samish DU land

[addicted]

me and a buddy are heading out to that samish island public hunting area in the morning. (if he shows up) and it will be our first time hunting out there. anyone got any tips. should we try to set up decoys in one of the ponds. or just sit out on the dike.  any help would be cool guys.

[Otto1]

get there real early and bring some patience.. Remember it is a 15 shell limit, make your shots count, and BTW DU does not own that land its owned by the WDFW

[addicted]

thanks otto.  i kept hearing mismatched info on the owner ship.

[addicted]

holy crap you werent kidding about the early part. i got there around 430 440 and there was already a dozen trucks. got skunked too. still a great morning

[Hermit]

It gets a lot better in cold rough weather.

[Otto1]

thanks otto.  i kept hearing mismatched info on the owner ship.

I do believe DU has no land ownerships in the US

[addicted]

went out saturday and today. had more shots on saturday but got one sunday. im just not that great of a shot i guess. hahaha no surprise. weather was too nice today.

[PatoLoco]

Yeah, WDFW owns the land. DU parterned with them, as they do with many public and private landowners, to develop the ponds/wetlands on the site. Last time I was there not many of the ponds had much water yet, as there hasn't been a lot of rain.
Something to note is in the regs under the 15 shell limit section it is referred to as the "Welts (West 90) Unit of the Skagit Wildlife Area in Skagit County", which doesn't mean squat to a lot of people. There is a 15 shell limit sign in the parking lot though.

[ck]

Maybe it should be 10 shells, and really encourage people to hunt over decoys.  The birds decoy pretty well even in bluebird weather, but the guys standing in the fields yelling at their dogs and "pass shooting" really screw things up.

[addicted]

mr ranger showed up while i was on my way out the other day and tested my teal for all the crap ya know. avian bird flu, lead poisioning and whatever else he can learn from sticking a cue tip up the birds butt. lol

[Otto1]

that is not Mr. Ranger that is just some perverted individual that gets his kicks out of dressing up like someone important and making people afield think he is some authoritative figure.   

ya, he was out there when I was there, even came out to the pond I was hunting and asked to see my birds. Real polite and obviously knew about hunting, wore camo and got down when ducks were in the air, very quick and efficient and was gone. Sure wished his side kick gal would have stayed a little longer thou

[ArtistNhunter2]

This is my favorite place to hunt ducks. The ponds or flooded fields with decoys can be very good, weather depending.
Haven't seen any biologists, good looking or otherwise, usually just Federal Agent Paul. That was last year. Going back up there in 2 weeks.