Turnips

[Lineman]

Are food plot blends that have turnip seeds legal in Minnesota? I'm thinking I have read somewhere that turnips are illegal to hunt over, but I'm not positive  Does anybody know? Thanks in advance.

[dakids]

Just don't pull them out yourself and you should be fine, but check with your local CO for their interpritation.

[nontypicalhunter]

Good question. I know you can plant pumpkins and as long as you don't pick them and place them in a pile it is not considered baiting. I have a plot with turnips in it last year and as far as I know it was completely legal.

[nic53]

Its legal.

[whiteoakbuck]

if it is growing from the ground it is leagle to hunt 

[deadeye]

whiteoakbuck,
Not entirely correct.  The crop cannot be modified in any way other than normal farming practices.  You cannot knock down corn or oats to entice wildlife to feed there.  I assume the same applies to digging up turnips. 

[beeker]

i hope they're legal.. I've been having the best luck with turnips

[whiteoakbuck]

whiteoakbuck,
Not entirely correct.  The crop cannot be modified in any way other than normal farming practices.  You cannot knock down corn or oats to entice wildlife to feed there.  I assume the same applies to digging up turnips. 

I never said knock it down or alter it in anyway but if its growing from the ground it's legal

[nitro27]

Not entirely correct.  The crop cannot be modified in any way other than normal farming practices.  You cannot knock down corn or oats to entice wildlife to feed there.  I assume the same applies to digging up turnips.


According to the game warden/conservation officer here MN, corn can be mowed as it is a regular activity of farmers to reduce stalks to manageable levels to plow/disk into the ground.

[deadeye]

Really?  Interesting, but officer, I was just following normal farming practices!  You may be right but I'm afraid it's a fine line I wouldn't want to cross.

[nitro27]

Really?  Interesting, but officer, I was just following normal farming practices!  You may be right but I'm afraid it's a fine line I wouldn't want to cross.

What fine line? There is none, all three (3) officers I've talked to have had no problem with the practice.  In fact they've stopped into camp more than once for a cup of coffee.

[deadeye]

Maybe I'm missing something here.  Are you talking about mowing/knocking down corn stalks AFTER it has been harvested or simply going into standing, unharvested corn and mowing/knocking it down?

[nitro27]

According to the Conservation officers, it makes no difference. Food plots are legal, and mowing stalks down before or after harvesting makes no difference. And yes, I've done both.

[nitro27]

You might be wondering why I got involved with this subject.  Several years ago a fellow QDMA ripped me a new one for being illegal because I mowed the corn. So before the following season not wanting to do something wrong, I called and visited with the local officers.  They told me what I have related in previous posts.  That mowing corn before or after harvesting was perfectly legal. But reminded me not to move any corn off the area of growth, which also goes for turnips, beets, pumpkins etc.  The example they used was if I picked pumpkins and placed them along the edge of field where they grew, so I could work the ground up, that might be a violation?

[deadeye]

Thanks for the research and information.   I guess I was confused between deer hunting and waterfowl hunting. 

Waterfowl Hunting on Agricultural Lands

Agricultural lands offer prime waterfowl hunting opportunities. You can hunt waterfowl in fields of unharvested standing crops. You can also hunt over standing crops that have been flooded. You can flood fields after crops are harvested and use these areas for waterfowl hunting.

The presence of seed or grain in an agricultural area rules out waterfowl hunting unless the seed or grain is scattered solely as the result of a normal agricultural planting, normal agricultural harvesting, normal agricultural post-harvest manipulation, or normal soil stabilization practice.

These activities must be conducted in accordance with recommendations of the State Extension Specialists of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Cooperative Extension Service).

[nitro27]

Deadeye, you are 100% correct on waterfowl, the officers did mention to me to not hunt waterfowl over the mowed crops,