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Minnesota Turkey Regs are Wild!!!

Did you know that, in the state of Minnesota, if you hold a firearms turkey tag, that you can legally use a crossbow to harvest your turkey, but you are specifically forbidden from using a vertical bow to fill that tag? But wait, it’s worse, you can also use your crossgun to fill your archery tag during archery season!! So basically, you can use a crossbow for whatever the hell you want but vertical bows are restricted to bow season and forearms restricted to firearm season, crossbows get free reign. Who’s paying attention over in Minnesota? Don’t you guys have a Bowhunter’s association?

Ridiculous!

In Iowa, when you turn 65, you can get an extra statewide crossbow antlerless tag. Can’t use your vertical bow on it, tho!

Wow, crazy regs...

Yep. Dumb indeed

The Mn turkey archery season is about 7 weeks long. The firearms turkey seasons run 7 days long pick your season. From around April 15ish until the end of May. This was designed before crossbows were popular. Not sure when the crossbow was included in these seasons. If you have a firearm turkey season and we’re not successful in your season you can hunt the last two weeks of May. Overall it’s a great opportunity for all. And youth tags are $2.00!!!!

Just hunt with your regular bow. And if you get caught, you can bring it to light and hopefully a change will occur, charges are dropped and they will see what a waste of time and taxpayers dollars your case is.

And if you don’t get caught, enjoy your regular bowhunting for turkey.

I’m tired of making noise to get a stupid regulation changed. Just go hunt. Figure it out later. It’s time.

I still cringe that apparently we are now supposed to say "vertical bow"...

Just hold your bow gangsta style.

I am not sure why anyone would buy a gun tag and then hunt with a bow.

As mentioned above. If you buy a bow tag you can hunt all season long. But if you buy a gun tag your limited to 7 days.

As for crossbows well they get special treatment because well their users are special.

I use a crossbow now, and can use it, in any season, that is true.

smarba I don't, that's a laughable term....it's either a bow or it's not

The intent is to suggest there's very little difference from a "horizontal bow". Which is kinda like saying "gender affirming care" instead of what it really is.

But anyway, I'd definitely agree they need to tidy up those turkey regs.

Brotsky, I think you are wrong about vertical bows on a firearm season. One thing that is different in MN is there really is no archery season. There is an archery tag which is valid for all seasons vs. firearm tag which you must choose which week you want to hunt. Before we had a dedicated archery tag we tagged birds with our bows. I know it sounds complicated but it is a product of how the seasons evolved and the state bowhunting association actually lobbied for use of crossbows in the firearm season (deer bear and turkey). This was an attempt to give crossbow hunters an opportunity and try to keep them out of the regular archery season. It worked for awhile until on State Representative snuck it through in the Environmental and Natural Resources Bill.

The MN Bowhunter Association tried to get a separate early archery season but the NWTF lobbied against it. The devil is in the details and in the actual State Code a bow is defined as a legal firearm. MN originally had eight five day seasons that people applied for. This was to even out hunting pressure. So I suppose when they adopted the and archery tag they started reffering to the originals as firearm seasons to differentiate.

Like wiping before you poop

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