Public Dove Fields

**Rem11-87** · 08-03-2011, 11:40 AM

I agree they are expensive to manage, but with a little more work they could be jam up and a lot safer. I also agree there isnt much sense with some people out there. I laughed everytime i watched a bird come across the field high and it sounded like popcorn with everybody shooting. The funniest thing that i saw was the time, bowfinclassic and I watched a guy shoot a sparrow hawk. The guy then looked at it for a while and came over to us and asked what it was. We played dumb and told him to go ask the gamewarden. His buddy stopped him before he actually asked.

They do extremely well with the ones in lowcountry planting and managing them right. Just about everyone one that I have been on I have limited out. It is just to many people and stupid people that causes issues. I know the fields cost money and time. I plant one every year at the farm and I have a good bit invested in it.

I got an idea, they make a 20 dollar government dove stamp, with all the money going to public dove fields. We all know that wouldnt happen.

**shooterchris** · 08-03-2011, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by Rem11-87

I got an idea, they make a 20 dollar government dove stamp, with all the money going to public dove fields. We all know that wouldnt happen.

Which part, the stamp getting made or the dove fields getting the money from the stamp?

**Rem11-87** · 08-03-2011, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by shooterchris

Which part, the stamp getting made or the dove fields getting the money from the stamp?

the fields getting the money from the stamp

**BigBrother** · 08-03-2011, 12:26 PM

Call your legislator.

You are squeezing blood from a stone otherwise.

**shooterchris** · 08-03-2011, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Rem11-87

the fields getting the money from the stamp

Right there with ya on that one.

**SC quacker** · 08-04-2011, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by Rem11-87

I agree they are expensive to manage, but with a little more work they could be jam up and a lot safer. I also agree there isnt much sense with some people out there. I laughed everytime i watched a bird come across the field high and it sounded like popcorn with everybody shooting. The funniest thing that i saw was the time, bowfinclassic and I watched a guy shoot a sparrow hawk. The guy then looked at it for a while and came over to us and asked what it was. We played dumb and told him to go ask the gamewarden. His buddy stopped him before he actually asked.

They do extremely well with the ones in lowcountry planting and managing them right. Just about everyone one that I have been on I have limited out. It is just to many people and stupid people that causes issues. I know the fields cost money and time. I plant one every year at the farm and I have a good bit invested in it.

I got an idea, they make a 20 dollar government dove stamp, with all the money going to public dove fields. We all know that wouldnt happen.

Why not just charge $25 per hunt?

**tarri** · 08-09-2011, 01:28 PM

quacker i am a government worker and i manage several of the fields in the peidmont. i would like to think that they are getting better as far as the quality of the field. i will put worthy's bottom in chester county against any field public or private in the state. go look at it before you pop off and embarass yourself. all i can do is plant it, i don't really see where it is my job or the dnr's to referee a bunch of grown men and tell them how to act and how to treat each other. if i had my way i would take every wma permitt permanently from everyone who showed up at a dove field or waterfowl area and acted like a jack ass. the problem with public land hunters isn't always the land manager's fault. it is the that everyone shows up and thinks they deserve to hunt and no matter how it affects the hunters they crowd in on. for real, you think the "governement" should have to tell sportsmen how to act? you really WANT the government involved anymore than it is in your life? isn't the rules n regs booklet big enough now? you want the dnr to impose and enforce people having a conscience? give that crap a rest man. make sure if you show up and the area is full that you sit at the gate till someone comes off and makes room.
i have said it before the wildlife section of the scdnr and every other one for that matter is largely funded out of PR funds generated by gun and ammo sales. that pot is larger than ever. money is not the issue, it is all about public perception. they are not going to hire and fund wildlife techs and dove fields when the state is laying off school teachers and people on the other side of the hall at the dnr office. hunters and shooters are paying their way right now and no you are not getting your services. they have plenty of money.

**thawhacker** · 08-10-2011, 11:15 AM

wheres this worthys bottom feild at in chester county. i cant find anything on it on DNR's website.

**Tater** · 08-10-2011, 11:26 AM

2 kliks SE of Tin Bucket ridge ya cyber scoutin' sumbitch.

**thawhacker** · 08-10-2011, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by Tater

2 kliks SE of Tin Bucket ridge ya cyber scoutin' sumbitch.

HAHAHA!!!!!
I dont hunt public fields, never have. We plant our own. Just wanted to see how good this one is, since i live on the fairfeild/chester county line.

**FLS** · 08-14-2011, 12:07 PM

24" pieces of 2x4 with numbers stenciled on them set 100 yds apart would solve 90% of the problems at public dove fields. It solved the race to a spot in our private fields. It would be a good late winter rainy day project, instead of chillin at the equipment shed.

Once stands are full thats it. As limits are filled new shooters rotate in. There is an unlimited supply of retiree's willing to man check stations, and direct folks where to go.

It is not a lack of money or manpower. It is a lack of willpower and imagination. That runs rampant in ALL state and federal govt agencies. Its very easy to get stuck in a rut.

**tarri** · 08-14-2011, 09:54 PM

fls, you speak as if all government employees lack willpower and imagination. while i'll agree there are those who fit that bill, they are no more common that those in the private sector. laziness abounds all over. that being said, who is going to make you sit by your post. i mean you are on a private field i assume with friends and people you know and you have to put up post 100 yards apart? what for, you and your buddies can't respect each other?? i'd change dove clubs if i were you. do you really think that 100 yards is a reasonable spacing on a dove field?
my point is that these same people manage to get by in all other walks of their lives, i assume they pay for their gas and groceries and mange to wait their turn in lines and not beat their wife and kids. i mean after all they are gun toting sportsmen so they must not have too bad of track record outside of hunting. if they were to buy a general admission ticket to a concert or ball game are they gonna run someone over or act like an ass? why should it be different on a public hunting area. your wma permit is nothing more than a paid chance at spot to hunt, it does not guarantee it. why does it have to be the government's or government employee's fault that grown men act like spoiled children? the field being there for the public to use is not the problem, greedy people are.
you have no idea what work and creativity goes into trying to build or manage a dove field or waterfowl area on national forest land and no it isn't perfect, but the fact is they are used, overused and you naysaying sonbitchs could get on board and help drive more projects or sit around and bitch about the ones that are out there. believe it or not, not everyone has a private dove field to hunt on and some people appreciate the fact the there are opportunities out there.

**thawhacker** · 08-15-2011, 09:29 AM

where's wortheys bottom!!!

**surfcock** · 08-15-2011, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by thawhacker

where's wortheys bottom!!!

If you google it and click the first link, you'll get to read this post again.

**Tater** · 08-15-2011, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by tarri

fls, you speak as if all government employees lack willpower and imagination. while i'll agree there are those who fit that bill, they are no more common that those in the private sector. laziness abounds all over. that being said, who is going to make you sit by your post. i mean you are on a private field i assume with friends and people you know and you have to put up post 100 yards apart? what for, you and your buddies can't respect each other?? i'd change dove clubs if i were you. do you really think that 100 yards is a reasonable spacing on a dove field?
my point is that these same people manage to get by in all other walks of their lives, i assume they pay for their gas and groceries and mange to wait their turn in lines and not beat their wife and kids. i mean after all they are gun toting sportsmen so they must not have too bad of track record outside of hunting. if they were to buy a general admission ticket to a concert or ball game are they gonna run someone over or act like an ass? why should it be different on a public hunting area. your wma permit is nothing more than a paid chance at spot to hunt, it does not guarantee it. why does it have to be the government's or government employee's fault that grown men act like spoiled children? the field being there for the public to use is not the problem, greedy people are.
you have no idea what work and creativity goes into trying to build or manage a dove field or waterfowl area on national forest land and no it isn't perfect, but the fact is they are used, overused and you naysaying sonbitchs could get on board and help drive more projects or sit around and bitch about the ones that are out there. believe it or not, not everyone has a private dove field to hunt on and some people appreciate the fact the there are opportunities out there.

**FLS** · 08-17-2011, 11:10 PM

I deal with state and federal employess regularly. Some are good and some arent worth a shit. Most are somewhere in the middle.

I have helped build private waterfowl impoundments and planted private dove fields, neither are brain surgery or overly taxing. Nothing your average farmer or construction contactor isnt doing on a daily basis. Just another job. When it was done I moved on to the next. Thats the way it works in the private sector. As soon as you finish a job its time to go the the next, otherwise you dont get paid. No time to wait for attaboys or a pat on the head.

The complaint was that the public fields can be a clusterfuck. I offered a solution that Ive seen work, that would take minimal effort and expense. You response was in my experience... typical. Govt agencies always have lots of reasons why they can't do something. They seem to forget that good, bad, or otherwise their taxpaying customers are their only reason for existing. Without us naysaying SOB's your ass would be uneccessary.

**Clark** · 08-17-2011, 11:29 PM

Careful what you wish for with the draw restrictions. NC WRC imposed a permit/draw on all the decent public waterfowling areas and effectively shut down all the good public hunting. Said it was to provide 'quality' hunts. Now, you are lucky if you get drawn one day a year - and the permits don't stop people from walking into the marsh at daylight and hunting in your lap.

Where you gonna hunt when you can only get one permit a year?

**tarri** · 08-18-2011, 07:57 AM

fls, you couldn't have me more wrong. i do not and will not ever defend government employees or anyone who is lazy. but you do need to understand that we are in a different world than we were just a few years ago and that quite frankly the future of many of the public hunting opportunities that exist are in serious jeapordy and now is not the time for sportsmen to be divided. yeah these are not all perfect, but this whole thread is evidence that they are used, largely overused. my point was that no one should have to referee a dove shoot. i spend more time defending dove fields and waterfowl areas to people at the regional and washington office level than i do managing them. every year they are a little closer to going away. it would be real easy to put all of the public areas on a draw system and no doubt the few that got to hunt would enjoy them. the enoree waterfowl area is 26 acres. it represented 12% of all of the recorded public hunting man days on managed WMAs in south carolina. it is an absolute free for all that i do not particpate in. that being said there will be 25-40 people who brave it every saturday that it is open because it is one of the best walk in WMAs in the state. while i am certainly not one of those who would enjoy that type of hunt, there are lot of people who come back week after week and endure it. who am i to tell them that they aren't having fun are enjoying themselves. while many of you choose not to participate in the public hunting opportunities that are out there for whatever reason, there are more than enough that do. i get your point that in theory it is as simple as posting stands and having someone babysit the fields. my point is that if everyone would just act like big boys and treat each other with some common decency it wouldn't be an issue and you all could spend your time supporting more opportunities rather than bitchin about how screwed up the ones that are there are. i do what i do because i care about our resources and want to do all i can to provide all of the opportunities that we can for public hunting. it is real easy to sit back and be critical of something that you don't have a clue about and you sure don't have a clue about me or what i am about. live in ignorance or get educated.