What’s happened to Fir Island?

[CP]

There used to be a very good quality snow goose hunt program there.  There has not been much "quality" to it for the last several seasons.  Now all the fields are posted “No Trespassing”  Leased by such and such hunt club.

Has the WDFW just been priced out?  Or have hunters once again screwed up a good opportunity by violating the rules?

In any event this opportunity appears to be history.

[BOWHUNTER45]

YEP ...Freakin joke it all is getting be ...especially waterfowl ...got money -- got ducks and geese ...I went from a hardcore fowler to retiring ...   Same with the quality duck fields ...They go and put out a blind and tell you were you can sit and can not  Makes my teeth grind ...

[kodiak 907]

Save your money and hunt them in Texas. Fir island is a joke!

[CP]

I hunted them in Texas way back when I was a teenager.  Farmers used to call me to get the filthy pests out of their fields.  That opportunity has been commercialized as well. 
 

[Tealer]

X xxx


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[Playinghooky]

It's the people out there I shot over 100 geese last year and some moron shot  to close to one if the farmers horses and sent it through a fence $2500 later up went the no hunting trespassing signs on some of the better fields look at all the garbage at the to dike access people get stupid and it only takes one or two

[hunt4life]

Been hunting up there since I was 8 years old. The two biggest problems is the damn daisy sniffing tofu farting granolas, and all the new damn wardens. When it was just officer Phillips and John Garret the hunting was great!! Now ya get a flock of birds around its darn right stupid! Should go back to the good old days locals and there buddies with permission! That's when you could go shoot a limit of snows and not worry about making the evening news or getting the finger from body driving a rice burner!!!

[h2ofowlr]

The quality snow goose hunt fields were set up to disburse the snows, so they wouldn't eat all the winter crops and cause to many issues.  Since the fields went up, they did run into some issues with some slob hunters.  But they accomplished there goal at the island.  It now has spread the birds out all over the place and less birds were using the island in many cases.  Now you see the birds in Ferndale, Bow, Edison, Burlington, Sedro, Snohomish, E. Washington, Patterson area, S. Oregon, Cali, amongst other locations.

Several of the farms, also didn't want to deal with the liability of allowing the hunters on there land anymore as well.

[irishevox]

yes some local hunting club went out and bought a bunch of land from WDFW.  It really has screwed up many peoples plans for where we hunted the year prior!

[h2ofowlr]

yes some local hunting club went out and bought a bunch of land from WDFW.  It really has screwed up many peoples plans for where we hunted the year prior!

They didn't buy the land from the WDFW.  They leased a specific individuals fields for hunting season.

[irishevox]

O.  I can tell you an old quality hunt spot they currently bought! they own it

[full choke]

O.  I can tell you an old quality hunt spot they currently bought! they own it

WDFW never owned the quality hunt fields. They just worked with the landowners to allow public hunting on them. Maybe the landowner had problems with "public" hunters, backed out of the program, and then leased and/or sold to a private club.

[ghosthunter]

It is the same problem every thing you hunt.

Too many hunters.

Too. Many folks want the resource.

[irishevox]

Other hunters don't bother me and I am very generous with the private land I have access to I take people there often. But it's just some really awesome spots that got leased or bought.....

[Skyhigh]

they are not awesome if there is no geese on them.. The geese have really limited their use of Fir Island the last few years until after seasons end. They are dispersed hundreds of miles nowadays

[backyard bucks]

 

been out to the farm a few times this year only to see the geese bypass fir island completely in the mornings and in the evening flying high coming from the north/ north east back to the bay...  yes there are a few around using the fields but not near what we have seen.. maybe later in the year hopefully.. but like others have said prior they are spread out now and using areas that they never use to more because of the pressure I'm guessing.

[PatoLoco]

Some major landowners on Fir Island are not planting winter wheat anymore (either as a cover crop or to grow to harvest) or are planting a brassica/mustard cover crop that the geese eat less, if at all.

[Skyhigh]

Some major landowners on Fir Island are not planting winter wheat anymore (either as a cover crop or to grow to harvest) or are planting a brassica/mustard cover crop that the geese eat less, if at all.

exactly...and I am seeing that mustard cover crop planted in Whatcom county now.. So far (3 years) geese pretty much leave it alone.. I have seen them in it but not consistantly and it was a winter wheat/ mustard mix field..

[Ridgerunner50]

Duck Hunting is becoming a rich mans sport, just like in California million dollar duck clubs.