Mud Motors- new poll

[JABIII]

67% of you indicated that you believed that the use of mud motors had a negative effect on waterfowl hunting on public water.

Would you support a ban on the use of mud motors, from Nov 1- the last day of duck season on certain designated public waters in the State of South Carolina?

[DRDUCK]

It ain't gonna happen. Too much money at stake for the dealers, etc. I do not like them but they ain't gonna ban them

[B. Burgess]

I probably wouldn't support it, just cuz some people take em an tear stuff up don't mean others that only have a boat with a mud motor shouldn't be able to ride on the lake and fish because they have a mud motor and there's a ban on em. My opinion tho

Double B`s Buoy

[Phone Man]

No need to punish those that use em responsibly.

[Bad Habit]

i've had someone blow through my fishing spots on the cooper quite a few times with the damn noisy things.
i just wish the owners would use common courtesy and not blindly go blasting through breaks in the rice fields.

[BOGSTER]

We are better off without them.

[willyworm]

I'm on the fence. I agree with what Bog said, but I also believe that banning them would take away a person's freedom to make their own choice. That gov't is best which governs least, right?

[BOGSTER]

At some point we have to do what is best for SC waterfowling as a whole.

It is indisputable fact that the proliferation of mudmotors has negatively affected ducks' ability to rest in sheltered areas of the Santee Cooper watershed in it's entirety. From Indigo flats to all the way down to the T's.

A rational man with any understanding of the needs of ducks has to come to that conclusion.
We have seen ducks begin to return to the system after a decade of no food, only to be constantly harassed by a fad that came to fruition during the no food years.

We have to have enough sense to realize that while yes, there are those that use them responsibly (I'm sure there were airboat operators that did so as well) the vast majority of mudmotor operators intentionally or unintentionally harass waterfowl, thereby negatively affecting the ducks, the habitat, and other users of the resource.

Ducks were killed for decades without them, and we are better stewards of the ducks and the fragile habitat by not using them.

[12341234]

I have also seen many birds harrased by people scouting in outboard boats, bass fishermen, people walking on the bank, four wheelers, sky busters, dogs, etc.

[Phone Man]

best thing to do is use your dang phone and call OGT and report their ass! I've called DNR several times on folks doing stuff they had no business doing. Honestly I see way more outboards than I do MM's. Better yet, make it slow no wake anywhere but the river channel during duck season then it don't matter what you drive.!

[BigBrother]

I have also seen many birds harrased by people scouting in outboard boats, bass fishermen, people walking on the bank, four wheelers, sky busters, dogs, etc.

Agreed.

As much as I hate the things in the hands of the foolish, foolhardy, and even the experienced...this would be as effective in it's ends as no sunday hunting is to relieve pressure on birds during duck season was for it.

Every other boat will be on the water, fishing, running through birds for fun, running birds up by accident, etc....

If we are talking about limiting them to try and contain the spread of CFH on Marion, then that is a different thing entirely.

Make it fair and across the board for all boats from Nov 1 to Feb and I will listen.

[KCM]

Just what we need, another politician to push another law that does nothing other than a band-aid effort to the problem.

I know folks abuse them and the habitat but so do folks with 4 wheelers.

I will show you ricefields that get more bass boat traffic(and I mean hauling ass through them not fishing the edges) during duck season than mud motors on the Cooper River one day if want to take a grand tour.

[cajunwannabe]

67% of you indicated that you believed that the use of mud motors had a negative effect on waterfowl hunting on public water.

Would you support a ban on the use of mud motors, from Nov 1- the last day of duck season on certain designated public waters in the State of South Carolina?

I support a ban on ALL motors in certain designated public waters if the purpose is to create Limited Access Areas during waterfowl season. Paddle, push pole, electric trolling motor only, NOT a ban on mud motors. LLA's have been created in the state that gave us mud motors. Rules for LLA's apply to fisherman, bird watchers and hunters alike.

The limited amount of public waterfowl habitat in SC, coupled with the tremendous amount of hunting pressure makes the creation of Limited Access Areas awful appealing.

[Phone Man]

Florida has a bunch of NMZ's (No Motor Zones) Some people don't buy mud motors for grass and mud. I bought the ones I've had for stumps. They are a lot more resilient than and outboard when smacking a cypress stump at even 15 mph. I watched mudeagle bump a stump in sparkleberry with a 15 Yamaha while turning around at idle and it stripped his driveshaft and had to be towed back. You don't have to drive like a maniac to tear stuff up, it sometimes just happens. I can count on one hand the times mine has been in the grass and two of those times were at the mud run after the duck run.

What would be nice if certain places could be allowed to let grasses grow and only be accesed by paddle or pole as Cajun suggested. If someone want to hunt there, they will have to work for it. Then if you see someone breaking the law, call the damn game warden and if they get enough fines, they will quit. Most of us aint made out of money and you get popped with a hefty fine, you'll think twice about doing it again. Trust me, calling the wardens works!

[DIRTYBIRD29]

No need to punish those that use em responsibly.

X2..agree 100%

[Red Huck]

Not to be a smart ass, but would not a poll on the use of outboard motors show a negative effect on waterfowl hunting on public areas in SC?

[BOGSTER]

best thing to do is use your dang phone and call OGT and report their ass! I've called DNR several times on folks doing stuff they had no business doing. Honestly I see way more outboards than I do MM's. Better yet, make it slow no wake anywhere but the river channel during duck season then it don't matter what you drive.!

This just isn't realistic Phone Man.

1. Witness someone rallying waterfowl in a far reach of the swamp/lake. Call OGT. It will take them a minimum of 45 minutes to get to your location. The accused will be likely be long gone. And a warden will not write a ticket to someone they cannot find, just because you said they were harassing ducks, and since our LEOs don't patrol the lakes....it's a lost cause.

2. No Wake zones everywhere except the channel? come on dude.

Agreed.

As much as I hate the things in the hands of the foolish, foolhardy, and even the experienced...this would be as effective in it's ends as no sunday hunting is to relieve pressure on birds during duck season was for it.

Every other boat will be on the water, fishing, running through birds for fun, running birds up by accident, etc....

If we are talking about limiting them to try and contain the spread of CFH on Marion, then that is a different thing entirely.

Make it fair and across the board for all boats from Nov 1 to Feb and I will listen.

In regards to the Santee Cooper lakes you are incorrect. No mud motors on the lakes from October 1st-March 1st would drastically lower disturbance to waterfowl in the countless secluded portions of both lakes.
There are oodles of coves, flats, and sloughs that are very shallow and heavily vegetated. Areas that are all but impassible by outboards, without getting out and walking a boat in. These areas are great public water refuges for birds like wood ducks, teal, wild mallards, and the occasional black ducks. These areas used to hold ducks ON the lakes and were accessible by foot or small boat. Now they have 4ft ditches cut through them and can easily be blasted through by mud motors.

Fisherman don't fish these areas because they don't hold fish during the winter. They just don't. juvenile bream and the occasional jackfish. Desirable species go deep and on the lakes during the winter.

Restrict all boat traffic on the largest reservoirs in the state? You for real?

Just what we need, another politician to push another law that does nothing other than a band-aid effort to the problem.

I know folks abuse them and the habitat but so do folks with 4 wheelers.

I will show you ricefields that get more bass boat traffic(and I mean hauling ass through them not fishing the edges) during duck season than mud motors on the Cooper River one day if want to take a grand tour.

I really like your middle sentence KCM. It's like a kid in grade school justifying hitting another kid. "Well Timmy hit Johnny yesterday, so I can hit Mark."

I'm aware of the bass boat situation on the river. That doesn't negate the fact that 30 trailers at the gardens (23 of them being mudmotors) drive birds to private land every blooming day.

Florida has a bunch of NMZ's (No Motor Zones) Some people don't buy mud motors for grass and mud. I bought the ones I've had for stumps. They are a lot more resilient than and outboard when smacking a cypress stump at even 15 mph. I watched mudeagle bump a stump in sparkleberry with a 15 Yamaha while turning around at idle and it stripped his driveshaft and had to be towed back. You don't have to drive like a maniac to tear stuff up, it sometimes just happens. I can count on one hand the times mine has been in the grass and two of those times were at the mud run after the duck run.

What would be nice if certain places could be allowed to let grasses grow and only be accesed by paddle or pole as Cajun suggested. If someone want to hunt there, they will have to work for it. Then if you see someone breaking the law, call the damn game warden and if they get enough fines, they will quit. Most of us aint made out of money and you get popped with a hefty fine, you'll think twice about doing it again. Trust me, calling the wardens works!

No portion of Marion or Moultrie can be restricted to limited access.

[surfcock]

Florida has a bunch of NMZ's (No Motor Zones)

What would be nice if certain places could be allowed to let grasses grow and only be accesed by paddle or pole as Cajun suggested. If someone want to hunt there, they will have to work for it. Then if you see someone breaking the law, call the damn game warden and if they get enough fines, they will quit. Most of us aint made out of money and you get popped with a hefty fine, you'll think twice about doing it again. Trust me, calling the wardens works!

I would support a ban if introduced, but I'm not going to push for someone to introduce it in the first place. This makes the most sense of all the opinions I've heard, and about as close to how I really feel than anything.

[coot nasty]

I think banning mud motors is stupid as shit! I think you should ban the idiots that are driving them in the wrong way. I see more people skybusting and doing stupid shit like that than mud motors causing harm. I also think we should have no motor zones to git rid of the rubberheads. I have had a mud boat since I was in high school and have always killed ducks HERE. I cant tell you how many time I have ran into a roost with a mud motor with a loud ass exhaust and still killed them after they trickled back in after I scared them out.

[willyworm]

Coot has a point. Which is the greatest evil.... skybusters that walk or paddle, or even use outboards; or ethical hunters with mud motors?