Let's talk about it!

[Krazy Plumber]

I am reposting this from "SHUT IT DOWN" because I'd like some feedback and the other subject kind of died. Let's hear some opinions!


duck tape says:

"The only way to improve public areas is to create WMA's where professionals can manage ducks according to their needs. Seasonal management can work and keep all disturbance to a minimum."

I say:

Their NEED is food. That's all that drives them. Yes, shooting at them will push them some where else, but only for a short time. If the food is there, they will come, and they will come back, even after being shot at. But you already know that from the experience in your private pond.

Look, Arkansas is a clear example. There is plenty of food and plenty of resting areas. That leads to plenty of ducks. SC doesn't have the ducks it had because it doesn't have the standing crops it had. That is THE ONLY reason we don't have ducks. You can bet the state of Arkansas has plans in place to insure that crops attractive to ducks continue to be planted. If SC wants to reap the benefits of real duck hunting, they will have to make it feasible for the farmers to grow what the ducks want. Can it be done? Hell yeah it can be done. If a bunch of broke, dumb ass Arkansas idiots can do it, surely a state that's 49th in education can. I mean DAMN, we're just as backasswards as they are. Drive thru both states. If not for our hills, we would look just the same. Broken down shacks, cars up on blocks, dead deer hauled around on the hoods of trucks when there is a perfectly good bed in the back. Come on, we're almost related.

Can we bring the ducks back here? Yes, but it will take 1)a BIG change in thinking and 2) a whloe lot of $$$$ and remember, its all about the crops. Ducks ain't going nowhere in big numbers without food. IF WE FEED THEM, THEY WILL COME! Screw spending lots of money on a fine place for them to nest. 80% of them don't make it out of the nest anyway. Large numbers nest up north, where they always have. Then when they can't access food there, during the winter, they move down south, WHERE THE FOOD IS!

Proper habitat be damned. You can spend millions building the best duck refuge in the world and if you ain't growing the food you may as well be throwing the money into the lake. On the other hand, if you kept a supply of food in the middle of the Walmart parking lot, they would come there to eat it.

What's it going to take to fix the problem? A change of thinking at the state house. They have the key to open the safe that hold the future of SC duck hunting and we have to convince them that SC duck hunting will eventually put more $$ in that safe than it will take out, and that's going to be a tough job.

Here's someting else to ponder though.

Yes, if we build it they will come, but not just the ducks. The hunters from all over the country will come, and they will have to for the program to work. We need their money flowing in to fund the program. So, bringing ducks back to SC is actually a double edged sword.

DO YOU REALLY WANT ALL THOSE SKY BUSTING MONKEYS COMING HERE TO AGGRAVATE YOUR DUCKS?

It will change..... and you might not like what it turns into

[B.S.D.]

Not trying to bust your bubble but you say its gonna take a whole lot of $$$$ and thats one damn thing this state doesin't have for sure.

[skrimp]

seems to me that we have more food, such as corn ponds, than we had in the 70's. i don't agree with shutting down the season, if you do, where will the money come from to do the planting? there are no short term answers. this didn't happen overnight and it surely won't be fixed overnight.

[2thDoc]

hate to burst your bubble, plumber, but there is more food now than ever.

let me ask you this: what separates my corn pond from Johnny's? why does his hold so many more mallards than mine ever did?

i have food...and no mallards. our ponds are less than 15 miles apart. we are not talking SC to ARK here. we are talking about FIFTEEN MILES.

unlock the answer to that one for me. i can tell you right now---its NOT food.

guess again.

[Boogie]

You shoot your pond too much tooth.

And you're a clempson fan.

That about covers it.

[JABIII]

KP, your argument might have held water 10 years ago when Arkansas still had ducks. For the past 4 things have been mighty tough out there.

We have more food availiable for ducks in South Carolina than 1,000,000 mallards could eat in a season yet we have less than 30,000 in this state.

Food ain't the problem.

[Quack Daddy]

Originally posted by Boogie:
You shoot your pond too much tooth.

And you're a clempson fan.

That about covers it.

Why, why dood? Everything was just fine. You have ruined it. Toof didn't have a clue about the Clemson thing.

He hadn't figured out why DT and JabIII had birds and he had just a few coots and mangeezers.

Toof is probably on the way to Jewelry Warehouse to buy up all the Gamecock flags to put up all around his property. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[2thDoc]

i got plenty of other members that are gamecoots.

we shoot too much? maybe we are on to something...

but why don't i have mallards BEFORE I shoot?

seriously, if you dissect it, we might come up with the answer.

keep playing.

[BigBrother]

Climate and hunting pressure where it counts most I think. I dont have numbers to support it, just shooting from the hip pocket here...For instance in the Outer Banks the hunting is regulated by blind selection. Has anyone here tried running any of our rigs up there? I did once...then spent the money for a guide to get a blind. In Eastern NC the ducks dont have to go anywhere else plenty of food. It doesnt freeze anymore and the hunters there are waiting on blinds...

[Boogie]

I'll play 2th.


When do yall flood?

Do you shoot the first season?

Do you strictly limit disturbance around the pond?

Have you ever tried not shooting at all?


I can solve all your problems...just give me some time.

[deadduck]

2th- Seems to me you are asking your question like you already know the answer. If so give it up so I can be enlightened.
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Rice and corn are only half the problem. What about the fact that there are more hunters- not just here but in every state? More rubberheads and more kills. What about the fact that a good portion of the Atlantic Flyway is developed and either paved over or in a sub division? What about the fact that the same has occured in eastern Canada? Why is DU and Delta trying to save Sask. and Alberta? Why do we not see the same amount of work in Quebec and east?

Lot of questions and alot of ways to answer them but I do not know the answer to 2th's question.

[2thDoc]

we flooded in october. first pond was full by the 20th or so...second pond was held off till mid-november.


we hunted once first season.

we dont limit disturbance, per se....but no one goes out there until i call a hunt. deer hunters drive the main road. i have been there when people were driving by and it had no affect on the ducks I was watching. dike and pond are not visible from main road, but you can hear the tires.

we are not shooting as we speak. have not shot since dec 23rd.

[Red]

2th, have you killed any Mallets?

[Fish]

Originally posted by BigBrother:
Climate and hunting pressure where it counts most I think.

Here we go with the climate thing again. If what you're referring to is that fact that it is warm in South Carolina as a general rule I agree. But if your talking about global warming you're all wet.

Originally posted by BigBrother:
Has anyone here tried running any of our rigs up there? I did once...then spent the money for a guide to get a blind.

When I lived in Morehead City, I used to free lance hunt up there all the time. We hunted out of a john boat on the Pamlico Sound near the Portsmouth Islands and we hammered em! Brant, Pintails, Blackducks...bring it son. Put out a hundred decoys and watch what happens.

[Boogie]

Now we're getting somewhere 2th.


Has your pond (assuming it is old) ever had mallards in it or was it devoid even when we had plenty coming to this state?

I cannot imagine why you would hunt the first season unless you thought the woodies and teal would eat all your food.

How many times a week would you say the birds in your pond are flushed, either by a 4 wheeler or you "scouting" (and them not getting up)?

Have you ever beheld the magic of a ton of shelled corn?

[BigBrother]

Fish,

Global Warming is a theory not yet proven. However, Where is the weather to bring these birds south until late in the year, after the birds have paired up to mate? They are up in VA/NC and where ever else they are enjoying limited hunting pressure and limitless food. Moorehead city is the East Coast's sportsman's paradise and accessible by most any rig. Go a little further north towards Cedar Island and up to VA and run the sound in a John boat...be sure to bring a lots of sockets and spare water pumps.

[2thDoc]

ponds were built in late 80s. had mallards. old club released scwa birds in 90 or so and thought that was what helped the most. they did it one year.

first season shoot was all woodies and teal, yes. did not see and therefore, did not scare,one single mallard.

i am watching the sky to see what shelled corn can do...and it ain't working.

[deadduck]

2th- any size differece between yours and the other pond? Did they used to hold the same number of mallards?

[Mergie Master]

2th,

If all things are fairly equal with your ponds and JAB's, by that I mean relationship/disance to the river (mini-flyway) and the swamp, lay of the land, disturbance factors etc then my guess is the secret is imprinting.

I don't know how old 2 Rivers is but the birds probably got started imprinting there when we had large flocks coming to SC.

Just my guess or as the cliche' goes my 2¢.

[JABIII]

2th, the best thing about your place is that it is 5 minutes from town. The worst thing about your place is that it is 5 minutes from town, too...