opening more refuges to hunting.....

[wytex]

Whatever happens, I hope Hutton Lake doesn't become a crowded duck shooting gallery like you see on some WMA/SWA type areas. I guess a few more below average pronghorn will be shot around Laramie as well.

My B&C qualified pronghorn comes from outside of town so there are always a few good ones to be found.
I fear the areas may get over use as well around here.

 

[88man]

Proposed changes by state, if anyone is curious...

https://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2020/2020-2021-Station-Specific-Hunting-and-Fishing-Proposed-Rule-Narratives.pdf

Looks like tons of opportunity in a bunch of states for a wide variety of species. Pretty crazy or typical that so few want to talk about increased hunting opportunity.

 

[BrentD]

I love people that take positives and then try to spin them into negatives...

What about the reverse?

 

[BrentD]

Proposed changes by state, if anyone is curious...

https://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2020/2020-2021-Station-Specific-Hunting-and-Fishing-Proposed-Rule-Narratives.pdf

This is a gas! Literally.

• Iowa
o Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge: Open dove and skunk hunting on acres already open to other hunting.

I gotta love Iowa.

Thanks for that laugh HW!

 

[Hunting Wife]

Looks like tons of opportunity in a bunch of states for a wide variety of species. Pretty crazy or typical that so few want to talk about increased hunting opportunity.

Also pretty typical for folks to not take the time to look at the details to make sure they’re actually getting what’s being advertised.

Some of these are great opportunities. Others, not so much. Just trying to help people evaluate whether the opportunities in their area are all they’re cracked up to be.

 

[SAJ-99]

Also pretty typical for folks to not take the time to look at the details to make sure they’re actually getting what’s being advertised.

Some of these are great opportunities. Others, not so much. Just trying to help people evaluate whether the opportunities in their area are all they’re cracked up to be.

Agree. The vast majority appear to be expanding opportunity in units that already allow hunting. The ones with major changes I don't know much about.

On a side note, who knew snipe were so popular?

 

[greatwhitebuffalo]

Anybody looking to.head south for a Gator has a lot more options.

 

[Schaaf]

The devil, as always, is in the details. In plenty of places there have been positive gains for hunters. But at this point a lot of the low-hanging fruit with regards to opening up actual opportunities has already been plucked. Now there’s increasing pressure to continue “opening acres“ in ways that don’t make much sense.

Zinke hung his hat on opening up thousands of acres of land to elk hunting in a unit I've hunted my entire life and never seen an elk or an elk track.

Probably the right decision and for that I was thankful, but I don't know if I would have broke open a bottle of champagne for it.

 

[Ben Lamb]

If I can't hunt elk at Slippery Ann during the rut, then the socialists have won.

 

[Timberlinehunter02]

As a waterfowl hunter I have very mixed emotions. I believe that some refuges play an important role in keeping duck numbers high because they give a safe place for migratory birds. I do agree though that doing soft openings of these refuges with limited draws will help disperse ducks and give more hunters opportunities to bag birds.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Zinke hung his hat on opening up thousands of acres of land to elk hunting in a unit I've hunted my entire life and never seen an elk or an elk track.

Probably the right decision and for that I was thankful, but I don't know if I would have broke open a bottle of champagne for it.

4 of these are in MA. I’ve been doing a lot of turkey scouting and visited all 4. They were touted as opening up new opportunities, bear ha

Open up for turkey, fine print, but only during the fall during the archery deer season, not for spring turkey.

I can’t speak for the rest of the list but my anecdotal deeper dive, yeah PR stunt that did absolutely nothing.

 

[geetar]

As a waterfowl hunter I have very mixed emotions. I believe that some refuges play an important role in keeping duck numbers high because they give a safe place for migratory birds. I do agree though that doing soft openings of these refuges with limited draws will help disperse ducks and give more hunters opportunities to bag birds.

That’s what we have here. I live close to Pee Dee NWR in NC and it is a waterfowl refuge. There is no waterfowl hunting allowed but deer, turkey and small game are allowed. Deer and turkey by special permit only. It seems to work well.