what's your opinion?

[whiteoakbuck]

I was talking with a few guys the other day and the topic of party hunting with archery came up. I was just wondering what is everyone's opinion. some say it's not fair, others say sure why not, I have also been told it's illegal in Minnesota wish is False. I was also reading about this on another forum and most of the people were ok with parting hunting for firearms season but not with archery. I myself agree with the regulations and see no problem with party hunting by archery or firearms as long as you are only filling the proper amount of tags for your hunting party.

[deadeye]

I love party hunting.  Bow, Rifle or Muzzle loader.  It means that as long as my son (or anyone I know that wants to hunt) or I have a tag, we can go hunting together.  This is especially nice on cold Decembers days when it's scary to be the only guy in the woods.  It's the one regulation that I would sorely miss if it was abolished.  I know party hunting can be abused but I'm sure these guys would find a way to abuse any regulation.     

[The General]

I'm with deadeye.  I enjoy hunting or fishing so much more when it's with other people.  Especially now with cell phones it's very easy to let someone else know if a deer is shot and the one tag left was filled so other deer don't get shot.

[HD]

I for one, like party hunting. I like the comradory between family and friends.

[Cody Gruchow]

I'm all for party hunting as long as there's correct number of tags. On a side note about the cell phones,when asking a dnr officer last year about party hunting she said that it's fine but you can not use your cell phone in anyway to communicate including texts or calling to say one is down. You are suppose to assume on the report of the shot that one is down. Her words exactly to me

[Boar]

we all know also that if you were to ask 3 seperate DNR officers that question, yu'd get three different answers. but i agree with party hunting also.  I aslo agree wit G-man on the communitcation end of regardless of what a office says. never heard a Bow report before, and a rifle or muzzy report" one has really know Idea where it came from unless you know for certain that your bunch is the only ones with in a square mile.

[glenn57]

I too agree with party hunting! like some said its more fun when the whole group can be in the woods.

although bear hunting party hunting does not apply!

[Cody Gruchow]

That's just what she said. I asked her how am I suppose to know, that's why she said you have to assume. I prefer to gun hunt with my family. It's more fun

[The General]

I would have asked her about bow hunting then.  How do you know if the people you are party hunting with got one since you can't hear a shot?  To me it would seem the the ethical thing to do so no one else shoots a deer.

[Cody Gruchow]

I agree 100% with you general. But the rules are clear as mud.

[The General]

I agree 100% with you general. But the rules are clear as mud.

Hahahahahahahahahaa

[deadeye]

The General,
Although it's possible, it would be quite a feat to have two bow hunters shoot deer within a short time frame.  State wide 15% success in 107 days of hunting makes for a .14% per day success rate.  Now couple that with the fact that many bow hunter do not party hunt, and those that do probable hunt fairly close to each other and would most likely meet as soon as one shot a deer, it would be way out there to shoot too many.  It's much more likely to happen during the relatively short rifle season. 

[dew2]

I agree 100% with you general. But the rules are clear as mud.

Look into the rules and regulations,In them somewhere it states NO communication devices are to be used.

[deadeye]

Like many regulations, this is open to interpretation.  I believe once you have killed a deer, you are no longer "taking or attempting to take" an animal and are free to use the cell phone to let people know.  You now are in "possession" of an animal and it would be the same as calling home from camp to tell your wife you got one. 

CAN I USE WIRELESS DEVICES TO TAKE GAME?
• No. Using walkie talkies, cell phones, remote control or other radio
equipment, including drones, to take big game or small game is unlawful.



WHAT DO “TAKING” AND “POSSESSION” MEAN FOR HUNTERS?
“Taking” means pursuing, shooting, killing, capturing, trapping, snaring,
angling, spearing, or netting wild animals; or placing, setting, drawing, or using a net, trap, or other device to take wild animals.Taking also includes attempting to take wild animals or assisting another person in taking wild animals.

[dew2]

 Ya dedeye its the CO's call.I knew this cause when I moved back to Mn We were talking to a CO as I passed out 6 walkie's. He said wait! Then proceded to say someone could see a animal and relay where its going on to the next then the next till its killed and thats not fair chase.
 Then the cellphone boom came and I wondered if its even on the books yet or how its handled with so many cell phones out there?
 I fully understood the CO and reason of fair chase BUT now days what will they do??

[glenn57]

What?? Bow hunters can't hear the boom??

[dakids]

Party hunting makes for a funner hunt.

[Onin24Eagle]

The one that gets me is Boone and Crockett's view on party hunting.  If you party hunt and shoot a world record buck it better be the first deer you shot that season or they will not allow it in their books because they consider party hunting unethical.  No problem if you shoot it over a pile of corn though...  Makes no sense to me.

The way I understand the party hunting rules in MN is that it is perfectly legal for a bow hunter to be in the woods hunting in the same "party" with firearms hunters but they cannot cross-tag any deer except with other bow hunters.  Same true for the opposite.  If you're hunting on a firearms license you can only cross-tag with other hunters in the party that are also hunting firearms.  Don't know why, but it is what it is.

Party hunting probably applies more for groups that do deer drives than other groups.  If you do a drive and one of the hunters takes down 3 deer then you would need to cross tag to be legal.  For groups that just do a lot of posting or still hunting I think party hunting probably doesn't come into play as much, though a couple of years ago I did go hunt with my in-laws for a day because they were not getting anything and I took a buck that my brother in law tagged and kept because he needed some venison.  I had already taken my deer at that point.  Honestly that's the only deer I can recall having shot and tagged with someone else's license.

On the cell phone subject as long as you're not using it for taking then you should be fine.  If you're texting something along the lines of "what time should we head in for lunch?" then I don't believe there would be a problem.  On the other hand, if you see an 8 pointer go by and text to someone in your party that a buck is heading their way, that would be a no-no.

[The General]

Yep a bunch of stupid laws.   Plus they would be hard to enforce.   This would just make people have code words like.   What time do you want to go in for lunch actually means here comes one.   So what if one is heading in your buddies direction? Doesn't mean it will continue to go his direction.  He would still need to make the shot if it did. 

[LPS]

Cannot use communications in the pursuit of game.  After the animal  is shot I will use my phone to let the others know and to help take care of it. 

[deadeye]

Picture of my son taken December 31, 2015. We hunted from 2:30 until just after sunset.  He saw 10 deer and I saw 6.  Neither of us took a shot as we didn't see a big buck.  Lots of good memories made on a short end of season hunt.  My point is, this hunt would not have happened if not for party hunting as only one of us had a tag and I doubt either of us would have gone out alone.

[Dakota Dude]

Sounds like the law in MN is just not to use communication devices. Otherwise why not do a push with bows instead of guns? Or even have pushers who are not even armed. Seems much safer than gun drives also.

[dakids]

Anybody out in the woods helping in the harvesting of deer are required to be lisenced.

[deadeye]

There is the gray area where someone grouse hunting could possible chase a deer to a bow hunter.  If we do a push it usually involves just two of us and the pusher generally does not carry a gun or bow.  Yes, we would both be licensed.

[Cody Gruchow]

We use to do deer pushed when I was younger. Was never really a fan of it. To dangerous for my liking. But like deadeye said there's certainly a grey area. Most of the rules there is a grey area. Just remember the book they give out to the public is maybe 80 pages and the dnr"s rule book is as thick as a dictionary. To me some of there rules are as clear as mud

[Moon Lake Refuge]

We party hunt every year and a tag gets filled by someone else on almost a yearly basis.  And the text listed above(when is lunch/dinner) is used on a daily basis.  Along with "Heading to the can, back in a half hour".