I was not displaying you as a poacher at all. Just stating that if you shoot waterfowl before the season legally starts even if everyone else is shooting you will get a ticket. Best to do your best to error on the later time. No offence intended.

I simply don't want people to get the wrong impression that we're out there banging away at 8:55am or something. Hunting the lake we do, there isn't much of any shooting for a good 30 - 60 minutes after the season opens. The lake I hunt has a few woodies that nest on it, otherwise we have to wait until ducks come off the sloughs, potholes, ditches and other nearby swamps before we get any action.

The funny thing about where we hunt....when we set out decoys, the ducks are around. But that's because guys on the sloughs are going out and setting out their dekes too. Then at around 8:30am, it gets real quiet because the ducks head back to where they came. Get all pumped up only to be "let down". We fall for it every year.

Like everyone else, we wait until our watches say it's time to shoot, not when others open up some 10 minutes early...and on some sloughs I've heard them open 20 minutes early! Like others, we've had ducks in our dekes on some mornings at 5 minutes before shooting time, or geese flying right over our heads, etc. We choose to wait in order to be on the safe side.

However, I simply can't guarantee that my watch is balls-on with the DNR's. Should be pretty darn close though.

yup I use the cell phone clock and my second look will be on my citizen watch with eco-drive.