Missing in action: Minnesota's small game hunters

Despite record continental duck populations, the number of Minnesota duck hunters and the duck harvest both fell last year — one of the biggest surprises in the Department of Natural Resources latest survey of small-game hunters.

The DNR estimated the number of duck hunters fell about 1,800 to 75,170, and they harvested about 700,000 ducks, a decline of about 83,000 or 11 percent.

Last year’s continental breeding duck population was a then-record 49.2 million.

http://www.startribune.com/missing-in-action-minnesota-s-small-game-hunters/325824631/