BigBendFishing.Net

https://ocean.floridamarine.org/HGMSear ... int%20rock

The Aucilla WMA portion across 98 won’t be next I hope
My Pinhook paddling trip was probably a couple of years away still. I was going to do the Wacissa and St Marks next and a reason why was because I thought the Pinhook wasn’t going anywhere. I thought I would always be able to get away with the rule bending, and rule breaking that nobody cares about (lol!) If the NWR takes over Flint Rock then that puts that in jeopardy maybe. I do know not to panic or anything. I’ve still managed to bend a rule of 2 in the refuge but I didn’t plan on doing it over this paddling trip since it was a much bigger project than bankfishing on the other sides of gates.

I also know there’s still the Aucilla WMA which is totally legal but I’d planned on bending the rules in the Flint Rock just to get the boat down there and chained to a tree. Then I would leave it on the Aucilla side and just walk in and out that way.

What rules will change?

I don’t know but for sure I’m assuming it all gets locked down from vehicles like the rest of the NWR is besides Lighthouse Road. That’d just plain stink. I understand why they have everything on lockdown now but Flint Rock is woods, not a delicate coast line that people would abuse as soon as they got their feet on it’s ground like most of the NWR now. So I hope they don’t lock it down and ruin it for us good apples.

Why is SMNWR so locked down? Other NWR like Merritt Island allow duck hunting. I know st marks has some deer quota hunts, but it seems like they could allow more access to sportmen….

I don’t know what I said to be true (because it’s so much delicate coast line) but that’s what I always thought was the reason.

My guess is the nesting migratory birds in the area. They don't want them disturbed.

If I am remembering my history correctly, St. Marks NWR was started in part to protect the migratory waterfowl that used to flock to the area. Goose hunting used to be outstanding in our area is my understanding, duck hunting as well. St. Marks was created to protect a safe haven from the waterfowl hunters in the area. Migratory patterns have changed so if waterfowl hunters wanted to try to hunt the Gulf for example, we might be able to get together and get the rules changed on where waterfowl hunters can hunt within the boundaries of the NWR. I think it would probably be a long shot since the primary purpose of the refuge was to protect the waterfowl, but maybe...it would also take very dedicated people that would be up for pursuing the change because I imagine it would be a long haul project, if the NWR system were open to considering it.

Danibeth wrote: ↑April 3rd, 2023, 11:27 am If I am remembering my history correctly, St. Marks NWR was started in part to protect the migratory waterfowl that used to flock to the area. Goose hunting used to be outstanding in our area is my understanding, duck hunting as well. St. Marks was created to protect a safe haven from the waterfowl hunters in the area. Migratory patterns have changed so if waterfowl hunters wanted to try to hunt the Gulf for example, we might be able to get together and get the rules changed on where waterfowl hunters can hunt within the boundaries of the NWR. I think it would probably be a long shot since the primary purpose of the refuge was to protect the waterfowl, but maybe...it would also take very dedicated people that would be up for pursuing the change because I imagine it would be a long haul project, if the NWR system were open to considering it.

SHOWBOAT wrote: ↑April 1st, 2023, 11:57 am Why is SMNWR so locked down? Other NWR like Merritt Island allow duck hunting. I know st marks has some deer quota hunts, but it seems like they could allow more access to sportmen….

St Marks is one of the oldest refuges in the nation and was established to provide winter habitat for migratory birds. Merritts was actually acquired by NASA, and eventually, an overlay agreement was established to allow for NWR to manage. Similar, but has a very different history and management. St Marks was established with a singular focus of protecting waterfowl, and Merritts is much broader, looking at protecting an estuary ecosystem while creating a buffer for NASA (goal #1 actually), which explains some of the differences. Merrits is also nearly twice as large and only allows waterfowl hunting on a small percentage of their acreage (30k I think). St. Marks is only 84,000 acres in total, which might seem big, but when thinking about the landscape requirements for a migratory species that cross an entire continent... it's a drop in a bucket. I like duck hunting, and I'm not saying it's impossible, but if you're trying to protect essentially a sliver of winter habitat for waterfowl, I think you'd be hard press to get them to allow hunting on it.

They won't even allow hunting of feral hogs, which are ruining the levee bike/hike trails with their rooting.

GaryDroze wrote: ↑April 4th, 2023, 8:16 pm They won't even allow hunting of feral hogs, which are ruining the levee bike/hike trails with their rooting.

They do allow some deer and hog hunting at the refuge. I’m far more concerned with what people are doing back there than the hogs

The officers shoot hogs. I was riding a bike one day and heard about a dozen shots ring out. Ran into the officer collecting casings, and he said they shoot them and let them lay because pigs aren’t native….

The duck thing confuses me. They are a federal resource and highly migratory. You’re allowed to hunt them in some refuges and not others. Very different than a contained, resident mammal population. Can understand limiting access via quota, etc, but seems like some duck hunting should be authorized.

STMU, interesting history. Thanks for sharing. Not quite sold on the land size perspective. The exact same ducks could be in St Marks or Merritt Island, land protected with the same pool of tax payer money and managed by the same folks, but folks in Merritt Island or other Refuges can shoot them and we can’t….

Salty Gator wrote: ↑April 5th, 2023, 8:15 am

GaryDroze wrote: ↑April 4th, 2023, 8:16 pm They won't even allow hunting of feral hogs, which are ruining the levee bike/hike trails with their rooting.

I’m far more concerned with what people are doing back there than the hogs

Let’s be real for a second. If they let people hunt ducks in there that Flamingo would end up stuffed on somebody’s wall. No it wouldn’t be anybody who posts here, or anybody who hunts ducks and eats them. But some sonofa would do it and that type of abuse would only snowball.

I understand that protecting the ducks in the refuge seems like it hardly amounts to anything but I have no problem with safe havens for any animals and since I’ve survived with this very tiny one for so long I’ll continue to survive with it. I do still hope they don’t lock down Flint Rock. If they do though, maybe it’ll still just go on like it is in my case. Every time I’ve ever been caught somewhere nobody has cared once they see that I have no booze, drugs or guns, you know the normal stuff rulebreakers carry lol! Granted I’ve never been caught in the Refuge which is more strict.