WMA open meeting in Jackson

[Skeeter]

if im not mistaken, I believe that meeting was tonight.....wanted to see if anyone went and see what was discussed....couldnt make it...out of town on business....hopefully they have a remedy for the huge crowds...

D

[duckkiller]

I think its tomorrw night, I was suposed to go but I have company who cam in to town for Super Bulldog Weekend tonight so that screwd my plans

[MSDuckmen]

Meeting went really well tonight.
Last years meeting brought in the $15.00 user fee for the WMA's and Replica firearms for primative weapon season.

This year the new WMA changes are as follows.

1. WMA fee's are going up to $50.00 per user for the season. Gives you full access to all WMA's

2. Shell limits for duck hunting, 25 shells per person, and 100 shells per 4 or more to a group. (That means if there are 8 of you in a hunting group you will only be allowed 100 shells.

3. All electronic devices are prohibited. (Spinners, dippers, shakers) If it requires electricity you can not use it to attract ducks.

The meeting was packed with duck hunters this year and it proved to me that people are finally tired of the Bull and are willing to speak out.

It was my kind of meeting and I thank the MDWF for making it happen.

[Double R 2]

WOW! As if the world-class quality bucks produced on MDWFP lands weren't proof enough, the following just goes to show that our state agency deserves a big round of applause! Best news I've heard in awhile!

1. WMA fee's are going up to $50.00 per user for the season. Gives you full access to all WMA's

2. Shell limits for duck hunting, 25 shells per person, and 100 shells per 4 or more to a group. (That means if there are 8 of you in a hunting group you will only be allowed 100 shells.

3. All electronic devices are prohibited. (Spinners, dippers, shakers) If it requires electricity you can not use it to attract ducks.

Now if certain FWS managers will get their head out of their...outta the sand, I mean....and follow MDWFP's excellent example!

[sportsman450]

Meeting went really well tonight.
Last years meeting brought in the $15.00 user fee for the WMA's and Replica firearms for primative weapon season.

This year the new WMA changes are as follows.

1. WMA fee's are going up to $50.00 per user for the season. Gives you full access to all WMA's

2. Shell limits for duck hunting, 25 shells per person, and 100 shells per 4 or more to a group. (That means if there are 8 of you in a hunting group you will only be allowed 100 shells.

3. All electronic devices are prohibited. (Spinners, dippers, shakers) If it requires electricity you can not use it to attract ducks.

The meeting was packed with duck hunters this year and it proved to me that people are finally tired of the Bull and are willing to speak out.

It was my kind of meeting and I thank the MDWF for making it happen.

Great, absolutely great news!!!

Now, like Ramsey said, if only the NWRs would follow suit.

[gps4]

full access? can you elaborate? i remember when i first started duck hunting, the local wma allowed hunting all day in the fields and closed at noon for the woods. i seem to have injoyed the afternoon hunts when there werent as many folks out there. i didnt kill a whole heck of a lot, but i remember it was more enjoyable than it is now.

are there still gonna be noon closures through out? and does full access mean that they ar eletting folks hunt what used to be the refuges. lord, i hope not.

[greenheadgrimreaper]

Awesome news. I hope the refuges follow up on the spinners and shell limit. That will help cut down on the two worst things- Sky bustin and Blowjo's

[Blackduck]

$50 a person who is a state resident is a load of crap. OOS should pay. I already spend tax dollars for the WMA. Hell for $50 they need to start planting some beans or millet. Just my .02

[Chuckle12]

I think full access means you have access to all WMA's in the state. Does anyone know if you will still have to have the extra Yazoo permit to hunt Hillside and the other Yazoo WMA's? Seems like with "full access", it shouldn't be needed.

Nice to see they finally came up with some regs that will make a difference. The $50 fee is a BIG step toward WMA improvement, it will provide much needed funds to improve habitat. No electronic devices is also a great move, albeit a bold one. I'm sure they will catch hell from spinner advocates.

I had plans to go, but the books got in the way again. Wish I could have made it, sounds like it was a great meeting.

[JimAire]

I was glad to get to finally meet you MsDuckmen. We were definately thinking along the same lines tonight. I also hope they take the gentleman's suggestion and open an allligator season state wide.

[Wingman]

1. WMA fee's are going up to $50.00 per user for the season. Gives you full access to all WMA's

2. Shell limits for duck hunting, 25 shells per person, and 100 shells per 4 or more to a group. (That means if there are 8 of you in a hunting group you will only be allowed 100 shells.

3. All electronic devices are prohibited. (Spinners, dippers, shakers) If it requires electricity you can not use it to attract ducks.

WOW!

I am surprised but impressed. $50 is a heck of a deal when you consider the acreage you get to hunt, fish and trap. Blackduck, the food plots are already being planted on my local WMA.

25 shells per person will cut out a good bit of the skybusting.

Chuckle12, Yazoo is a National Wildlife Refuge as well as the other refuges in that complex (Panther, Hillside, Morgan, Matthews). They are not MDWFP WMA's.

GPS4, I doubt if they will open up the refuges or open back up afternoon hunting. There still has to be some rest for the birds.

I'll see if I can't get more details tomorrow.

[duckkiller]

$50 a person who is a state resident is a load of crap. OOS should pay. I already spend tax dollars for the WMA. Hell for $50 they need to start planting some beans or millet. Just my .02

Hell that is a deal, I pay every time I go to a state lake to fish and I pay tax dollars too so why not make all of us pay for a permit for WMA's as well

[MSDuckmen]

It was good to see a few familiar faces in the group that were there for the ducks. Most of the past meetings I attended there was very little duck support.

Items covered last night are listed below. The 50.00 increase was a figure I threw out how ever it looks like it could be as high as 80.00.

1. Coon hunters want all roads accessible to hunters during open seasons. They want coon limits changed and they want coon hunting open on Sundays. They want permit money raised to help with improvements.

2. Shell limits on WMA's no more than 25 per person, 100 per group. Band all electronic devices to attract ducks, Flood the green trees. Extend the hours to include more afternoon hunting. And plant areas restricted from hunting for waterfowl. Several people spoke on this issue. All were in agreement.

3. Dog deer hunter's wants access to WMA's when dog season is open for the state. They simply want their fair use of the WMA's. They also want other use open for people that trail ride with or without horses open all year.(even during hunting season)

4. One man spoke about getting more activities for youth to be involved in and another spoke on limiting the age at which you allow a child to harvest game. Some seem to think that people are allowing children too young to shoot. Gave a couple examples from recent news articles. Again asked for increase in WMA fees

5. Stand use regulations have been requested to be changed to include the use of ladder stands that can remain on the facility during open seasons.

6. Requested for Alligator season to be opened state wide not just the few places the test season had last year.

[redneck22ms]

i think the $50 permit is a bit high especially for us folks in south ms where there are no birds except for woodies. the wma i hunt down here is a joke the area manager is never there. i've hunted it several hundred times and only seen him there twice. but that permit should thin out alot of people up in yalls neck of the woods.
just my 2 pennies

[MSDuckmen]

$50 a person who is a state resident is a load of crap.

Well you are entitled to your opinion. Here is mine.

People in the south tend to forget that it cost money to manage these facilities.
The people who manage them are among the lowest paid in the state and on top of that you have hundreds of cry babies complaining that they don't do enough to begin with.
They need to plant more, Build more levee's, flood more, and well just get me more ducks and bigger deer, and don't tell me where or when I can hunt cause I pay tax's too.

It is sad that we as a race of beings that think that we are entitled to everything. I would absolutely love to see it go to a hundred per year. With the listed restrictions.
I think it would be great and would stop the weekend warrior from blasting up everything that moves. It would bring the quality back to the heritage that for the most part we have allowed to dissolve for immediate gratification.

Nothing is free and your tax money doesn't support it. It beats the hell out of a $1000.00 duck lease. You can travel the state over and hunt 100's of thousands of acres of land.
I do feel that senior citizens should be exempt.
That my friend is a deal.