ARKANSAS SPORTSMAN : Waterfowl hunters let off steam at public meetings
Posted on Sunday, June 8, 2008
Only 13 people attended the public waterfowl regulations meeting Tuesday at Little Rock, but they were in a customarily raucous mood.
Surprisingly, they took it easy on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission staff and spent most of their time arguing with each other, which suggests all is well within the Arkansas duck hunting family.
Because data from the May pond counts and breeding pair surveys aren’t in yet, the AGFC does not know if the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose another liberal, 60-day season with a daily six-bird bag limit for 2008-2009. The AGFC seems to anticipate a liberal season, but waterfowl biologists from other states expect a moderate season that could go to restrictive within three years. They have told me that the loss of breeding habitat because of corn production will drastically reduce duck numbers in the near future.
For this year, however, the AGFC is considering several items. They include increasing the daily bag limit on wood ducks, opening the entire state to the early Canada goose season, allowing an extra hour for waterfowl hunters to get out of the woods on wildlife management areas, increasing the daily bag limit of hen mallards and removing shotshell restrictions on WMAs during the special youth waterfowl season.
Madison Mason, a college student who attended Tuesday’s meeting, complained about the timing of the three-segment splits in the past few years. He said closing the season during the Christmas holiday prohibits high school and college students from hunting for a significant amount of time while they’re out of school.
“I’m in college, and half of my season is closed,” Mason said. “How are we supposed to recruit new hunters when they can’t hunt ?”
Jeff Langston, who said he’s hunted for 29 years at Bayou Meto WMA, had several comments about Bayou Meto. He criticized the way the AGFC manages water at the WMA, and he asked the AGFC to enforce the shotshell restriction better at Bayou Meto. He said many hunters smuggle in more than 15 shells, which he said leads to skybusting. Langston also requested that the AGFC increase the daily bag limit to four mallards, instead of three, and permit nonresidents to hunt at Bayou Meto only during the week.
Langston said he has seen guides operate recently in Bayou Meto, but said they’re discreet and not as abusive as they were before the AGFC banned guiding on WMAs.
Randy DeLay requested that the AGFC make it possible to get snow goose hunting permits online, and also to use electronic calls for the entire goose season.
Brian Ester opposed lifting the shotshell restriction during the youth season.
One person asked for a show of hands to show support for lifting the ban on spinning wing decoys. Seven of 13 responded.
That’s the sum of comments directed at the AGFC. When the floor closed, the extracurricular arguments started and lasted almost as long as the formal meeting. The most vigorous exchange was between Matthew Finley, state director for Quail Unlimited, and a retired Air Force master sergeant over historic flood pulses in the Mississippi Delta.
DAGMAR DEDICATION On Wednesday, the AGFC renamed Dagmar WMA in honor of former commissioner Sheffield Nelson. It is now called Sheffield Nelson / Dagmar WMA, a fitting tribute to a commissioner who dedicated his service to improving hunting and fishing opportunities for the public. If you haven’t visited Dagmar, you’re missing a treat. Named after the Dagmar community, which disbanded after the great flood of 1927, the 8, 000-acre area became a WMA in 1952. Dagmar is largely forested in bottomland hardwoods, which provide superb habitat for whitetailed deer and squirrel. Deer hunting is allowed by special permit, but access is free and open for small game hunters. During the winter, it can also be an excellent place to hunt ducks. Scott Henderson, director of the AGFC, said it’s probably the only WMA that’s more popular with fishermen than hunters. Bracketed on the north and south by the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Sheffield Nelson / Dagmar WMA is a maze of cypress- and tupelostudded sloughs and oxbows 6 miles west of Brinkley in Monroe County. Access is excellent for those wanting to experience world-class fishing for bream, crappie and catfish. Bass fishing is pretty good at times, too. Hickson Lake, a 30-acre oxbow, is one of the prettiest, as is 200-acre Apple Lake. Bayou DeView
3 flows 3 / 4 miles through the WMA, and Robe Bayou offers about 7 miles of fishable water within WMA boundaries.
The most intimate, rewarding way to explore the WMA is by canoe or kayak. Take a fishing rod, a tube of crickets and a camera for an unforgettable experience.
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