I see some stolen valor going down for the veteran hunt.
Yep. That’s gonna be a tough one to enforce.I see some stolen valor going down for the veteran hunt.
Hope they go with the earlier november and later december starts. Great that we can go to the end of january!
And get rid of those stupid youth days too! I see no difference in a 15 year old with a shotgun and a 17 year old. If they are mature enough to handle a firearm they are mature enough to hunt as an adult. No wonder they act like babies until they are 30, or should I say 26, which is the legal age in some matters such as insurance.
Pretty long bike ride from our house in Madison to our hunt camp in Hyde County...When I was 12 I had a hunting license and my own gun and didn't need an adult to look over me. I hunted squirrels every chance I got and killed my first deer at 14 with a friend who was 13. It was part of growing up and feeling like a man. I was not considered a child anymore. When I got paid for delivering papers I had cash in my wallet and a hunting license in the little clear slot of my cheap wallet where one day I hoped to have my drivers license. If I was forced to hunt on a "youth day" I sure wouldn't have told my friends. They would have called me a sissy and kicked my butt. I believe that today the term would be "snowflake".
Amen! A lot of those "youth" that hunt youth day hunted more days than I did this year. Why should a bunch of 17 & 18 year old kids who have hunted all season with their dad War Eagle get 2 extra days ?And get rid of those stupid youth days too! I see no difference in a 15 year old with a shotgun and a 17 year old. If they are mature enough to handle a firearm they are mature enough to hunt as an adult. No wonder they act like babies until they are 30, or should I say 26, which is the legal age in some matters such as insurance.
Year before last big ducks were feeding with the geese in the fields, last year they didn't seem to be feeding at all....just sitting out there lost with their heads tucked. In all the seasons prior, I cant remember seeing more than a handful all put together on big water....there were no divers at all out there. Not even a buffle head.Gangrig, that is interesting about the mallards. did you hunt them out in the middle of the sound, if so, how did it go?
did they stay on that pattern for a while or was it a quick migratory thing. Do you know where they went to feed?
I saw a lot more migratory geese in a Hyde county body of water that were flying mid morning to feed in dry fields. I have not seen them use this pattern the last few years but they really did this year. They were going places hunters did not expect them and/or did not have access to hunt.
There are still a lot of birds migrating to NC every year, they seem to be going places where they are not disturbed and they have easy access to food. That can change every year. They seem better at figuring us out than we are at figuring them out.
Part pf our diver problem may be that the states that border the Chesapeake took action to restore their sub aquatic grasses. Bird like redheads blue bills and cans do not need to fly further south. We certainly have those birds here but enough of them are staying that it makes a difference. In addition a lot of redheads that we have seen in Dare and Hyde the last few years seem to have gone to Core sound in early January. Not sure why but ducks go where ducks go.
Also, it seems that for ducks other than blue wing teal and ringnecks NC is becoming the end of the migration route. Do not seem to be going to SC and Fla.
I have no problem giving youths an extra day or two. If it helps stoke the flames a bit, so much the better for the future of duck hunting IMO.And get rid of those stupid youth days too! I see no difference in a 15 year old with a shotgun and a 17 year old. If they are mature enough to handle a firearm they are mature enough to hunt as an adult. No wonder they act like babies until they are 30, or should I say 26, which is the legal age in some matters such as insurance.
In addition a lot of redheads that we have seen in Dare and Hyde the last few years seem to have gone to Core sound in early January. Not sure why but ducks go where ducks go.
The hunters of Core Sound have put significant investment into their SAV... after all these years though, they still haven’t figured out that corn won’t sprout under water... ???
That would be awesome. A later october season would make me very happy. Doubt it will happen though. I think they are trying to let the mountain hunters get the wood ducks before they boogie out of town.Me too. What few ducks are still here in December are stale as 2 week old bread.
I also asked them to look at moving the October split to 2 weeks later.