Heron Lake

[Bailey]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdo ... 65111.html

[Trigger]

Being a member of a duck club would suck. I wonder how much money they have to pay for the privilege?

[Bailey]

My dad knows a guy in one of those clubs. Its not cheap at all and the hunting isnt really that good either anymore from what i am told.

[lanyard]

Back 100 years ago they stuck a stake in the middle of the lake and divided into pie shapes based on lake frontage. Then, supposedly, they only allowed motor traffic on the perimeter. Somewhere along the way a dam got put up and keeps the water artificially high. The joke is in the "game fish" comment. That lake can't be both a good duck lake and a good game fish lake. It's the wrong type/style.... but hey, have your bull heads and a few teal....

If they larger group had any interest in fixing it, they could get it done. DNR area managers would love to chop a couple feet off the top of the dam.

The lake will roost mallards and geese late. But in my experience that's when they are keeping a hole open out in the middle. I've never hunted the lake, just know the area fairly well.

[greatwhitehunter3!]

Back 100 years ago they stuck a stake in the middle of the lake and divided into pie shapes based on lake frontage. Then, supposedly, they only allowed motor traffic on the perimeter. Somewhere along the way a dam got put up and keeps the water artificially high. The joke is in the "game fish" comment. That lake can't be both a good duck lake and a good game fish lake. It's the wrong type/style.... but hey, have your bull heads and a few teal....

If they larger group had any interest in fixing it, they could get it done. DNR area managers would love to chop a couple feet off the top of the dam.

The lake will roost mallards and geese late. But in my experience that's when they are keeping a hole open out in the middle. I've never hunted the lake, just know the area fairly well.

Hunt around there lanyard? Not far from me and where I do a fair share of field hunting.

[Waterfowlist]

A lot if waterfowl history there pretty cool!

[maplelakeduckslayer]

Not sure what they pay...but they said 8 members shot 120 ducks...15 a piece? Cool story but seems like a waste of money to me

[get-n-birdy]

We have pheasant hunted the area and camped on the west side of Heron, on the county campground. Rarely has there been enough birds on the lake to warrant hunting it imo. Rarely hear more than a few volleys of shots in the morning. From the sounds of it the lake needs to be drained and killed off. The novelty of the sentimentality is interesting. Kind of like a historical marker everyone speeds by, but not much more than that to non duck hunters. The history is cool and I enjoy it, but to hunt a lake that has long past its prime is a useless endeavor from a hunting perspective. Let alone paying money to be members of a hunting club on a marginal lake baffles me a bit, when there's better hunting on public stuff around there?

[Bailey]

I think most of the guys in those clubs have big money so it is chump change to them. I looked into joining a club in western Minnesota a few years back which had a pass on a lake. It was $5000 to join and then $ 120 a month fee. The hunting was not good early on and only got good later if you hit the migration right. It was too rich for my blood (especially given the hunting wasn’t great). Most of the members were dentists, financial guys, etc so like I said probably chump change to them.

As for Heron Lake I hunted a slough off of the main lake a few times about 7 or 8 years ago late in the season. I saw some pretty impressive flights of mallards come off the lake and hit the fields. I was able to manage a few mallards each hunt. My guess is they just raft out in the middle of Heron and probably do not offer much opportunity to club members on the edges of the reeds. I’m sure if they did a massive drawdown on the lake it would hold a ton of ducks all season but probably too many politics with farmers to ever get that done. Plus I have heard these clubs want the water high so it floods the areas they hunt back in the reed areas on the edges.

[lanyard]

You pretty much got it right.

People can screw things up royally. And once something gets jacked up, there's always someone that thinks the new way of being is pretty dang good and won't go back. Logic is lost on people. One lake needed stop logs lifted for a solid drop down/winter kill. Once a few "vocals" hears about it they started the drum beat that no one would be able to use motors anymore. Took like 5 years. Now the lake is producing birds again, and everyone can still use their motors. They were motor less on that lake for one year.

I know the government can screw things up on their own, but when it comes to ducks in this state you got the huggers and the haters. Huggers want everything like it was 150 years ago, haters don't want to "give in" on anything thinking they'll lose out on the way do stuff. What's funny are the hugger/haters that don't want anyone to shoot any birds because they don't see them hunting the way they always have (Concerned Duck Hunters?).

Anyway, everyone's got to give up something in this deal and no one will. This isn't just Heron Lake, it's the whole damn state. Rather than 50 year duck plan, they could have started with a 50 lakes a year plan. Pick a couple in each management district that get special treatment. Post signs at the access the year before with information and a phone number to call to hear a recorded message with what the plan is for that body of water. This could be wetlands on WMAs, public lakes, etc. Then get something done.

The other thing that needs to happen is we need to figure out what to do with excess water. If you can't pump a lake because it will flood everything else or the watershed can't otherwise support it you're kind of FUBAR'd. This would be where adding adjacent moist soil management areas would be beneficial. A simple burm with an outlet back into the lake would be enough. Pump it down, flood that, draw that down or let it evaporate. Do it June when the hatch is done. But it will likely be someone's meadowlark watching spot or home to an exotic species, or the last remnant of bluestem growing in buffalo dung, so bad idea.