump shooting letdown

[The Gopher]

hey everyone from MN this really disappoints me. i sent this email to the MN DNR.

"Hello Jason, I am a bowhunter who uses "traditional" archery equipment such as longbows. One of my (and others) favorite pastimes is called roving or stump shooting, where we simply stroll through the woods and practice our aim by shooting at stumps, leaves, pinecones, etc. This form of practice is most like a hunting situation and a very healthy activity. However, I am a little leery of doing this "out of season" for fear of being wrongly accused of hunting when in fact I am just stump shooting. This could be a good thing to add to the next hunting regulations book, or maybe there could be an online "roving registration". In the meantime, perhaps your reply to this email would make me feel better about heading out to the woods this summer. I should reiterate that this is archery not firearms.
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dan Little"


This is the response i got.

"Hello Mr. Little,

This type of recreational shooting is legal on private land and in state forests. Without a permit from a wildlife manager, however, it would violate the general provisions for wildlife management areas. Minnesota Rule 6230.0250 subp. 14 states:

Subp. 14.Firearms and target shooting.Target, trap, skeet, or indiscriminate shooting is prohibited within a wildlife management area except as authorized by the commissioner. A person may not possess an uncased or loaded firearm or an uncased and strung bow, except when lawfully taking a wild animal or by permit from the area wildlife manager. Discharge of firearms or bows and arrows or possession of uncased firearms or bows is prohibited in areas posted closed to discharge or possession of firearms and bows. A person training a dog on a wildlife management area may not use live ammunition or blank cartridges, including the use of blanks in dummy launchers or similar devices designed to use an explosive charge to propel a retrieving dummy or similar object.

General provisions for wildlife management areas are summarized on page 102 of the 2007 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook. State forest rules can be found on pages 112 and 113.

Thanks for your question,

Jason"


Do any other states have this type of rule? its a shame that we are getting punished for other idiots that destroy stop signs and such with a 12 gauge. I'm not saying that all gun hunters are idiots i do plenty of birdhunting myself. this is just a classic example of a couple of nuckleheads ruining it for everyone.

[The Gopher]

i should mention that jason in the above message states that you can shoot in state forests, however the exception to the rule is Sand Dunes State Forest, you cannot shoot there. unfortunatly that is the state forest that is only a 1/2 hour from my house.

[NDTerminator]

The writing was all ready on the wall in Mn (where I grew up)when I left there in the late 70's.  Sounds like the DNR is still doing great (how about that $300,000 tax payer bill for the the convention they hosted?!!!).

Out here in ND we don't have problems like you are encountering, although a WMA would be the least desirable of our options for stumping.  Were I to go on public land rather than my own or that of my neighbor's, I would go to a PLOTS (Public Land Open to Sportsmen).  I do quite a bit of my gundog training on PLOTS land as we have a lot of it around Devils Lake.

Of course, we don't have much for trees in ND so rather than stump shoot, we tumbleweed, cattail clump, or dirt clod shoot...    :D

[Stone Knife]

Is wood chuck open all year? how about red squirrel mouse or what ever? If it is legal to hunt theses critters there I would just go.

[Chris O]

yea we can hunt starling year round here. so if i ever see any DEC ( our version of DNR) then ima huntin starling officer!

[guk]

I stump shoot in the sand dunes. Just like the man from NY says starling and whisle pigs are fair game.

[Fallguy]

The reasons that the Wildlife Maneagement areas are close is so the the animals have a refuge were they not disturded to raise there young. In most other states these areas are called refuges and they are closed all the time. Myself I would not look at Sands Dunes being closed as all that bad the Ivy in there is legendary. The biggest surprize is you actually got a responce back from the DNR.

[WidowEater]

You wouldnt get a response in MI, you would just get arrested.

[BowHuntingFool]

I was leary about stump shooting as well here in Wisconsin. We can hunt Coyotes all year 24/7 in the souther half of the state, so I guess I'm in luck!

[DeerSpotter]

Hunt groundhogs, and field mice, and you can always Hunt coyotes, they're open year-round.

Carl

[Can Hahaka]

Gopher,

I asked the same question of the WDNR and got a favorable response. No problem with "target shooting/roving/stumping" with archery equipment as the law applies to firearms only.

[Tim Fishell]

I had this same thing happen to me here in Michigan.  But like said above there are a few species that are open to hunting year round.  I was told last year by the Michigan DNR when I was caught out doing this that as long as I had a valid huning license, in this case a small game license, that I was totally leagal to be out.  They just view it as I am hunting red squirrels or other nucense animals that are open to hunting year round.

[NDTerminator]

I find it a bit annoying, though not surprising, that some of the DNR's seem to feel you have to be covered by hunting something for stumping to be legal.  That just doesn't make sense, and doesn't seem like a good way to promote outdoor sports.

Thankfully NDGF is by & large run  with a common sense approach.  Our CO's know the difference between stumping with judo points and hunting with a quiver loaded with broadheads...

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Fallguy:
The reasons that the Wildlife Maneagement areas are close is so the the animals have a refuge were they not disturded to raise there young.

 Disturded    Thats a new one.

[The Gopher]

Hey terminator, sounds like you have a bit of an elitist attitude living in ND! Just kidding, i'm from Mandan, i've only been in MN for a couple years. I sure wish i could get back to my home state. I really miss hunting the badlands.

[laddy]

So Gatekeeper, it is ok to go to a WMA like Sherburne in Mn. and disturd.  Cool.  No I'm wrong, it is only for wildlife.  In Iowa I stump shoot all the time on public hunting land, the worst that ever happened was the game warden drank half my thermos of coffee and lost one of my arrows when he missed a round bale in an alfalfa field.

[NDTerminator]

Originally posted by The Gopher:
Hey terminator, sounds like you have a bit of an elitist attitude living in ND! Just kidding, i'm from Mandan, i've only been in MN for a couple years. I sure wish i could get back to my home state. I really miss hunting the badlands.

The Badlands is my favorite wild place of all I've ever seen.  My theory is that it was called the Badlands because if they called it the Goodlands everyone would go there...

[Jerry Jeffer]

There is no stumping allowed here. It is considered "plinking", like walking around with a .22 shooting cans. How ever, we have a coyote season that is 365 days a year in PA. This gives me an excuse to be out there. i just keep one BH in my quiver and a critter call in my pocket, and a license on my back.          

[Dick in Seattle]

probably the best area I would have to try stumping (haven't yet but have hopes for this summer) would be in the many National Forests here.   Has anyone gotten any definitive ansers regarding NF land?   Particularly in WA or OR?

Dick in Seattle (temporarily in Cleveland)