A 15-member focus group assembled by the Department of Natural Resources met for the first time last week to discuss hot topics facing Minnesota duck hunters.
The DNR is attempting to gauge support among waterfowlers for ideas ranging from whether to open duck season about a week earlier than is now the case -- around Sept. 24 -- to whether shooting should be allowed beginning a half-hour before sunrise on opening day, rather than 9 a.m.
Legislative approval would be needed to make those two changes, and bills in the House and Senate would give the DNR the leeway to do so.
As many as 300 state waterfowlers applied for membership to the focus group, which will hold additional meetings. Those who weren't picked are updated via a special website, where they can post comments.
But if the diverse opinions registered so far on the site are an indication, consensus might be difficult to reach.
Here are samples (names are withheld because they can't be verified):
• "I like the idea of noon closing [of duck hunting]. If [ducks] can't loaf, they'll leave."
• "This state does NOT need split zones. Like most hunters, we like to travel the state for hunting and that would put an end to it. ... LEAVE IT ALONE!!!!!! Split season fine, but not zones."