Posted By:
K-5
Web Member
South Jersey 10-22-2005 14:17
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I find it fascinating that a reprisentitive from Ontario (or anywhere from Canada for that matter) would have any input into our seasons and bag limits. The bag limits are so liberal in Canada as compared to the United States. Example: Anticosta Island offers Black Duck hunts along with the deer hunts. I called and the bag limit is 5 blacks. I once wrote a letter to the editor of Wildfowl magizine in reference to an article that quoted “they reached their bag limit of 6 each”. The editor responded that the Black Duck was doing quite well in Canada. B S. They just don’t have the courage to limit their own.
Posted By:
Richard-Foxx
Guest
Bad News for the Atlantic FLyway 10-20-2005 09:01
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As most of you know, I was Sea Duck Hunting with a few members of this site the last 2 days.
As hunting goes, during lulls in the action conversation starts. We talked about a variety of topics one of which was the direction and the recommendations of the Atlantic Flyway Council.
Some of the recommendations that they wanted to implement this year was “Hunter’s Choice”. I can guarantee you that this will be a hot topic again next year.
Hunter’s Choice would be this. We will have a 4 bird limit. This could be all “4 limit birds” like Mallards.However, there would be no restrictions on hen Mallards so theoretically you could shoot 4 Hen Mallards. Teal, Gadwall’s, Wigeon and Shoveler’s would also fit into this category.
A bird with a 2 bird limit like Bluebills, Wood Ducks and Red Heads would effect you like this. You shoot 2 Bluebills. No more 2 bird limit specie’s. No Red Heads. No Wood Ducks. Now you can only shoot 2 Mallards, both of which could be Hens. You could also finish off this limit with the other 4 bird specie’s, Wigeon, Gadwall’s etc. Or, Merganser’s.
Your 1 bird limit specie’s, Canvasback’s, Black Duck’s and Pintails. Shoot a Can, no Pintail. Shoot a Pintail, no Can. Shoot a Black, no Pinatail or Can. You now have three birds left to fill you bag.
One of the disturbing things to happen this year is that Merganser’s now count against your daily bag limit.
The Flyway Council Rep from Ontario wants to increase and ease restrictions on Snow Geese as they are destroying their breeding habitat, farmers crops and marsh’s. For some reason, there is tremendous opposition to this from this Council. Why?
We have only a few strong voices for the hunters, one of whom is Paul Castelli the Head Biologist from New Jersey who is their Flyway Council Representative.
There are a few other hunters on the Flyway Council but none who speaks with the knowledge of the resource and conviction to work with hunters like Paul.
We need to fight this trend to restrict our hunting rights. If this is implemented next year it will decidely impact your hunt and make up of your bag.
This type of Daily Bag Limit will severly restrict yours and my hunting rights and opportunities.
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Snows are coming down for their winter vaction … 10-16-2005 21:04
Cloudy, High Winds – 60-65 Degrees
Greeting from the flatlands down Jersey! Snows, snows and more snows on the move today. They woke me up this morning at 0630 … thought the dogs in the neighborhood had gone crazy … but it was a bark of anther sort. They flew until about 9am. I think the tropical force gale we had blowing kept them down. For when it stopped, they started moving again. I can hear them barking going over the house as I write this report at 2200. No short stoppers in Griscom. They were making the jump to Delaware. Did chance to see one flock of black geese up in the altitudes that were going to make the bay jump south.
Southern opener was a good hunt. To buddies stopped down to try their talents on teal. Had maybe 6 flocks of 15-20 birds come in the first half hour. 5 minutes into the opener and they were decoy shy. By the shells on the ground that we had to pick up you would have thought we were going to jail but we only managed (2) blacks, (1) BWTeal and a half Dozen GWTeal. Not bad but not limit.
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Lakes Bay 10-10-2005 22:26
Cloudy, Light Rain & Drizzle – 60-65 Degrees
Spied the first Brant and Buffleheads today … will not be long before the snows and the rest of the ducks get here … can not wait!
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Griscom Swamp 10-08-2005 22:56
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Greeting from the flatlands down Jersey! A week away from the Southern opener! Be sure to have your license, fed and state stamp signed and that most important HIP number … the rest is useless without it. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/hipprog.htm
GWTeal numbers have been improving again and some cotton tops were mixed in with the sprig on Friday Scouting, scouting and more scouting is what we always hear but also pay attention to the obvious. I will be gunning with Canada floaters opening not my normal routine of swans. Why, when the season isn’t open for Canadas? The obvious confidence decoy answer you say? Yes as confidence decoys. The reason is that the largest majority of ducks I have been seeing are hanging with the Canadas and not the swans as in years past. Look for the details … it always pays. Eye spy with the new binoc-cam, http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/2334/tuck100605clogrd5tf.jpg
Some teal that wouldn’t sit to have their picture taken http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/364/100305gwteal3b2tw.jpg
Special Impoundment Goose Hunting Information (Proposed)
BRIGANTINE DIVISION IMPOUNDMENT AREA 2005 OCTOBER SNOW GOOSE HUNT RULES
A Snow goose hunt will be held in the impoundment area of the Brigantine Division on the following Wednesdays depending on amount of Snow goose present: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/waterfowl2003.html#Special
Date
October 12
October 19
October 26
November 2
For information concerning hunting at the Barnegat Division contact Refuge Manager at:
EDWIN B. FORSYTHE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
BARNEGAT DIVISION
PO Box 544, 70 Collinstown Road
Barnegat, NJ 08005
(609) 698-1387
Always out there …
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Griscom Swamp 09-30-2005 23:12
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Greeting from the flatlands down Jersey! Still have not spied any BWteal. The GWTeal that were hold up in Tuckahoe have been fewer and fewer each day. Maybe only +100 in there now but Sprig have shown up and mixed in with them. A hole I have been checking up the head of the river had two or three pairs of Woodies dropping in each night. Last night about three DOZEN piled in just after legal. I am not sure if they are migrants or the locals are just starting to flock up. Early Canada season was a bust. With the salt line up so far on the river, most of the birds moved to parts unknown inland. The count down to season opener is growing short … seems like I just put the stools in the rafters.
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Griscom Swamp 09-18-2005 23:05
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Greeting from the flatlands down Jersey! Teal, teal and more teal, just like someone threw a switch and they were here. I couldn’t find a BWTeal in the bunch. They were all GWTeal. Tuckahoe impoundments were holding +400 and +200 in the Corbin impoundments, about 50 birds back in beaver swamp and +100 up the head of the river. Hopefully we will get some real weather to move the migration along. I haven’t spied any Woodies and there are not many big puddle ducks in the meadows out Griscom. The retention basins all over God’s green acres are holding more greenheads this year than I have seen before. If there is water, there is at least a pair if not a dozen birds. It’s a long time off before they get frozen out. I still have not been able to get a water pattern plotted on the Geese. Today there come in at noon the next day they not in till a half an hour past sunset. Then the following day they don’t show at all. Typical …
Posted By:
modmanjoe
Guest
Delaware river 09-14-2005 07:49
Sunny & Clear, Morning Fog – Over 70 Degrees
Hunted the river on Saturday. Saw one small flock of geese. Hunted just South of Milford, pa. Did anybody hunt the lower delaware around the Delaware water gap ?
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Down Jersey 09-05-2005 19:44
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Greetings from Down Jersey. The season change is upon us … large flocks of grackles have been moving through the woods and the swamp maples are starting to turn yellow. Spied the first BWTeal. Nothing to buy extra shells for but they are here. The resident Canada Geese are up to their usual tricks of the trade. Have to scout and be where they are going to b successful. A new first to their adaptability, they are now grazing the grass in the Verizon parking lot in Marmora.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is offering four waterfowl hunting days for young hunters this fall. Youth days will be held in each of the state’s three waterfowl zones – September 24 in the north zone; November 11 and 12 in the south zone; and October 29 in the coastal zone; http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2005/ythwaterfowl05.htm
Mid-continent breeding populations and habitat conditions in some survey areas were not as good as recent years, but the status of waterfowl and their habitats are sufficient overall to justify a liberal duck hunting season framework; http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/artmigratory04.htm
Beginning on September 1, hunters will be required to use shotgun shells loaded with nontoxic shot at all times while hunting rails, snipe, and moorhens in New Jersey. Nontoxic shotshell types legal for waterfowl will also be legal for rails, snipe, and moorhens; http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2005/nontoxicshot.htm
May actually get to go gunning Wednesday …
will let you know
Posted By:
Ray-Sands
Field Editor
Down Jersey 08-02-2005 19:34
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – Over 70 Degrees
Greetings from the flatlands down Jersey. Goslings, goslings and more goslings … so what else is new? Tis’ the season to make ready, time to paint the canoe, touching up the goose stools and get the honey-do list done because September season is just around the corner. All indications are that the season limits will remain the same this year at (8) per day but there is no official word documenting this yet. Duck stamps are in at our local USPS office but the state …is the state. Don’t forget that all important HIP number on line at http://www.wetland.net/HIP/State_WelcomePage?AppId=0709 or by calling 1-800-WETLAND.
In talking to a friend at work, he brought up all the geese he had been seeing … here, there and everywhere. I reminded him that all the locations were drainage basins for the malls and not much promise of a day out gunning. We reminisced about the farms we gunned locally; all but one has turn into houses, playgrounds, storage units or the like. That’s the chore, to find a place to gun. This year’s plan is to go back some 20 years when we couldn’t get permission to gun the fields and find a place they are coming in to water and roost for the afternoon. Hopefully they are going out to the meadows and not to the retention basins. If they are in the retention basins then its on to plan B … which has yet to be concocted or realized.
Rumor has it that the Fed’s have added more jewelry to the geese this year when banding. Now there is two numbers to report … but it will help fill another lanyard faster. Report band numbers on line at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/.
Always out there …
