Fish Felon wrote:Closing the season in the South during what is literally the best part of the season.....the first two weeks of the duck season was when the most ducks were shot statewide and especially in the South, back when it was ran statewide straight through prior to zones.
I'm with you---river zone at Hastings with a later start and some splits thrown in if they really want it to run late.
The rumor I've heard is that Schroers and the other MWA guys have access to some prime fields by Hastings, shoot the piss out of the mallards field hunting, and that more than anything is what has that group....what has been the most powerful and vocal group when it comes to lobbying/influencing the DNR on season frameworks, dates, real season, and even limits.....these guys got the DNR to do a four duck limit when the entire nation was shooting six or more....they got the DNR to keep the wood duck limit at two for multiple years when the rest of the nation was shooting three.....they killed us getting a teal season......the fukcers had pull and I tip my cap to them for pulling that shit off despite thinking it was all retarded....."
Agree
Agree.
Laughing my ass off! Do you really think they ever had that much sway?
BTW, Schroers hunts Scott Cty, he lost is his main place to hunt due to housing development a few yrs back.
So who is the vocal element on retaining the late season hunting? Affluent hunters that have access all across the S zone to farms for field hunting, these are people that are leasing, from affluent (expendable $) to G&O. they do not give a crap that the sloughs and shallow lakes are froze up by mid Nov. and that the average hunters do not have access to farmland to hunt, and that these same lower to mid income hunters are being penalized by at least an extra 7 days of opportunity with the stupid 12 day closed zone. In effect this similar to what happened down S in the Flyway - the affluent leased it all up for the most part shutting out the blue collars hunters.
Why won't the DNR do a SE zone (E of 52) ? - they are afraid of way too much hunting pressure in a small area - I was told this several years ago.
Nor will the feds allow a late season Mallard season in the MS flyway like ND has to appease the affluent hunters so they have late season Mallard field hunting.
So unless the rank and file hunters speak up very loudly the next 16 months to get rid of the 12 day closed S zone, we'll be stick with it again from '21-25.