4pm rule thru 10/11

[Scott Steil]

FFF, you bring up a very good point about ducks being allowed to roost at night, it would make the AM hunts much better. It would also slow down the migration as long as the weather was stable. I like the idea.

[JP Z]

From what I've heard and read Ducks start to migrate when it gets cold(duh) but they generally plan their flights during Full Moons so they can travel fully at night. Just my 2cents.

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Tight Lines,

JP Z

[Ray Esboldt]

I'd be all for pulling the plug at noon on duck hunting. You guys are right, the birds will migrate when they do. But, the ones that are here will stick around a little longer if they're not constantly being pounded. I'd also like to see some weekend "refuges" or safe zones established when the pressure is on. It helps.

[fishface5]

A noon season long closing time wouldn't hurt my feelings a bit. I do wish they would let us hunt till the end of the year though. I love post ice Duck and Goose hunting!

[Farley]

You guys are nuts.

[Ray Esboldt]

Farley,

Feel free to expand on that statement. I can see a lot of deep thought was put into it.

How many times have you driven by a refuge that is loaded with birds and thought, "Man, I wish I could hunt that," or "I wish my slough had that many birds on it?" Your slough doesn't have that many birds or they just don't stick around your area because they get pummelled from sun up to sun down. I know ducks are not capable of logical thought, but like any other animal, they beat feet until they're in an area where they can resume normal activity. I doubt they're capable of remembering a specific bad incident, but they do seem to avoid the areas that offer repeated bad incidents.

How often do you see heavily hunted sloughs holding birds day after day? My point is if you give them some time to do their thing and a place to do it, you might have a few more shooting opportunities. It's a little hard to have those opportunities when nothing's around.

[Farley]

That's true, but it seems like many of the people on this forum hunt public land. Public land gets pounded no matter what time the season starts/closes. Like many of my friends and people who live around my area, I hunt private land, and have not hunted the same pond or field two days in a row yet this year so I don't worry about overhunting. Also, we do things to our land to make it good for the birds, like building doughnaut ponds, and flooding out low areas. You "city boys" choose to not own land and use public land for your hunting needs, which is great, but don't complain when it get's pounded every day and night. Don't wreck it for us who like to hunt sundown and is sometimes the only time we have to hunt later in the season.

[Mark Christianson]

Funny how us "city boys" get categorized.
Just cuz I am a city boy, I choose not to buy land? Wow. Where did that come from?
If I had $80,000 to buy 80 acres in Ottertail County(cuz thats where I want to be), I would love to do it. I am priced out of building my own little wildlife empire.

Ridiculous analogy. I bet most "city boys" will 100% agree.

[Guest]

I hunt state, federal and other "public" land 95% of the time. My only exception is my "private" pond that I do my darndest to manage the wild rice crop. Weather is THE only determination to a crop. Bird's behavior too, IMO. I monitor it daily.

I am not a city boy. How do you determine if a guy/gal in the field is a city boy, Farley? Because he/she drives a nice truck? I would keep that stereotype quiet to yourself because it's not true.

[Mark Christianson]

No, I am not the big fan of a noon closing idea.

[Farley]

Yeah, maybee I do throw that term around loosly, my bad. It's not because of the vehicle, there are other factors, but I will keep them to myself.

I agree with you CD, weather is the main factor that makes birds migrate.

[fishface5]

"MY BAD!"? Who the bleep is the "CITY BOY"?! Clos'er at noon! Open it up till DEC. 31, Because, after the Deer opener there is no-one out there anyway, anywhere. Even on "public waters". How many Golden Eyes do you shoot on your doughnut ponds?

[Ray Esboldt]

Farley,

I think you're missing the point. If you give the birds a break, everyone will benefit.

BTW - I primarily hunt on private land. But, I'm not against hunting public land. Furthermore, if you're going to start this, "these are my ducks, not city folks" crud, you really are showing your true intent with duck hunting. As in, "it's all about me and how many can I kill." I don't think that's a healthy attitude. Do you?

[Farley]

the point of my post was that if you manage the land you hunt, you need not worry about overhunting, ealry movements and the like, and if you use public land then you have no control over it, and no reason to say "we need a noon closer for duck season because there's no ducks around the ponds I hunt" That's what this thread sounds like to me. I used the term "city boys" because that's who I see hunting the statelands around my area, the stereotypical "city boy". Biglakebass, if you did own that 80 acres, would you want a noon closer?

Ray, that's not my attitude anymore than it is yours.

[This message has been edited by Farley (edited 10-13-2003).]

[Farley]

Obviously none, I never get any bluebills on it either, I wonder why??? Look, I'm sorry about the whole city boy thing, so can we get back to the matter at hand? You honestly think that the ducks will stay around when they have 30 hunters in one square mile shooting at them betwwen sunrise and noon, instead of 10 from sunrise to noon, then 10 from noon to 4, then 10 from 4 to sunset. I don't know anyone who duck hunts all day long, so the ponds that are being hunted in the morning will be open in the afternoon and vice versa. All this will do is make the public lands more crowded and give the birds less of a place to go rest in the morning. If a hunter doesnt go out in the morning, his pond is open for the ducks to land. If there is a noon closer, that hunter will be there in the morning and where will the birds go????? Either on the grill or far away from here. So where do these great numbers of ducks come from if we have a noon closer?

[This message has been edited by Farley (edited 10-14-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Farley (edited 10-14-2003).]

[Farley]

I guess the bottom line is the birds need more places to go, and this year it's a problem since it's been so dry. But how long would they stick around if there was no hunting pressure at all? Weather will force the local birds out and move the northern birds down so, heavy hunting pressure or not, there will always be birds comming through, the game is to find out when and where. Cutting down this country boys hunting hours won't make a difference because I couldn't hit water if I fell out of a boat anyway.

[Ray Esboldt]

Farley,

Who are the 10 hunting from 12 to 4? They must go home hungry quite a bit.

OK, I kind of see where you're coming from. I honestly don't think you get that kind of even distribution of pressure throughout the day. I'd say it's more like 80% in the morning, 10% jump shooting, and 10% hoping the birds show up before sundown. Maybe it's different where you hunt.

What about more mini-refuges? Or, alternate day WMAs? However, I guess I could see the condensed pressure argument applying here as well. I just think if you lighten the load on the birds a little, they'll stick around longer. Either that, or restrict the hours "country boys" can hunt.