Mattamuskeet

Roanoke

Eight Pointer
There are a few farms holding great amounts of fowl but many of their birds are leaving and going to the East side of the lake during the day. Good amounts of birds in Delaware. We need of multiple days of freezing temperatures.
 
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Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
There are a few farms holding great amounts of fowl but many of their birds are leaving and going to the East side of the lake during the day. Good amounts of birds in Delaware. We need of multiple days of freezing temperatures.
Friday I walked the canal that goes by one of my impoundments, through the cypress swamp on the northeast side to the lake. There was an insane number of birds sitting there . 10's of thousands of puddle ducks of all species. 500 yards away my impoundments have been barren all season. I guess the birds fly to the few big impoundments on the farm that is holding them in the evening and back again at early light. Two spots really have the birds and some of the big name places do not.

Maybe next year.
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
Very true above about the birds there. Gonna take nasty weather to get them moving to other impoundments.
 

Inshore duck

Eight Pointer
Pat Simmons has put his 1,200 tract on NE corner on the market. Writing is on the wall. Representative from LA introduced legislation in the house to make corn impoundments illegal. They feel corn impoundments in Missouri are negatively impacting AR/LA. If that ever became law, Hyde is done.
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
Interesting. I’d like to see the proposal. Don’t think it would fly as a stand alone bill, would probably have to coat tail some other big bill. See a hard time getting it through once cat’s out the bag about it but I easily could be wrong, politics being what they are.
Not sure it would doom Hyde. If no one can have corn ponds then sort of levels the playing field in my mind. There are some excellent private ponds and clubs out there that don’t rely on corn for food. NuPamBa is one club that comes to mind. Would take some experimenting to figure out what management system would work best. Ducks were here long before corn was ever introduced.
 

Inshore duck

Eight Pointer
Alot of support for it in lower parts of flyway. Idaho tried to move forward with similar legislation a few years back. Not many would change over to moist soil etc in Hyde, without flooded corn Hyde would be over. You can not compare Neupamba to Hyde county. No food in lake, they stay because of the corn. There is nothing “standard agricultural” about growing corn, not harvesting it then flooding it with water. I hunt over impoundments but it’s legal baiting.
 
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shurshot

Ten Pointer
Oh yeah, it’s all about the corn no doubt. Wouldn’t hurt my feeling if it went away. Most pond owners there probably don’t even know what the word “moist soil” means, corn being theIr way of life since ponds started getting built. But would be curious to see how/what pond owners would do, still have a lot of planting options available.
 

kahunter

Eight Pointer
Pat Simmons has put his 1,200 tract on NE corner on the market. Writing is on the wall. Representative from LA introduced legislation in the house to make corn impoundments illegal. They feel corn impoundments in Missouri are negatively impacting AR/LA. If that ever became law, Hyde is done.
Man if there was a nationwide bad on corn impoundments that would be something. Who wants to pool some money and buy all the rice and millet and milo seed we can get our hands on?? Wait for the ban to come in place and you will be sitting on gold. haha
:cool:(y)
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
I don't see the corn impoundments being outlawed in Hyde County. There is just too much money tied up down there by some of the richest people on the east coast. Don't think it would be possible.
 

Inshore duck

Eight Pointer
I don't see the corn impoundments being outlawed in Hyde County. There is just too much money tied up down there by some of the richest people on the east coast. Don't think it would be possible.
This isn’t an NC bill, was introduced in US house. I don’t think it says specifically corn but the intent is the ban flooded impoundments for waterfowl. Arkansas/Louisiana is very upset with number of impoundments in Missouri. Your Hyde county duck club folks are rich, your AR/LA duck club owners are wealthy. If the AR big wigs start pushing this may go somewhere, we will see.
 

ducknut

Eight Pointer
Only impoundment I've hunted has been state owned. It's been quite a few years since I have. My concern is what is going to hold the ducks if the impoundment are gone. When they first got popular there were grass beds in the sounds and mattamuskeet. Not anymore. I don't think the knuckleheads baiting the sounds are going to feed our wintering population of waterfowl. I know most of my really good days now are when shallow water freezes and I'm ok with that. I feel like it might be better than the alternative
 

shurshot

Ten Pointer
Inshore duck, ALL impoundments? No way that will happen. I could possibly see corn impoundments getting a run at them, after all there is nothing naturally occurring about them. Man, I’d hate to see the legal language they’d have to write in order to outlaw all impoundments. Would be like a set of encyclopedias.
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Inshore duck, ALL impoundments? No way that will happen. I could possibly see corn impoundments getting a run at them, after all there is nothing naturally occurring about them. Man, I’d hate to see the legal language they’d have to write in order to outlaw all impoundments. Would be like a set of encyclopedias.

It will never happen. Literally billions of private dollars spent to build them and feed wintering waterfowl. Way to many major players involved nationwide to ban duck hunting impoundments.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
Besides a lot of Cental flyway ducks are feeding in dry fields on waste grain. That bill has the same chance as Trump impeachment.
 

Duckmauler dhc

Old Mossy Horns
I would love to see it go through. That would definitely even the playing field in all flyways. Either way we have no birds as it is, and haven’t for quite some time.....so it’s not like it could get worse from here.
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
We all need to take a good look at this and do what is BEST for the DUCKS. I would have to put quite a bit of thought into it personally and would love to see some good data. I know it affects duck movement, just as baiting deer does. But farming, specifically harvesting, is so much more efficient than even 25 years ago. There is not near as much grain loss during harvest as in the past. Not sure how much birds actually NEED the feed from impoundments to get through the winter and migration. Also the fact that there are "generations" of birds that are hooked on the feed from these impoundments. Not sure how well they would adjust to having to find "natural" food sources. I would think the impoundments are much more consistent in the amount of feed than mother nature. Just so much more to consider than "lets ban impoundments so we can kill more ducks". Seems like a short term solution that may have lasting negative impact on bird populations. Just my thoughts.
 

kahunter

Eight Pointer
I would love to see it go through. That would definitely even the playing field in all flyways. Either way we have no birds as it is, and haven’t for quite some time.....so it’s not like it could get worse from here.
It wont happen but if impoundments were banned this state would lose ALOT of high quality wintering habitat for ducks that ducks wont find anywhere else. Like them or not but impoundments provide a place for ducks to feed that they cant find on the sounds and rivers anymore. We have done a good job of messing up our natural habitat. Lake Mattamuskeet is basically a 40,000 acre lake devoid of most foods past fish and inverts for ducks. They wont stay there for long. Like them or not impoundments do provide good habitat for ducks.
 

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
Pat Simmons has put his 1,200 tract on NE corner on the market. Writing is on the wall. Representative from LA introduced legislation in the house to make corn impoundments illegal. They feel corn impoundments in Missouri are negatively impacting AR/LA. If that ever became law, Hyde is done.
Can you provide a link about that?
 

Inshore duck

Eight Pointer
Can you provide a link about that?
It was on the Flyway federation of Louisiana, a group formed due to decreasing numbers over recent years. I didn’t do a lot of research about it because its its long shot. Again it’s basically aimed at Missouri. These guys could care less about Hyde county. The worst place in their flyway is still better than anywhere here. It likely won’t go anywhere but it is being discussed.
 

Roanoke

Eight Pointer
The Flyway Federation of Louisiana is just another guy trying to start a non profit so he can give himself a six digit salary. He is dealing with the same problem we have which is no freezing temperatures up North.
I deal with a good deal of public policy issues involving waterfowl and wetlands habitat. I was on Capital Hill this time last year lobbying for the North American Wetlands Act. That was a real challenge and it took thousands of volunteers to get the bill to pass.

I doubt that something like this would make it to a committee and it will still have to pass by majority vote of the House and Senate. Long process. See below for refresher learning.

 
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Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
Did you see how much Pat wanted for his impoundment? When I looked at the price I did some quick math. I could lease a private jet and frequently go to the very best waterfowl places in this hemisphere with I could make on that amount of money with even some of my worst performing investments. However, someone may buy it.
 

Hydemarsh

Six Pointer
The Flyway Federation of Louisiana is just another guy trying to start a non profit so he can give himself a six digit salary. He is dealing with the same problem we have which is no freezing temperatures up North.
I deal with a good deal of public policy issues involving waterfowl and wetlands habitat. I was on Capital Hill this time last year lobbying for the North American Wetlands Act. That was a real challenge and it took thousands of volunteers to get the bill to pass.

I doubt that something like this would make it to a committee and it will still have to pass by majority vote of the House and Senate. Long process. See below for refresher learning.


In what capacity do you lobby and for what institution?
 

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
It was on the Flyway federation of Louisiana, a group formed due to decreasing numbers over recent years. I didn’t do a lot of research about it because its its long shot. Again it’s basically aimed at Missouri. These guys could care less about Hyde county. The worst place in their flyway is still better than anywhere here. It likely won’t go anywhere but it is being discussed.
They don't seem to get that it's but the smallest percentage of land that gets flooded. Missouri farmland ain't cheap.
 

kahunter

Eight Pointer
Did you see how much Pat wanted for his impoundment? When I looked at the price I did some quick math. I could lease a private jet and frequently go to the very best waterfowl places in this hemisphere with I could make on that amount of money with even some of my worst performing investments. However, someone may buy it.
where is it listed?
 
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