Idea for dealing with Mahanna crowds

[Panther]

I watched a young fellow hit a water structure on 11/28.The boy on the back of the 4wheeler did a 15ft. nose dive into the mud and water.The boy on the front did a hell of a job keeping the bike from rolling over on them.Boy on the back was not hurt but was shaken pretty hard.I stop to make sure they were okay and to try to get them to understand that a duck is not worth dieing over.They acted like it was no big deal and were upset that someone had beat them to"thier"hole.They are very lucky young men!!

[RiverDuck]

From what I heard, the people that were behind them kept on going, nobody even stopped to help them. One of the guys had to get twelve stitches in his chin and 7 in his ear that almost got ripped off. The other guy hurt his shoulder pretty bad. Deffinately not worth it in my opinion.

[sportsman450]

As far as I'm concerned, first come first served is the fairest way to go. If somebody is willing to go to a hole at midnight to save it, HE DESERVES TO GET IT! He might be crazy, but he went the extra mile. If you don't like it, get there at 11:00.

[Dogzeye]

I can't see anything good coming of the race event. Someone's 'young and dumb' child is going to hit something one morning and get seriously injured. This policy encourages wreckless behavior and that is not what this sport should be about! I for one would not let my kids participate in this type of event.

[maverick7]

I think you should have a draw like alot of the WMA are doing Now. This would keep pressure down and keep the ducks in the area

[h2o_dog]

I've never hunted in a WMA in my life, so I may not have a clue what I'm talking about, but at least I'm un-biased....but sitting here and hearing all the complaints can only lead me to predict that it is only a matter of time until a draw system will be put in place in all public waterfowl hunting areas for reason of public safety.

It may take the state paying out on a couple of law suits involving ethical law abiding hunters and their kids being injured by other ethical law abiding hunters resorting to un-ethical practices due to overcrowding.

(And Sport, I can't see the fairness in someone setting up in a public spot at 11pm the night before only to have 50 other people set up within 100 yds by daylight.)

Actual mileage may vary.

[Panther]

That must of been a different accident.I stop to check on them and also talked to them.Neither one was hurt bad.The one on the back had a knot on his head where his gun smack him.Their pride was hurt more than anything.

[Denduke]

The lack of water, the new levees and the plantings have created the zeal to all go to one area. Let Steel Byo flood to the west levee and the kids will have to do sumthin else. Always places for reasonable hunts but if you wanta be a part of the fiasco you put yourself in harms way by choice. Not to mention, expecting a good hunt after first light with people ereywhere just squated down in a open field type situation.

You draw hunt "lovers" can go jump in a lake! All the attention being created may be funny/noteworthy/safety concerns but better watch what results. And if some do get hurt, gonna speed the process... Seems there is a wind blowing already in Jackson to make draw hunts without public poll, any input about the deal, or not even input from some of the waterfowl people in the Dept. Plenty fuel here in these posts, and by some ain't never been there, ever going there, or could care less.

It'll prolly be self cleaning, eventually. BTW No Ducks at the field this am(lurkers anonymous)....Maybe this will keep some knuckle head from getting hurt at least tomorrow. The recent citations might create more civility. Weekends are always gonna be bad. Main problem no water much, now no ducks! You wanta go race to watch'em shoot "white billed mallats", gored head! And video it too...Send it to Jackson...Then next year don't be bothered if you ain't drawn once for a single hunt and complain about dwindling public hunter's oppotunities...

I thought we weren't s'posed to talk WMAs on here in any shape or fashion. Sorry 'bout dat...

[Skeeter]

denduke, I dont want a draw hunt at Mahannah either, but it is a better idea than what is currently in place....Im for a draw if its the only option over what's currently going on....According to my uncle who is MDWFP, they dont want draw hunts either, as far as he knows....he said a lot of WMA's went to draw for deer hunts because of situations that are currently happening with the boom of duck hunting, and said he wouldnt be surprised if they had to go that way

its a shame to see all that hard work done for the duck hunting at mahannah go to waste with the inability to be able to actually 'hunt' it...

im for ANYTHING that is better than what is there now, and i wouldnt care if i got drawn or not, seeing how im never going back to that place as long as it stays in the current situation...

D

[olemissduckhunter]

In Missouri they have a draw system. But you can still go if you dont get a reservation. if someone doesnt show up for their reservation you can get drawn for their spot. also they have special wade shoot places that you can go if you dont have a reservation. they also only let a certain amount of people on the place. so with this system your not completely screwed if you dont have a reservation. but then again if you dont have a reservation you can get up early for nothing if you dont get drawn for wade and shoot.

[eagle700]

Regarding the draw hunt system for waterfowl, would that be for just Mississippi residents, or would it include out-of-staters? I would hope it is just home folks!

[gator]

my only suggestion for you draw advocates is to be careful what you wish for.......

i've actually hunted a CA in MO that was in on the draw system.....

a few points of interest, some my own, formed, educated opinion.....some staunch fact.

1) it works in MO b/c on average there are far fewer actual duck hunters up there than here..........no real numbers, just observation on my part that i made to a 30 year resident of missouri and hunter for bout the same, to which he agreed ----- he trained as an ER doc here, so he knows a bit about the hunting here......good enough for me.

*so, let's look at this. up there, on this particular CA, there were a set number of huntable areas which are nothing more than big fields planted in corn and flooded, seperated by roads/ditches/trees...on those 10 area's, when i was there for 3 days, you had 22 "spots" one day and 23 the last, w/ a max of 4 hunters at each spot. i'd venture to guess there was roughly 200 hunters there vying for 22/23 spots. basically, you have roughly a 10% chance of drawing if you're by yourself.......the thing to do is to have 4 people to draw, as it increases your chances to actually get drawn.

**take those odds to mahanna. i've heard as many as 500 people showed up (i'm just using a number i heard for illustration purposes, i don't know of the validity to this)....i'm fairly comfortable saying that the actual "huntable ground" at mahana we're speaking of (the fields) is alot smaller compared to this place. so, let's say mahanna has 20 spots (generous IMHO)........now, lock out 420 other folks. we're these folks gonna go?????? to the 4 other WMA's/NWR's in the area, and walk in on the folks hunting there about 5 minutes before shooting time.

you'd have to "go draw" everywhere EVERYWHERE down here for it to work, otherwise, you're not solving a problem, you're just moving it through more and more and MORE beuracratic bs.

how does the morning work up there??? well, you show up about 4 and write the names in your hunting party down in a book (max = 4). then you stand around...........and around.......................................and then you have "the talk" detailing ad nauseum where you can hunt, what you can hunt, where you can go, where you can't, how many ducks we're holding and how great it is, w/ some history thrown in--- the SAME talk daily. that takes about 30 minutes. then, you're directed to a line formation, startingggggggggggggggg here. and wait your turn. you draw 1 "pill" for every hunter in your party. if you don't get drawn, never fear, you've got 30 minutes or so to get somewhere else.

let me tell ya, there's a BUNCH of adding going on....the pills drawn are taken out of the pool and the lowest 22 played.

what did i see while i was standing around????

i saw 2 kids around 10 come in ALREADY dressed in waders proudly showing off their calls w/ their daddy's in tow. they did NOT get drawn........2 kids that didn't get to see the number of birds i did that day, not b/c of sitting behind a play station getting fat and lazy, but b/c they didn't have a chance. i'm sure breakfast was pleasant.

that night i made that observation and was met w/ "well, i feel it's the daddy's responsibility to have an alternative." now, the person saying this is a close friend, but that pissed me off a little b/c some people just can NOT afford it.

speaking of which, anyone care to take a stab at what this system has done to land prices up there??????? 5 grand an acre for a small plot of briars ain't nothing new up there................all in hopes that one day, a duck will show up......leases, yeah, they're high HIGH....just so folks can have an alternative.

we got to hunt the first 2 days, and i saw more ducks in 2 days than i've seen in the last 5 years........but, it wasn't b/c of the draw, it was b/c this area historically holds ducks ------------- ALL YEAR.

does "the draw" end the "stupid hunter problem"? NO....the first day, we had to literally wait to do much good until the ignorant sky blasting turds in the next "pool" over got thru...........everytime we were finishing a group, BLOOM BLOOOM, flare.

my suggestion? realize it's public hunting, and if you can't handle the crowds there, go elsewhere.........................and DELETE every post that mentions WANTING a draw.

and, if you still gotta squawk about a draw, go out and buy yourself a mule adn let that sucker kick you square in teh pills.........b/c about 75% of the time in a draw, that's what you feel like around 5 am.....

gator

[VICKSBURGBOB]

I still think if you cut out 4 wheelers and all other mechanical aids and make people walk in you are going to cut down the numbers considerably because where I was hunting only two or three groups walked in from the main road. Plus it will take them longer to get set up on their spots so maybe we would see them start shooting a little later.

[msbigdawg1234]

All the crazy crap only happens on a few opening weekends. Other than that it is not all that bad.Usually between 10-20 trucks a day.

[sportsman450]

my suggestion? realize it's public hunting, and if you can't handle the crowds there, go elsewhere.........................and DELETE every post that mentions WANTING a draw.

and, if you still gotta squawk about a draw, go out and buy yourself a mule adn let that sucker kick you square in teh pills.........b/c about 75% of the time in a draw, that's what you feel like around 5 am.....

gator

pretty much sums it up right there