Mahannah's a draw now

[bigwater]

what time zone is mahanna in? seems like last year mahanna was 30 minutes ahead of the rest of the state.

[skywalker]

I thought duck hunters were a 'family' and always willing to share knowledge and help the younger generation out and 'pass along a heritage'......sound like a bunch of greedy people to me......actions speak much louder than words. I am not sure what griping about it on a online forum is going to do about it......if this time was spent getting a petition signed and/or writing letters to the MDWF (whatever it is) you would probably be much better off. I have never hunted a WMA in MS and never plan to.....so from the outside looking in, it looks like a bunch of cry baby's.

sorry to be so blunt, just my opinion.

skywalker

[msbigdawg1234]

I have talked to the DWFP and THEY don't even know how they are gona do it. They are up for input from the public. They do realize that there was not much notice and was very interested in what i had to say.Which is what i have said all along. The problem is they are making a deccission about a place that THEY have never hunted and don't really know what the $%^& to do about it.

[skywalker]

msbigdawg, i think you are taking the right approach....letting the DWFP know your thoughts on this.......if every hunter that has posted up here would take the time to call and let their voices be heard, you would be amazed at what you might get in return.

skywalker

[greenheadgrimreaper]

You damn right folks are gonna be cryin about it some skywalker. I can promise you all the folks complaining did not recommend a draw. Some maybe, but most no. If it happened to your hunting places you WOULD care. It doesn't apply to you right now because it is not happening to you. BTW skywalker comments have already been sent to the dept. from this party so save that one. I urge all to do the same, even if it aint happening to yourfavorite wma or fuge yet. If it keeps up it eventually will.

[champcaller]

i have a feeling that everyone will migrate to _______ WMA. and then they will start it all over again...

[skywalker]

you missed my point greenhead....it aint that people are crying, its that people are crying to the wrong people......the only way the MSDWF will know what hunters want is if they tell them.

If they are gonna take my spot, they will have to take over private land.


skywalker

[mottlet]

If they are gonna take my spot, they will have to take over private land.
skywalker

That's sweet...but not everybody has their own piece of ground to fall back on. Now here's the catch-22. If I hunt a particular piece of public ground and have success there, the last thing I want is for that good thing to get ruined. So, I keep my trap shut. But despite my best efforts, word gets out, more people start showing up, 5:00 rules are imposed, things still get crazy as more and more people hear about this place through word of mouth, the internet, etc. Through all of this, because I put in my due diligence, i.e. lots of scouting, hunting during the week, etc, I manage to still kill a few birds and generally still have a pretty good gig going. Suddenly, all these people who have started showing up on this little piece of public ground start wanting everyone to know just how overcrowded it has become. Because I still have a decent thing going, and I know why, I continue to keep my trap shut. It doesn't do me any good to say, "Well, you're wrong because I killed my limit before work just yesterday," and ruin my good thing. So the only people anybody hears from are the ones shouting that this piece of ground is horribly overcrowded, nobody can kill a duck there, etc. So the perception of other people who don't have a dog in this hunt is that there are hunters behind every tree, weed, or pile of mud and they're blasting away at everything from coots to ivory-billed woodpeckers, from an hour before sunrise till about nine pm. Through it all, I keep it zipped, because I'm still killing ducks and the last thing I want is MORE people bringing MORE attention to the place I hunt. But eventually, the roar for change becomes unbearable and presto chango...it's a draw. Or it's closed except for birdwatchers. And despite all my efforts, my good thing is ruined because people can't keep their mouths shut, whether they kill birds or they want to bitch about overcrowding. For me, the public land hunter, any press about my little piece of ground is bad press.
That includes yelling on the internet about how this particular WMA is now a draw. You're just decreasing your chances of getting drawn.

The internet is a big place boys and girls. Nobody has ever gotten to the end of it. And I'll never forget the first time I read a post about a piece of public ground on the internet, AND THE VERY NEXT TIME I went to hunt there, sat back in amazement at the increase in hunters I witnessed.

mottlet

[Wildfowler]

Reaper, I've been on the phone with SB. They (MDWFP) are still looking for public comments on this subject. Rather than ranting and raving on the internet about your distaste for the department, you could/should be encouraging others to write a well though out letter of recommendation to the department. I'm not talking about logging on to the MDWFP website, I'm talking about a formal printed letter addressed to Dr. Polles. That means signing your name and address on the letter.

According to SB, there are several department heads who are meeting on this topic, and between them, there are many different ideas being proposed on how to implement the draw hunt. There may not be any way to halt the draw program altogether, but we (concerned public hunters) may still be able to voice our opinion successfully, so as to minimize what we consider as being the negative effects of a draw system.

For instance, you could suggest that the dept implement the draw only on the weekends. Rather than every day. You could plead with the dept to allow for standby hunters, both in the event that a draw holder does not show up, and for second shift opportunities who might be willing to follow the morning hunters when they limit out or otherwise choose to leave. Tell them something to the effect that you would like to have no draw implemented, but if the departments sees fit to go to a draw hunt, please structure it in such a manner so as to maximize the public opportunity to use the property. Just think about what draw hunting scenario might have the least amount of impact on you, and explain that to them in a nicely written letter.

Currently, Muscadine farm has no provisions to allow for standby or second shift hunters. According to SB, there have been days when NO hunters ( zero ) showed up to hunt on their draw date. If no one goes through the formal channels of speaking up, this worst case scenario could happen to Mahannah too.

The main thing is that you and anyone else who is concerned realize that all hope is not yet lost. Please voice your opinion through formal channels. SB suggested that I and anyone else who is concerned (you) to send in a letter to the director of the dept, Dr. Polles and asked to copy Larry Castle on that letter. That means you will need to send in the same letter twice. Once to Polles, and one copy to Castle. I plan on sending a third copy to Scott Baker also.

If I have missed seeing you encouraging others to formally voice their opinion on this topic, I apologize to you. All I have seen is a bunch of anger being improperly channeled.

[Wildfowler]

Here's something tremendous you can do!!!!


Call the dept tomorrow morning and ask for permission to be added to the agenda for the meeting in Jackson on June 6. Tell them that it is your request to appear and to speak publicly on this issue.

(whe you call in, ask to speak with the assistant to the executive director.)

http://www.mdwfp.com/level2/Administrat ... Agenda.pdf

At the very least ask to be able to fax in your letter in time so that it could be presented to the commission for review during their meeting.

In addition to writing your letter, I would strongly encourage that you include letters to the Chairman and other commissioners listed here:

http://www.mdwfp.com/Level2/Administrat ... ission.asp

I don't happen to know if these other commissioners and chairman can be reached at the MDWFP mailing address or not. I don't believe they are all full time dept employees. I hope that if anyone else here knows how to contact them formally could please speak up tonight.

[greenheadgrimreaper]

I brought this up for attention, that is a step in itslef. From the reaction's of some, they didn't even know. Bringing attention to it is the first priority. If you will take the time to read before posting these long, extravagent posts you will see where I have already said I have done my part. Just up a few from this post...that's right...go on...read up ....gooood. That is solved. Anger? You bet. Frustration...you bet. Just me feeling like this? Absolutely not. I see your good intent and you have helped me with topics of interest in the past. I respect you for your elderly wisdom, I do. But I have done my duty. Bringing it out in the open for other to see while all the while sending in my response is ALL I CAN DO. If it means getting others fired up about it....so be it. That is how I am...always will be. It takes a stirring of emotion to get alot of people active. I am passionate about the outdoors and I mean passionate. You can bet I will get upset if I see more land is being talked about taken away. I look at my heated passion of the outdoors as a fighting factor, because let's face it we need more young folk like myself to head it up when you guys are gone. But you know what folwer? Since I have learned in my short 20 years here on this earth (mostly in the last few years) that the older and wiser are usually correct...I will take your advice and carry out your ideas...to help even more on this topic. Save the exaggerated belittlement though. I know I am still a young kid to you older fellas but a little respect is all I ask. Off to the emails.

[skywalker]

Good links wildfowler. That is how we as hunters can get what we want from our state.
You will be surprised at the changes a few phone calls and letters can bring about.

skywalker

[Wildfowler]

A little bit of good news.

I can't attend the meeting today and called the dept. to see if at the very least if the comments in my letter that I faxed in could be entered in place of my appearance in the event of any further discussion on this topic.

I was told that the agenda for this months meeting does not contain any discussions or proposals for changes to the rules at Mahannah. The changes are coming, we just have a little more time to try to influence the decision making process.

[RLJames]

The way I understand it. The rule became final at the May 23 meeting and has been filed with the Sec. of State on May 25. However, no one at the MDWFP seems to know how the draw will work. Why would anyone vote on a rule change without knowing the specifics?

[HOGAN]

skywalker wrote:
If they are gonna take my spot, they will have to take over private land.
skywalker

That is exactly what happened to the property that is now Mahannah WMA.
Before its existence the Mahannah property was privately owned and leased out for farming and to managed hunting camps. The area has consistently held ducks for eons before DU & MDWFP put little levees and pipes all over it. The property was basically taken out of private management and put into public use. I feel that may also contribute to high hunting lease prices in this area. Just my 2 cents.