Never know who you’ll see….

[CookMan]

Everyone has his own strap with his own ducks that he shot.

 

[Ruination]

It's important to remember limits are set for each individual hunter. I routinely hunt with 6-10 people, and I've hunted with more than double that number. That said, your description of how y'all treat birds definitely puts you in jeopardy of a ticket. Technically, there's nothing wrong with party hunting, but party shooting is not legal since the better shot/s in a blind often kill over their limit. Legally, you must always be in control of, and able to identify your own birds. How strictly a warden enforces the rules is up to him. Some are VERY strict, and the ticket WILL stick. Let's assume a six duck limit:

1. As the dog delivers each bird, it should be claimed by one hunter in the blind.
2. Best practice is to put them on individual straps at that point, but the main thing is you must be able to immediately identify your ducks if a warden came into the blind.
3. When any single hunter has a limit claimed, he must stop shooting.
4. If the three of you have 16 ducks in the blind, only two of you can shoot. At 17, only one can shoot.
5. Keep the ducks separated until you are home.
6. If one member of the party is planning to take the ducks of another, a tag must be filled out.
7. If you stop to eat on the way home, your ducks should be tagged since they are out of your control while you are in the restaurant. I've known of tickets written when someone went into a gas station to pay.

In short, when a duck is retrieved someone must assume full responsibility for that duck. Much of that seems pretty silly to most of us, and few people are sticklers on every detail. Fortunately most wardens aren't overly strict about those niceties, but plenty are happy to write such tickets, and wardens aren't immune from having a bad day.

When I was running hunts for work each hunter had a strap, and we placed birds on them until each had six. They held that strap until we got back to the landing, and then each filled out a tag for transport to either the picker or the camp. At the clubs I've belonged to, we fill out a tag as soon as we pull into the camp parking area.

Back to being in the blind, with modern equipment you'd be amazed at how obvious it can be as to who actually killed each duck. Believe it or not, it's often easier to determine via video from a few hundred yards than it is in the blind.

Guys I hunt with are very big on keeping our ducks separate...specially on federal lands.

Never even really occurred to me until I started hunting with him.

I have been checked several times and the warden hasn't really cared yet but to count them all...but we always try to separate birds, if but by a few inches.

 

[OneShotBandit]

I'd be interested in what you think is archaic about the baiting laws. Possession limit is an easy one to point out since it was instituted when trying to end market hunting at a time when the average home didn't have the ability to effectively freeze meat for months. I was happy when it was extended to three daily limits since it helps when on an extended trip, but the three day limit at your home is absurd.

Start another post or PM me.

 

[OneShotBandit]

I do not get this party hunting stuff. If two guys shoot at a duck, who killed it? We have never put birds in separate piles. I have the only dog. All birds get delivered to me. When we get our 18 or whatever we quit. We all shoot at a flock, who killed what? As a retired LEO, some laws have no sense at all. This is one. When we drive home are we supposed to have 3 separate piles? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Yes, we hunted a State Waterfowl area and knew the IDNR personnel, he said to separate the ducks & wanted to know who shot what. At another State Property we had all our doves in one cooler and the Indiana Game "warden" said to separate them out.

 

[Sam Ortmann]

I don't disagree with that at all Bill, but I'm hard pressed to find many examples of where knowingly breaking game laws would be ethical.

I don’t find party hunting unethical. If three dudes walked and 18 ducks walk out I don’t care who shot what.
Now I’d find it annoying if I hunted with a group of people who insisted on party hunting and tried to shoot part of my limit after they’ve limited out. But, hypothetically speaking of course if any game wardens are reading this, if I’m hunting with somebody who says they’ve had enough and I could shoot the rest of theirs, I wouldn’t have any moral issue doing so.

 

[nobands]

I hunt with a group usually ,just the way it is.
Keep birds separated and all that , never in my life have I tagged a bird though. But the one thing we are religious on is if 5 guys hunting and we're 4 short ,someone is setting out ,and on down the line.
2 short 3 are setting out , lots of times the last shots are afforded to a kid , new guy or the guy that secured permission or done the scouting. The order of setting out stays the same till its over . When that time in a hunt comes I'm always the 1st to just unload , watch and work the old dog .
For me unless someone is dick about it it don't matter, we're good on keeping it pretty even ,might to someone watching from afar though.

 

[Grif]

I hunt with a group usually ,just the way it is.
Keep birds separated and all that , never in my life have I tagged a bird though. But the one thing we are religious on is if 5 guys hunting and we're 4 short ,someone is setting out ,and on down the line.
2 short 3 are setting out , lots of times the last shots are afforded to a kid , new guy or the guy that secured permission or done the scouting. The order of setting out stays the same till its over . When that time in a hunt comes I'm always the 1st to just unload , watch and work the old dog .
For me unless someone is dick about it it don't matter, we're good on keeping it pretty even ,might to someone watching from afar though.

 

[Fogie]

I never knew just how easy going our state wardens are til on here, just happy to see us with a pile of ducks…genuinely happy and then gone.

 

[Holesinthesky]

If we are in the blind and get checked, and someone managed to kill a duck.
The wardens tell us to make sure we stop on way home and buy a lottery ticket. It is our lucky day.

Ain‘t won yet. Guess I am tied with @Grif

 

[bill cooksey]

I never knew just how easy going our state wardens are til on here, just happy to see us with a pile of ducks…genuinely happy and then gone.

Most state guys I’ve dealt with (TN, AR, MS, LA, CA come to mind) have been easy to deal with on waterfowl stuff. There have been exceptions, but that’s expected in all walks. Sometimes one just happens to be a jerk (see all walks comment) and sometimes it’s just a new guy who’ll calm down as he gets comfortable in the job. It’s the traveling feds which tend to be a handful. Good news is they tend to only show up where and when big duck numbers intersect with high hunter density.