Video-SCDNR Cat 1 WMA MISMANAGEMENT

[Tranquility]

Smith- delta west work isn’t done yet. Delta East was flooded after 1st split because Achi and his people wanted to get as much mowed and then burned as possible. Plant senescence is such that a 1st split flood would not have been as productive.

[Timber Ghost]

When does the day arrive and y'all just admit SC is a has been. A "used too" state.
Used to have ducks. Never coming back.
I lived there from 2006 to 2013. I'd lived in 9 states prior. It saddens me to see this. SC truly has the worst waterfowling than any state in the nation. Brutal. If the litmus test is wait 4 years and hunt for 4 hours and not shoot a limit. Here's your sign. Y'all cuss and hate me for even mentioning this, but I joined SC ducks in 2006. The exact same complaints were prolific on this site. It is what it is. No Cat 1 improvement will fix this. I can get enough points in western states to kill a great bull or buck in 4 years while you wait for a teal/wigeon shoot that lasts 4 hours.
Open it up.
Carry on.

I threw the towel in a long time ago. This state is terrible for duck hunting


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[Calibogue]

Here within lies much of the problem here, people do not understand all of the nuances that go into waterfowl Management in coastal title impoundments.
Just to mention a couple, flood water is a very powerful thing and I can assure you many of these breaches did not start with a simple trickle of water.
Many of these breaches occur during record level flood events and that is a fact.
Since Delta East has been mentioned and brought up that it is a failure or poor management that it was not flooded during the first split, do you know what happens when you flood green vegetation that has been mowed down? It takes time for things to get right burn down from a frost, or dry enough that it can be burned. When you flood green vegetation it promotes algae and also has a tendency to sour.
Mr smith, I know nothing about your property is it old title Rice Field influence directly by the river or Upland impoundment?
People need to stop comparing WMA property to Chicora Woods as well, as I understand it, it is all upland created impoundments.
Some of the target vegetation such as Widgeon grass and dwarf Spike Rush or so sensitive that when we get these big floods, that crop is lost. In some cases it is possible to start over but it depends on what time of year we are talking.
It certainly appears to me that some are trying to use a broad paintbrush to push SC DNR category 1 management into a corner of mismanagement. Say what y'all want, but it is far more complicated than that and most of the people throwing stones don't have a clue!

[Tater]

Here’s the problem, y’all can deal with it because it’s never going to change and I’ve quit giving a damn, SC DNR is beholden to the legislature and not the license holder. They don’t give a damn about you the license holder and never will. The examples are out there of structures that work, but you’ll never be able to get SC DNR under one of those models because the politicians that know what’s best for you will never allow it.

[Calibogue]

Also, migrations have changed in SC and our state is not the waterfowl mecca it once was.... Sprigdog is correct, it's a has been!

[Calibogue]

Here’s the problem, y’all can deal with it because it’s never going to change and I’ve quit giving a damn, SC DNR is beholden to the legislature and not the license holder. They don’t give a damn about you the license holder and never will. The examples are out there of structures that work, but you’ll never be able to get SC DNR under one of those models because the politicians that know what’s best for you will never allow it.

Also some of these properties were entrusted to DNR for management under very strict guidelines that I suspect cannot be changed.

[trash2]

And selling Donnelly is a ridiculous statement. There are a lot of other recreational activities other than ducks. Probably one of best wma’s I’ve been on w ample public opportunities in a pristine setting

[Tater]

I’m talking about every single aspect of SC DNR, not just ducks.

[Dog Man]

I agree with everything you just said. There are a few points I would like to expound on.
1- Since 2015, all private landowners in the Georgetown County experienced the same flooding. Private properties did not experience damage to the extent as Georgetown county’s Cat 1 WMAs because their dikes are managed properly. Everything is about good MANAGEMENT.
2- Fast repairs to a breach are critical. That is good MANAGEMENT. If DNR had good,qualified managers who would handle these repairs immediately,there would be very little need for large funding. Deputy Director Emily Cope sent me a report in 2022 that showed Samworth WMA had experienced 50 breach’s. Need I say more?
3- White marsh is not difficult to control if you have a qualified,boots on the ground manager ready to work the field when conditions are right. A Ricefield is nothing more than a swamp that man put a dike around 200 years ago. It is still a swamp. Farmers can’t work upland fields when they are wet. You can’t have a management plan that says you are going to work a Ricefield on predetermined date.It may rain the week before. This is where a qualified ,boots on the ground manager is needed. This is something DNR is lacking.
4- The importance of a qualified,boots on the ground manager can not be stressed enough. Last May 31st I took Molly Neece and Sam Chappelear on a tour of my rice fields. At this late date, they told me they had not started working their fields because their 3 Marsh Masters were not operable and they did not own a tiller. Nobody can defend this type of poor management.
5- All land owners own and transport equipment and fuel on barges. It is not difficult. It is made to sound difficult by DNR.
6- The DNR requirement that WMA manager must have a Master Degree must change. Many of these biologist earned their degree in such things as turtles,squirrels,etc. It ain’t working. There also should not be a requirement that these managers are required to have a college degree. No private land owner has a biologist on staff. Some of the best managers I know graduated from TECH’s Forestry and Wildlife program. SCWA has a program that produces great managers.
7- You are correct,somewhere in the chain of command,be it the Deputy Director of Wildlife Emily Cope, the SCDNR Board, Robert Boyles ,the General Assembly or the Governor, there is a weak link. Public Waterfowlers are looking to the General Assembly to correct this problem. Thanks for any and all assistance you can provide. We all appreciate your efforts funding these WMAs. At this time correcting the management issue is more important.
8- It might be time to think outside of the box and hire contractors to work the ricefields. That being said, the techs on these properties are doing a great job. It is the management and leadership that is lacking.

[sprigdog]

Is this Chicora Woods a new club? Don't remember ever hearing about it. Someone drop me a pin on OnX.
I may need a dike to go pass shoot from.

[mudflat]

Know nothing about dikes but I can tell you, I'd be surprised if all that rain GT recently received didn't blow a few out. It did a number on our hunting club roads, like completely washed some away in a day.
Nobody answered my question, does the Achi guy set the hunting rules for those units, deer and hog? SCR and the Deltas need more hunting dates for deer and hog.

[Quackhead22]

Know nothing about dikes but I can tell you, I'd be surprised if all that rain GT recently received didn't blow a few out. It did a number on our hunting club roads, like completely washed some away in a day.
Nobody answered my question, does the Achi guy set the hunting rules for those units, deer and hog? SCR and the Deltas need more hunting dates for deer and hog.

DNR in Columbia likely sets those rules.


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[Coastal Woodie]

Is this Chicora Woods a new club? Don't remember ever hearing about it. Someone drop me a pin on OnX.
I may need a dike to go pass shoot from.

Chicora Wood was home to plantersville turf farm and they've built inland impoundments out of the old turf fields. There was always a few birds in their rice fields but it was never truly managed for waterfowl until recently.

[Short_track_champ]

As an outsider who has been on 9 draw hunts behind the dikes I have the perfect solution.
Make it public land. Open it wide up to hunting Saturday Sunday and Wednesdays. No reservations.
No driving down dike roads. Want to hunt Murphy? Anchor boat on bank and walk over pulling a sneak boat. The Cape. Park in parking lot and walk in. Hunt wherever you like 3 days a week. It's your public land. Complete BS y'all have to wait 3-4 years for a 4 hour hunt, that apparently doesn't remotely live up to expectations.

This.

[Catdaddy]

This.

To hunt 3 days a week, you need a lot of new birds migrating in every 7 days. That doesn't happen in SC. This is a recipe to run off all the ducks in the WMA and for the private landowners to collect almost 100% of the ducks.

Next, they will want to hunt all the refuges, because they are holding all the duck.

The best hunting is always near some refuge, whether it's a government refuge or private refuge.


The public hunter just doesn't get it.


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[DUCK BUSTER 68]

To hunt 3 days a week, you need a lot of new birds migrating in every 7 days. That doesn't happen in SC. This is a recipe to run off all the ducks in the WMA and for the private landowners to collect almost 100% of the ducks.

Next, they will want to hunt all the refuges, because they are holding all the duck.

The best hunting is always near some refuge, whether it's a government refuge or private refuge.


The public hunter just doesn't get it.


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THIS

[Glenn]

Here’s the problem, y’all can deal with it because it’s never going to change and I’ve quit giving a damn, SC DNR is beholden to the legislature and not the license holder. They don’t give a damn about you the license holder and never will. The examples are out there of structures that work, but you’ll never be able to get SC DNR under one of those models because the politicians that know what’s best for you will never allow it.

And boom goes the dynamite.

I duck hunted as a kid, through HS, while in the Navy, through college, and after college when I lived in Virginia. Moving to SC is what got me to sell my decoys and all my duck hunting gear except for some calls.

[JBtflo]

Chicora Wood was home to plantersville turf farm and they've built inland impoundments out of the old turf fields. There was always a few birds in their rice fields but it was never truly managed for waterfowl until recently.

I imagine topography means a lot when just an extra foot or so in elevation means dikes getting overtopping or not. Would sites closer to the ocean be more vulnerable as well?

[Calibogue]

I imagine topography means a lot when just an extra foot or so in elevation means dikes getting overtopping or not. Would sites closer to the ocean be more vulnerable as well?

Absolutely

[Hogg]

Government bureaucracies are ill equipped to implement lightning quick management decisions. Is it really the manager or the red tape? That's a big part of the puzzle when you get 50 dike breaches at Samworth.
I remember all the howling when Achi was hired rather than some local manager with practical experience working moist soil coastal impoundments.
It turns out he has done a good job with the tool set given him.