Future of Hunting
 

I was reading the post earlier about guys losing there leases at the last minute and a few other replies. Got me thinking.

What are your thoughts on the future of waterfowl hunting in Southwest La?

What has Duck Dynasty done for the sport? What has the prices of leases done for the sport? What can be done for better hunting in public areas? What can be done for better management practices? What has crawfishing done to hunting? What has big money done?


How can we better the sport of waterfowling in Sportsmans Paradise?

Cane for Rice in the fields and all decent marshes are leased to bigger and bigger money by the day, literally. Start saving the $1-15k on a lease/blind and using 1/3 of that to go on some really nice quality hunts abroad. Have the opportunity to see 150 mallards pile in over the treetops, 1 million snow geese sitting on a pond, and millions of geese flying overhead all day and hundreds tornadoing in on you while lay in a layout on top of a massive hill in the middle of a cornfield. Fighting 35 boats at a launch at 4 am, paying $5000 for a garhole, or waiting for 5 years for a single spot on a decent lease is way overrated.

nobody else has any thoughts or ideas besides mister ToeTee?

have not hunted in 10 years because of this problem. cost to much to hunt ducks for just 25-30 days a year. just don't make sense to me. $1200 gun 15 buck a box of shells $3 a gal in truck and boat to shoot 2-3 birds just don't add up

Prices will continue to rise as long as big companies are willing to pay it. Public hunting opportunities would need to expanded and organization greatly improved to be appealing. Since those are run by the government I don't see that happening anytime soon. Most public hunting lands aren't primarily there for hunting so improving hunting conditions and opportunities is never tops on the priority list. Unfortunately I see the future of hunting in our area not being feasible for the average household and only viable for the people who can easily afford to pay to play.

Before long we'll all be paying for a spot or 2 in a blind just to be able to take our kiddos to enjoy the sport.

Sounds like bad news for the fisherman... we look forward to everyone gettin off the water and chasing those birds.

First off, let me say I do not see this happening ever in LA. But some states such as KS, have (I assume state funded) departments specifically set up to lease private land from land owners all over the state (over 1 million acres). They then take these areas and make them "walk in hunting areas" open to the public (Not counting the additional WMA's, refuges, rivers, lakes, or whatever else that's public). Each year they put out an atlas listing all the areas. As far as I know, the land owners aren't forced to lease anything, so if you were already on a lease you wouldn't have to worry about the state coming behind you the next year and buying you out if the owner didn't want this. Now could the state offer the owner more money and he lease to them rather than an individual? Probably. But the state probably doesn't have the same mindset as the guy / company here in LA that has a full retard check book that will look for the best areas and out bid whoever he wants. Now would all of this cut down on the rude / a-hole public land guys? No, but it would sure spread them out. Would it make the price of leases come down? Sure, the gar hole leases that people are giving ridiculous amounts of money to kill 60 birds a year just so they don't have to deal with the boat launch at the refuges would eventually go down, but a good blind is a good blind and hard to come by. So people would still get in line to pay top dollar for a good spot. But maybe eventually this would at least separate (by prices) a good blind from a mud hole with decoys.

Family land is the only way lol

Lucky as hell to have some decent family land. When it's slow I hunt the refuges to scratch the itch. I won't ever lease I don't figure.

Hunting
 

Here is the norm, most leases increase by a percentage per year. The days of a hand shake on a set price are gone. Taking care of the property means nothing. It comes down to the $. A lot of companies pay top dollar for the right place, that leaves most trying to hunt "gar holes" as said previously. But the worst, has to be worrying about whom to take hunting, being out bided by a "friend of a friend" that was taken as a guest on a property. I personally feel that the average guy will not be hunting in the near future without having the right connections/ friends. As for more public property, that means someone has to loose there land/ lease. Can't give to one without taking away from another.

First, I will say that the recent popularity of duck hunting has definitely changed the price and availability of leases and available hunting opportunities whether it be from pressure or price. The market determines the amount of cable TV duck hunting related programs and equipment sales. Heck, everyone in the country wants to be like us!

This also creates the problem for public hunting, the more popular and fun the sport, the more people looking to hunt. The recent invention of means of duck hunting transportation and new hunting equipment and techniques can also affect the public land hunting. More access, more hunters. (More yahoos sky busting)

Big Money will always rule the prime hunting areas in every hunting situation, it always has, always will. If you have a good duck spot for cheap, you better own it or keep quiet because someone is willing to pay more than you, nothing you can do about that... (Don't show off your spot to a rich guy)

Farming practices are the number one most important factor that affects hunting across the nation besides water. It's no different here. I have watched things change in SW Louisiana over the past few decades with the increase of Crawfish as the primary crop, only second to rice on my family farm, and the surrounding areas across my historical duck hunting grounds. It has had a negative affect on the numbers of puddle ducks that winter in our fields and has modified the activities of the wintering goose populations. How farmers manage moist soils during the year and the techniques that are used affects the food source and desirability of the land to hold ducks during the season. Every hunter knows that good farming is not good for duck hunting and trashy farms are great duck spots. Just because thousands of acres of deeply flooded crawfish ponds with traps and boats exist doesn't mean that it will be attractive ducks. It's been the opposite in my opinion. Give me a good plowed field holding just a little water in the flyway, with just a few blinds in the area, and I'll show you a good hunting spot. The problem with that is, they don't exist anymore.

We are also planting more food every year across the country, common sense would think that this would change the migration timing and patterns of birds in their historical range. We have never planted more corn than we do now in our history, think about it. Some species of ducks come early and head straight to the marshes like Gadwalls but others can maintain extreme weather and frozen conditions as long as they have the availability of food and water. Everyone here is constantly waiting for cold weather to bring the ducks down but just watch an episode of Avian X TV when they are breaking ice 2" thick and still shooting mallards in standing corn in December and you will see what I'm talking about. Of course, I'm simplifying...

I don't think that there is a simple fix to this combination of duck factors. We will just have to get smart, make more money, roll with it or start trout fishing in the fall!

Duckaholic....(Soon to be Troutaholic) ;)
Guess I'll have to start training my retriever to drive the boat and net fish!!

It will never change, only get more expensive!! Oil companies, own most of it, and they the highest bidder on what's left!! And i can understand that money is money to them,.. sucks for the small guy/family. But it's not going to get any better

30 and 3 or bust

This seems like the easiest fix to correct the market prices and improve bird numbers. But I doubt they would be willing to sacrafice the $$ coming from the licenses.

The state, or feds, could protect/enforce the laws in place and all the public land would be great again!! Understand they get funding cut every year and doing there best, but opening day is like the wild west . Should not be like that!!

Bounce the hen more

:cool:

#letmeknowwhatyouthinkboys

https://youtu.be/A4JSeKvJFiA

or my personal favorite...
https://youtu.be/LKzxar_K060

The debut of Duck Dynasty on Cable Television definitely did a number on duck hunting in Louisiana, but I think that is hunting in general. How many people were trying to manage for trophy white-tailed deer before Jeff Foxworthy and the like started appearing on TV hunting massive bucks?

The game has definitely changed and it is a money sport again. It's more and more about the rich man. I only hunt private land when invited, and it is typically someone's family land. Most of my hunting is done on public land. A lot of extra work, but I find the hard to reach places, the little used places, or the limited access areas. I love the LAAs on WMAs, and the non-motorized areas on NWRs. I have no problem with putting in the extra work to get to those ducks, and most of the Duck Dynasty guys aren't going to do that.

There is a small (1000 acres) portion of a WMA about 15 minutes from my house. Has some great sloughs that tend to hold decent amounts of wood ducks. I have no problem going over there and shooting 3 wood ducks. Easy trip, not many people hunt there, and it isn't a killer to make a 15 minute drive to kill 3 ducks in, maybe, 30 minutes.

It's made the game harder, but to me, it's that much more rewarding to kill some birds, because there are a lot of people that aren't putting in that effort to do it.

Maybe one day it will go back to the days where the common man can afford it and its not the "Cool thing to do". And I think that's all it is: it's the cool thing to do right now. That will fade away, and it will go back to the way it was before.

I couldn't agree more!! LOL

Could you elaborate on what that means?
excuse my ignorance if I'm missing something elementary.

30 day season. 3 duck limit.


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Early 90's, bird numbers were so low that they reduced the length of the season and daily limit to 30 and 3. Weeded out the "johnny come lately's".

I'd take it in a heart beat

If the farmers and land owners would not let people sub-lease, this would stop guys from biding 40,000 for 4 or 5 blinds then trying to lease them out for 12,000 to make money. I think this is where this all started.

It's all a cycle. A drought will happen sooner or later, breeding grounds will suffer, limits and seasons will be reduced, and big money will not continue to pay to entertain clients and themselves as it will not be feasible. There may be a a period where it gets bad and even worse than it is now, but it will all eventually come around.

As far as public land, there is still a massive amount of land to hunt in comparison to number of hunters. Bottom line is, there are people who are extremely successful on just about every WMA that holds waterfowl. The excuse that public lands are "too crowded, too much sky busting" is simply that, an excuse. You better believe someone is out there working hard and killing birds. This is the case in my area, anyway. I guess i shouldn't speak for other areas.

The Duck Dynasty fad will eventually fade.

How can you blame the farmers or ranchers!!! As bad as we been inpast years and with 85% of the United States not knowing where or what it takes to put food in the trucks that put it in the stores so there daddy's can spend 20-30k on aduck lease.
But it started way before the show

NoodleCreek......how many days do you hunt public land per season?

Used to be 25 days a year or so, not many anymore. Many of the guys I used to hunt with still hunt same refuges, and they still kill just as good as we used to. Once i'm done guiding, I won't hesitate to go back to public land.

Face paint + bounce da hen + jacked up truck + meat stick sticker on barrel + cut em decal on back glass + Drake hat , jacket , paints + daddy's CC + beard + 15 robo Ducks = you waisted a lot of money and time trying to be a duck hunter

Lmao!

Yea u right. Its an excuse. When I get there, set up in my normal spot and some azzhole roles in 20 minutes before shooting time and sets up close enough that his dog breaks yo retrieve my duck. Its the only excuse I have on mornings like that. You find a spot so far in you are all alone and within 3-4 trips people have found you and set up on top of you. I'm sure you've seen it happen though I'm not sure which end of that stick you are on. Put in the work and find your own damn spot instead of pot licking. At least when I'm fishing and someone is pot licking I can make a move and still catch fish. Hunting? You're just screwed for the day.

So......on average for the last 5 years would you say you have hunted ducks at our local refuges:

A. Less than 2 x season
B. 3-9 times
C. More than 10x
C. 0 times

Just cause your podnas are still killing a few birds public it doesn't mean that the quality of hunting has not gone downhill bigtime on the local refuges since you been guiding at millionaire countryclub. No offense met.

Why you got to hate on beards bruh?

60 day 3 splits.
3 specks
50 snows
6 teal
3 Pintail
3 mallards
6 widgeon
4 greys
2 wooducks

6 duck limit of coarse.
I thank God for family land. I am proud of what we have and thankful for it everytime I go out there. Feel sorry for the people who don't hunt anymore because the sport has been so commercialized and prices have gone through the roof. Even I have a hard time affording it and we own our property. Up keep is a killer.
Boat maintenance and repairs. Decoys decoys decoys. Ammo is through the roof. Camo is through the roof. Most of the time I wear regular clothes. Like a jeans and a long sleeve green or brown or black shirt. Heck blue even sometimes. Birds can't see inside the blind if you cover it well. All in all expensive and commercialized is what it has gone too. Now I know why dad was always talking bout how it was so hard to keep up everything. Full time and yr round job right there. But like I said. I love it. Never give it up for anything.

It's called "Boom-Scouting".

Haha! Never heard that one but I like it!

There's no other way!


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I'm sure there are more people now, but I also know it's still possible to kill birds. All I'm saying is that there is nothing that is going to change. If you hate public land so much, don't go. I'm not going to sit here and agree that it's terrible, because there are plenty of good hunts coming off of public land.

Like I said previously, sooner or later the fad will end.

I agree 100%. Lots of birds. Never got skunked and most of the time had 2-3 man limits. Just not as enjoyable on most hunts as it should be. That's why I seldom go anymore.

Only done the public land hunting 3-4 times in my life. Didn't smoke em but it was fun. Just a different atmosphere is what does it for me. Seeing the same thing day in and day out gets a little old. New scenery is what I enjoy. And company.

Well who wants to go this yr? I always enjoy new company. I wouldn't mind trying a few public land spots too. Holla and let's make a plan.

C GOODS that means you too podna. It's been to long. But your getting married in a few months. Can't wait to see you up on that altar brotha.

IMO for the most part $$$ does not buy good hunting spots, I know this sounds cheesy but relationships and networking will open the door to good hunting that won't break the bank.

It's a matter on principle that most duck hunters don't have anymore; and that's paying too much money for a ****ty blind.

Stop spending $4,000+ on a garhole, if you look hard enough you can find a garhole for $1,000.

What do you suggest to fix any of that?
Do you think it's not possible to have better hunts on public land than people who are paying 5-10K per blind?

That's not my point at all. I am not complaing about my hunting experiances at all. You just seem to be standing on your soapbox saying that people shouldn't whine about public hunting in Louisiana. I just wanted to point out that your opinion loses all credibility on the matter when you have hunted public ducks ZERO days for the last several seasons...probably since ole Phil been on the tube. Things are different out there. You'll find out when you gotta go back to poor boying it.

I'm not standing on any soapbox, and I have been a few times. My point is that I really like to duck hunt, and if public land is my only option, then I'll hunt public land and do what I have to do.

I'm fortunate to own a few pieces of property in the Cameron and creole areas as well as my fatherinlaw owning a bunch in the Klondike gueydan area if it wasn't for that I don't think I would ever hunt price of leases are ridiclious to kill a few birds a year.

We really have some great public land to hunt in LA. You just need to be willing to put in the driving time and learn where to hunt. Duck hunting is not about just tossing the decoys on opening morning. I put in time on the farm managing for waterfowl and learning the public facilities all year. I have never had a bad year of duck hunting because I give myself options when the ducks are not stacked up. It also helps that the wife is a fool about the ducks/geese and the dog trainer.

To the guys saying we need lower bag limits and less days, that is silly. I understand you want to drive folks out, but we have high populations of ducks and hunters. I would say that's a win. I much prefer have more folks hunting than more drug dealers. 90% of the fisherman I know have the best boats and equipment, but they can't catch a fish to save their life. The water is free and they fish in the best estuary on the planet. This example directly correlates with people's lack of success in duck hunting. They don't put in the time it takes to be successful and learn the craft. As far as the high cost of leases, it's supply and demand, get over it.


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I good point. .

Only reason I could see why lowering the limits would help would be because there would be more ducks that would eat themselves out of house up north then have no choice but to fully migrate south.

Would this work? Have no clue. But it's a thought.

I agree there is plenty of ducks and duck numbers are up. But making them re learn to migrate south like they used to for food would be cool.