yet another duck hunting post...

[Team Bad Company]

[bman]

I agree with you about how hard duck hunting is on public lakes.
It has really changed out there- there are so few public places to go that have birds and then they are overshot.

As far as the "Rules"- I guess the new guys didn't have dads to teach them- or Dads that taught them wrong. It really makes me proud of my father and his friends. They taught me well.

Hope it gets better!

[MudDucker]

If an idiot adult makes a threat to me with a gun, I'm not going to shot it out with him. I would take down his boat registration numbers, move off and call 911. When the cops show up at the landing, I would make a formal complaint. It is your two words against theirs and that is enough to have the law give them a hard time.

I've had a teenager start in cussing me one morning. When I stood up in the boat shined my light on his numbers and informed him that I was going to speak to his father or the cops, which did he want. He got quiet and left the area.

[RD]

I imagine that the next time that young man went duck hunting all you could hear out of him would be him telling his buddys..."I used to have a blind right here"!!!!
When we used to hunt Munson we never had problems like that,on my last hunt there even had one nice gentelman with a white shirt on upwind from us, the birds just poored in to our dekes.

[cygraphics]

I agree with bman. I don't think these kids grew up doing any kind of hunting and don't have any ethics to go with it. I grew up deer hunting and I'm fairly new to duck hunting, but the same ethics go along with it.

I think these kids want to try and hunt somewhere and ducks are the only thing they have access to. It's a shame that they are running all the true gentleman out of the sport.

It's terrible that there are at least 3 different posts with similar mornings from this past weekend.


Any one ever hunt Piney Island?

[grim reeler]

I think it is a little of both the old school and new school hunters' fault. I have had plenty of peeps set up on top of me, on many different lakes, but I have also had plenty of long time hunters try to tell me a spot of public water was their's, even with no permanent blind around. Even with a blind, its still public water. 2x4s and bamboo do not constitute a private waterway.

I personally think permanent blinds should not be allowed on public water. It just leads to conflict, and it leaves nice lower unit and prop killers in the water after the season is over.

I have hunted public waters in this area for over 25 years, and every so often, I get some arrogant POS telling me that a certain area is theirs since they have hunted it the last 2 years.

Common sense and courtesy should be enough, but its in short supply most times. Public duck hunting is first come, first serve, every day. There is no reserved seating.

[BlindHog]

I feel your pain, BadCompany. I agree with Mudducker and you also that cool heads should always prevail. Arguments + guns = Disaster. One shooting over a duck blind and all #### will break loose on those "badguys" who hunt.

In your instance, I believe a cop could consider a threat of "Something bad" along with the shucking of the pump to constitute Assault. I have heard that telling someone you are going to "kick their arse" constitutes Assault. So calling 911 may be appropriate. Still I would hate for hunter disputes to become "news" -- it makes us all look bad.

I mourn over the worry and frustration that is involved in pursuing something I love. Wish the only concern could be whether ducks would show up or not.

I guess the only answer is to be out there earlier than the other guy (which you were.) Some camp out on the lake on Seminole spots. I got to Miccosukee at 3:00AM Saturday for that very reason. Thats sort of ridiculous, but its the only thing short of everyone agreeing to a Code of Conduct that I can think of.

Wishful thinking: FWC would work with hunter organizations like United Waterfowlers of Florida to write down the ways to be a good neighbor on the lake, kind of a Code of Conduct or "suggestions" for good behavior. They want to stay out of this though I am sure -- liability reasons, etc. I know FWC discourages permanent blind construction, but the same problem arises over bamboo and brush blinds too. Or even "spots" a guy thinks he owns for his popup blind.

Some public places out west go to numbered blinds assigned by lottery in situations of extreme crowding. This leaves the lottery "losers" out in the cold but that's probably worth it for the quality of hunt, not to mention safety. Still I hate quota permit hunting - should be able to up and go. Oh well, maybe in a week or two the occasional hunters will drop out and we can finish the season with fewer yahoos out there.

[weaver brown]

I can hardly wait for my duck hunting partner to get here next week. He is a Federal Wildlife Officer and has zero sense of humor.

[BlindHog]

I'd be interested to hear his thoughts on our local customs and practices. And his suggestions on how to deal with blinds, "owning a spot", hunter conflicts, etc. Also the issue of "threatening" another hunter and how its viewd by law enforcement.

[Tyler]

If I can find a place to shoot a couple of woodies w/o the crowds I'm much happier than getting yelled at. I wish they would make permanent blinds illegal statewide on public waters.

As far as HM goes the last time I hunted there I got absolutely covered up, by mergansers. Decoyed nice though.