North west waterfowl club?

[hunt4life]

So i heard there is a group having meetings and telling city folk where to hunt in skagit? Pisses me off no reason to have to get to the blind at 3 cause some wing nut needs to start a club to tell ya where to hunt and how to access it!! Totally screwing the guys who have been hunting these spots for the past 25 years!!!

[johnsc6]

 
I vented on this heavily when they ran an article in the local newspaper. They "leased" a bunch of land behind our farm, they've never even hunted it. What a joke, a greedy joke. Used to be just about anyone who knocked on the door could hunt there if they presented themselves well. Pisses me off to no end.  The founder is from back east and is bringing the pay to play sh** out here. Think they'll be suprised when there not the only ones there, they didn't rent it from the lanowner, just farmer renting the land for farming, that doesn't cover recreation.

[Stein]

So i heard there is a group having meetings and telling city folk where to hunt in skagit? Pisses me off no reason to have to get to the blind at 3 cause some wing nut needs to start a club to tell ya where to hunt and how to access it!! Totally screwing the guys who have been hunting these spots for the past 25 years!!!

25 years ago, some guy was probably saying the same thing....

[bowtechian]

Access has been getting choked up more & more I've seen one of my past spots go fr general hunt spot to wdfw blind with a shell limit & now a private hunt club I have also noticed some of the reservation hunt blinds go un-used a good part of the season. Smoked fish used to get you on some nice ground by knocking on doors   

[Skyhigh]

Access has been getting choked up more & more I've seen one of my past spots go fr general hunt spot to wdfw blind with a shell limit & now a private hunt club I have also noticed some of the reservation hunt blinds go un-used a good part of the season. Smoked fish used to get you on some nice ground by knocking on doors   

So just because someone isn't using it the exact time you drive by doesn't mean that it is not used. They get the reservation for the day. Maybe they hunt it in the morning, maybe the afternoon. Good grief!

[Colin]

I wish they would do away with the reservation system. Makes it impossible to scout the spots and who knows what the weather will be like 2 weeks from now when you have to make a reservation. Seems to me if it gets used or not on a certain day it's still just a totally blind hunt. You don't even know how much water there is, if there is a spot for your dog, what pattern the birds are on... they are basically making them so someone has a guaranteed spot to hunt that is all, at least from the hunter perspective. I guess it might really be done for the landowner.

[Stickerbush]

Don't know about this club or meeting, but I do use the reserve quality sites. As one of the Seattle area hunters I guess that makes me an a hole for wanting a guaranteed place to hunt?

[Da goat]

I would use the reserve spots. I can never seem to get one.

[johnsc6]

I would use the reserve spots. I can never seem to get one.
[/quote
Garanteed place to hunt......with no birds most the time.
 If you can't scout it does zero good to reserve it. Buy a boat and head to the water, thats as close to a"garanteed spot" your gonna get where you can get a few ducks without serious scouting.

[Stein]

Scout by hunting it.  Sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes it does.  Get out and hunt and the average guy can get into birds several times a week if they want.  It is my first year waterfowl hunting and my last time out I dropped 4 - not a huge haul, but compare that to going elk hunting for the first time in a new area.  There is plenty of land available to the public if a guy is willing to get off the couch, walk, get wet and cold and deal with the occasional bad hunt.

[Colin]

I don't get it. It's public land and our license dollars pay for the lease so that hunters can hunt. I like how the east side does it where if your not there by x:xx am it's open to hunt or scout. Stuff comes up and you can't always hunt when you planned, but the spot shiuld get hit if it's hot. That's what it's there for.

I'm a seattle guy and I get to bang on some birds cause I've made some good friends, share good info, and am willing to pack it out early. stickerbush I intended no disrespect about those that hunt the reservation spots. I think the system that is used is flawed and could be better. Seattle guys get a bad rap but a lot of them deserve it. With that said I've seen some shady stuff by people I know are locals so it's not just a seattle thing.

Wish the reservation system would change a little each year so they can move to something that accommodates the most people.

[bowtechian]

Access has been getting choked up more & more I've seen one of my past spots go fr general hunt spot to wdfw blind with a shell limit & now a private hunt club I have also noticed some of the reservation hunt blinds go un-used a good part of the season. Smoked fish used to get you on some nice ground by knocking on doors   

So just because someone isn't using it the exact time you drive by doesn't mean that it is not used. They get the reservation for the day. Maybe they hunt it in the morning, maybe the afternoon. Good grief!

Hunted from dark to dark on different occasions and not a soul over @ the paticular blind there charlie brown

[Snowgoose1]

Bowtechian you are correct.  Most of the time nobody is on those new club fields.  A lot of the property the geese hit once in a very rare while until they are kicked out.  There are a few that get some ducks.  Give it a season and maybe they will be gone.  I have seen them morning and evening along with my friends who give me reports (not used very often).  They do have a couple of fields that get the attention though.  Right now the birds are really spread out with more rain on the way you have to have the right spot.

[h2ofowlr]

I have been passing many of them in the am & pm as well and they sit empty.  No birds either, so that may be the reason for lack of use!  Poor field selection or poor cover crops.

[gropaga]

Some more info. You pay roughly 130$ to sign up and you get email alerts when there are big flocks in specific fields.

Most of the fields have a blind, but nothing special. The majority have a ditch the runs the edge and middle of the property allowing you to stalk on some geese.

Each time you go out you pay 80-100$ depending on the field location. Its not a big-boy membership club, so you pay to have a decent hunt. Personally I'd rather spend that hundo on 4 boxes of hevi-shot or put it towards a new bow.