Contrary to what our member stated, the majority of states do set their hunting seasons so that the main breeding in any given year is over before the opener! With the amount of snow up here this year we'll be lucky even down in the southern zone to not have snow still on the ground when our season opens the third week of April. We have a guaranteed license that is good for almost the entire month of May and that is what I always buy because I can hunt any private land down here and anywhere, including public lands up north, with that tag. Otherwise, the tags you apply for are only good for smaller areas and shorter seasons. It's pretty cool because I can help others get their birds the first couple weeks and then get my gun out to do my thing in May.