# Waterfowl Rest Areas ??? & PLOTS Question ???



## Fetch (Mar 1, 2002)

Who makes them & why ??? Most are old & no longer serve their purpose. I see them as a Roost in areas that SOB's used to use.

I can think of several areas that the SOB's are trying to use the past few years (with high water - all has changed) but they get blasted & move on. No wonder there is not many in areas like there used to be holding SOB's(???)

Same is true for Canadas & ducks but there are so many more places they will Roost. (build-up) before leaving.

Does anyone study this & do things from year to year ??? to improve the situations ???

On PLOTS is it more geared to Deer Hunting Lands ??? Or are equal amounts of wetlands being sought out for waterfowlers ???

What if a landowners wants to enroll his land - But the land is not that good for game animals. (there is some very fine habitat - that really never holds game) Is there a way to rate these - so as to be sure the money is spent on the most productive lands - for hunting ???

Or are these lands being sought in areas high in hunter traffic & areas that are typically posted (tight) ???

Will there ever be a program trying to get harvested fields (leased) for waterfowlers to use ??? Say if you buy a special stamp ???

Why isn't there a Hotline & rent a field business - that landowners could put their fields in & hunters could call & reserve a field (for a fee) ??? Instead of Guides & outfitters getting most of them & only using very few ???


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## tsodak (Sep 7, 2002)

Whew Fetch, a lot of questions there. As far as the rest areas go, I cant speak effectively to that yet. A good question. Could this be an instance where something just is because it has been????

As for plots. Yes and no to all of the questions. Whew that was hard!!! When I go to evaluate a piece of ground, I look at the area, what kind of game, would this be a place I would like to hunt for deer. or pheasants, or ducks. Yes, we are enrolling more wetlands, although it is still probably tipped over strongly towards upland and deer. Is it equal?? No. There are many more instances of needing deer hunting access. And some areas east are heavily posted for deer hunting. I have had a lot of people say that they welcome bird hunters, love/hate deer hunters. Most see them as a nescessary evil for getting numbers into control. Road hunters are a BIG PROBLEM WITH LANDOWNERS!!!!!!! :sniper:

The field question is tough. The program is really not set up to deal with that right now. That is a legislative question. Hope I answered some though. Tom


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