Have corn pond complexes affected your 2018 duck season?

[full choke]

Someone has something you want. You can't or won't work to get it, so let's remove it as an option for everyone else. My word.

Let's apply the same logic to something else. I can't afford /don't want to spend the money on a Nightforce scope. Let's ban them since I can't have it. I want to hunt a bunch of out of state tags but can't afford to do that. No more out of state tags! I can't afford to spend $10k to have someone plant a bunch of corn on my land. So let's ban it for everyone!

Come on you guys. You give somebody an inch, they take a mile. Don't remove opportunities for others to have simply because you're being selfish and want more opportunities for yourself. This is a way bigger issue than simply wanting to shoot another bird or two every time you go out into the marsh.

If you are going to make a comparison, at least make one that works. It is not about "I want what they have". Have you ever hunted in Eastern Washington where the large complexes are?
Have all the ponds you want on private property. Have all the cornfields you want- just don't flood the corn. It is the two together that makes the difference.

I won't even comment on the selfish thing...

[JBG]

Guess what guys.  I did some research on harvest statistics for some federal wildlife refuges south of Eagle Lakes in Washington and Oregon.  The stats go back to 2010 which was a time when there were complexes.  Harvest numbers in one refuge has either varied by +/- 600 year to year so pretty consistent and highest numbers in the last 3 years.  In the case of the other refuge harvest numbers have almost gone up 2.5x.  So rest assured that the corn complexes making your hunting worse than what it was are unfounded at least within the last 7 or 8 years. 

[huntnfmly]

Guess what guys.  I did some research on harvest statistics for some federal wildlife refuges south of Eagle Lakes in Washington and Oregon.  The stats go back to 2010 which was a time when there were complexes.  Harvest numbers in one refuge has either varied by +/- 600 year to year so pretty consistent and highest numbers in the last 3 years.  In the case of the other refuge harvest numbers have almost gone up 2.5x.  So rest assured that the corn complexes making your hunting worse than what it was are unfounded at least within the last 7 or 8 years. 

Thanks JBG that goes  straight to my point I've been saying all day that the complex benefits the waterfowl and hunting

[cougforester]

Someone has something you want. You can't or won't work to get it, so let's remove it as an option for everyone else. My word.

Let's apply the same logic to something else. I can't afford /don't want to spend the money on a Nightforce scope. Let's ban them since I can't have it. I want to hunt a bunch of out of state tags but can't afford to do that. No more out of state tags! I can't afford to spend $10k to have someone plant a bunch of corn on my land. So let's ban it for everyone!

Come on you guys. You give somebody an inch, they take a mile. Don't remove opportunities for others to have simply because you're being selfish and want more opportunities for yourself. This is a way bigger issue than simply wanting to shoot another bird or two every time you go out into the marsh.

If you are going to make a comparison, at least make one that works. It is not about "I want what they have". Have you ever hunted in Eastern Washington where the large complexes are?
Have all the ponds you want on private property. Have all the cornfields you want- just don't flood the corn. It is the two together that makes the difference.

I won't even comment on the selfish thing...

I really am not trying to ruffle feathers (hey oh!  ) too badly. If your hunts have been impacted by neighboring complexes then that's a bummer.

The property next to me is a big gun club. They can afford to plant and flood a huge amount of corn. Guess what. It borders public. They shoot birds that spill off the the club that didn't use to be there until the corn was planted. I shoot more birds that come off there too. 

[metlhead]

Anyone here have any experience hunting the Sacremento valley? It has a massive rice complex. How has it affected public lands, or migration patterns?

[92xj]

And corn.

And hunting on windy days

[92xj]

And corn.

And hunting on windy days

In dry fields during snow!! Talk about unfair for the mallards

[Samloffler]

Loophole this, loophole that. We all agree that hunting most public land isn't much fun. Lots of people, and it seems like so few birds. We've all been frustrated this year. Eagle lakes and others like them are just a business. There is nothing stopping you from working out a hunting lease with a farmer in the basin. start a business and undercut eagle lakes and you'll be golden.

I'm not saying I totally disagree with you though. I always shake my head when I drive by and see the clouds of ducks over sugar ranch.

Calling out eagle lakes is a little unfair. They're far from the only offender in the area. Every wet spot from connell to the Columbia is private and managed for waterfowl. Eagle lakes is just better at slinging it all over the internet.

[Guzman]

You guy are just noticing? I have had large concerns for 20 years. When you see these places first hand you will start to understand. And there are more now and will be more in the future. Now it almost seems like the corn complexes have got to a point that they are competing with each other and aren’t as good as they once were. All the while public areas have become void of ducks. I would say 90% of them are in the Othello- Basin city area out to Royal city. Just wait as they continue to expand out Skagit, Umatilla etc. I don’t see how this is good for hunting and utilizing the resources.

[singleshot12]

Maybe something will finally be done after a massive die-off and that it can be proven that concentrating birds off of their natural flyway was the cause.

Hunting is loosing it's meaning more and more each year. These big operations don't care about spreading the wealth. They are basically stealing a public resource to fatten their bank accounts regardless of any negative impact it has on birds and other hunters. 

[Jonathan_S]

Aren't waterfowl populations trending up over the past 30 years?  I know people who still do just fine hunting in the middle of all that country.

I get that it sucks as a waterfowler and it's a feast or famine game already even without flooded crop fields. How private land managers elect to manage affects all kinds of hunting and it's just the way it is.  Also I doubt it's going to cause any massive die-off 

[singleshot12]

Sure populations have gone up, problem is 90% of them are currently only available to about 10% of the hunters who are willing to pay big bucks to shoot an easy limit.

[Dan-o]

I hate the thought of telling people how they can utilize their own land......


(But I do understand there's an issue.)

[EWUeagles]

Guess what guys.  I did some research on harvest statistics for some federal wildlife refuges south of Eagle Lakes in Washington and Oregon.  The stats go back to 2010 which was a time when there were complexes.  Harvest numbers in one refuge has either varied by +/- 600 year to year so pretty consistent and highest numbers in the last 3 years.  In the case of the other refuge harvest numbers have almost gone up 2.5x.  So rest assured that the corn complexes making your hunting worse than what it was are unfounded at least within the last 7 or 8 years.

Care to post the link? I do have some concern about the stats. You have to look at more than just harvest rates and you would need stats pre-corn complexes. Birds populations during that time should also come into play when looking at those numbers. Also looking at refuges is a very small sample size of the overall public land ground. I'm not saying you're wrong but I know stats lie (first lesson taught is stats class).

[Samloffler]

So who is going to step up and run the waterfowl Bernie campaign for governor? Redistribution of ducks evenly and fairly for everyone.

You guys keep referencing the "fairness" of the birds being concentrated. That's life. Sorry. Like I said before, there is nothing stopping you from paying to hunt one of these spots, or building your own, but money. Again, get used to it. There is always going to be someone with more money and cooler toys than you. I know for a fact that all these ranches in the basin are trying to compete with each other. At least eagle lakes will let you hunt theirs. Most of the ranches are purely private and only hunted by people with the same last name.