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Thread: Duckblind construction

  1. #1
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    Default Duckblind construction

    By Matt Schuckman Herald-Whig
    Posted: Mar. 23, 2018 12:01 am



    QUINCY -- Chuck Churchill logged onto the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website and searched for the proposed amendment that would alter how he and his hunting partners build their duck blind.

    After nearly 30 minutes of searching, he gave up.

    "My friends told me it was on the website," Churchill said. "I couldn't find it. Maybe they were wrong."

    They weren't. Finding the proposed changes to the IDNR administrative rules wasn't so easy either.

    There is nothing on the IDNR home page directing users to the proposed changes, although there are a substantial amount of pending moves. You either have to be lucky to stumble onto the appropriate page or navigate to the site where a first notice has been posted for 15 proposals.

    The notice on 14 of those expires April 23, including the one centered around the construction of waterfowl blinds. The amendment would elminate the use of all metal products in building a blind.

    "Even that one was hard to find and I knew to do a little digging," said Bill Jamison, who lives in Pike County and hunts both the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. "They didn't make it easy to find it or read it."

    There's some truth to that. The title page for the duck, goose and coot hunting notice is labeled "Title 62: Mining."

    "That doesn't make any sense to me," said Churchill, an Adams County resident who used to hunt Mississippi River Pools 21, 22 and 24 but joined a group that now hunts the Illinois River. "I think they might be trying to slip something past us."

    That seems to be a common sentiment.

    The Mississippi Valley Hunters and Fishermen's Association posted a link to the amendment on its Facebook page with an additional note that reads "The rule change is hidden in a 65 page document. The title is not even duck hunting related."

    If approved, it would be a significant change. In Section 590.15 regarding duck, goose and coot hunting regulations on department-owned and -managed sites, a restriction was added to blind construction.

    It reads, "The use of any metal, with the exception of fasteners less than 12 inches in length, carpet, felt paper, plastic snow fence or any mesh material shall be prohibited in the construction of waterfowl blinds. These restrictions will not prohibit the use of pontoon blinds or other similarly prefabricated blinds."

    So any existing blind that uses fencing, tin or metal roofing, metal barrels or angle irons will be deemed illegal. Metal spud poles and spreader braces will no longer be allowed either.

    Any wire longer than 12 inches will make a blind fail inspection as well.

    "Every blind I have ever built would be illegal," Jamison said. "I don't understand the rationale behind it."

    It's why hunters have engaged in an extensive letter writing campaign, reaching out to the legal counsel for the DNR to voice their opposition to the proposed change.

    Hunters and outdoorsmen have a 45-day window to comment on the proposals. That window closes April 23.

    http://www.whig.com/20180323/idnr-pr...ction-rules#//

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    ....Jamison said. "I don't understand the rationale behind it."
    Bout par for the course in Illinois it seems. I too, would like to know the logic behind outlawing all the metal components of a blind.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Delta in a nutshell: Breeding grounds + small wetlands + big blocks of grass cover + predator removal + nesting structures + enough money to do the job= plenty of ducks to keep everyone smiling!

    "For those that will fight for it...FREEDOM...has a flavor the protected shall never know."
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  3. #3
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    Feb 2003
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    Columbia
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    Just a wild guess, but could it have anything to do with the faint possibility that once someone throws up a behemoth structure in a relatively unspoiled area, consisting of metal, nylon carpet, plastic, etc., Nobody's EVER going to clean that shit up? That it's eventually going to become a decrepit, long - lasting eyesore? That it will trash up a waterway? And never decay, the way a wooden structure would? Just a thought. Probably way off base.
    Last edited by GMAC; 03-31-2018 at 06:22 PM.

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