Site Tagging

Site Tagging DNR
ISSUE ONE :My partner and I hunted on a WMA last Saturday. We were checked by a C-O and found out my partner was in violation of the site tagging requirement. How many of you know that besides the site tag you also have to notch your main license? Go to the link above and read paragraph 3. If you have an all season license you have to notch the main portion of your license each time you take a deer. My partner had shot a buck in the morning and a fawn just before quitting time. He hadn’t notched his main license mainly because he wasn’t aware of the requirement. We always assumed you only notched the site tag. Was he guilty of the violation? Yes, we should have read the regulation more closely.
ISSUE TWO : He gutted the fawn, detached the site tag, brought it with him back to the truck to get the cart to haul the fawn back. His intention was to notch the tag before he moved it from the kill site. The regulation does not give any time reference. It just says “At the kill site you must:” Apparently what he did was another no-no. After a very long discussion with the C-O he was given a warning ticket. (a regular ticket fine for this offense is $100).
I’ve talked to several hunters since Saturday and none of them were aware you have to also notch the main license portion. How many of you are aware of this requirement?

I think the regulation is poorly written on issue two. It should have a time qualifier. Maybe it should say “immediately” after the word must to indicate a time reference. As it is written I don’t think he was in violation. It was upsetting to say the least when we spent a great day outdoors and our intent was to do it right only to find out we did it wrong.

I all most missed the notching thing last year too. until someone pointed it out. As for issue #2 it is realy unclear in the regs. I’m glad the CO just gave you a warning. Sometimes I think the deer regs are so poorly worded that even when you are doing things right they can write you a ticket.

If they gave us better tags that werent so cheaply made id have no problem doing it at the site of the kill.

Quote:

---

If they gave us better tags that werent so cheaply made id have no problem doing it at the site of the kill.

---

thats a fact

I agree the reg book in many areas is unclear and a lot of the wording is “grey” at best. But like most laws the wording is often open to interpritaion. I have had good luck in the past with e-mailing the local CO with my questions and finding they reply quickly and clarify the law. If you are uncertain about the wording in the regulation books try giving the CO a shout. Also when I get checked by the DNR CO I like to make it my time to play 50 questions to all that I am unsure of.

Good Luck!

I am notching my main tag, all season, as I type this….

Never knew this, thanks.

big g

I received a ticket two years ago for not tagging a doe (not even my deer, just dragging it for an older guy in our group) at the site of the kill. It was shot in heavy underbrush, and thickets that tear the tag off the deer. The CO was not at all understanding even though the tag was punched, and the deer was laying along the field, but was gutted a hundred yard up the hill.

This was the one, and only outdoors ticket I have ever received in my life. I realize I was in the wrong, but the tag does not allow you to put it on the deer and drag it through brush without tearing off. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper

The moral of this story, understand and FOLLOW all laws in the book. I knew the law, but understood that it was not possible to do it, and payed the price ($115 I think) for being a dummy Be happy with a warning, and learn your lesson

The tags we recieve are ridiculous both in MN and Wi. For the money we spend on Lic (and I buy non-res) they should have a quality plastic or metal kill tag. At least in Wi they still issue the nice metal possesion tags.

Tagging solution:

Make two slots inside of the ear. Run a zip tie through BOTH slots on the site tag, then run the ends through the slots in the ear(one end per slot). Fasten the zip tie tightly on the backside of the ear.

I am not sure if this was clear – but the result is the site tage sandwiched INSIDE of the ear – protected by the ear cartilage. It isn’t getting tore off this way – no matter what. If an officer needs to look at it closely, then HE can cut the zip-tie and look. It works perfectly, fufills all requirements, and wont get torn off nomatter what the deer is dragged through.

Tim

I am also guilty of not knowing about notching your main license, luckily I found out before I got my deer from one of the guys in our group. Also I thought a few years ago they changed the law that you did not have to tag the deer on the kill site, you could wait until you got to your vehicle, I guess they must have changed it back. The MN laws are way too complicated and they seem to change every year.

I like the way South Dakota does their deer tags. It is a a strip about 2 inches wide and 10 inches long. You peel the back off to expose some extreme adhesive and then wrap it around the leg and and apply both adhesive sides together. I have never lost one. They are impossible to get off. Plus, you don’t need to have a cotten picken zip tie or sting (I am missing a few boot strings since hunting in Wisconsin) with you.

Quote:

---

like the way South Dakota does their deer tags. It is a a strip about 2 inches wide and 10 inches long. You peel the back off to expose some extreme adhesive and then wrap it around the leg and and apply both adhesive sides together. I have never lost one. They are impossible to get off. Plus, you don’t need to have a cotten picken zip tie or sting (I am missing a few boot strings since hunting in Wisconsin) with you.

---

This is what MN used to do. With ELS, it is not possible to produce that type of tag.

I know ignorance of the law is not an excuse. But I agree with you.