New Draws next year

WilcoKen

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Just saw where Arkansas is doing this to open up "opportunities" for their hunting public:
"The largest expansion to permit-based waterfowl hunts has come from the explosion of the Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program. Thanks to a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, more than 3,800 acres of rice fields are available for weekend hunts to those who successfully draw through the AGFC's permit system. About 40 fields will be available throughout waterfowl season, each of them being rested all week and only allowing hunting on the weekend."

Substitute rice with another crop here in TN and do a similar program for hunters. Leave the WMAs alone! Something like this would serve the purpose of what they say they are trying to do—it's better than what they are talking about doing.
 

tickweed

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I believe they will take their time before doing anything. I think they want to do whats best for everyone involved. Only thing as far as buying blinds goes, why would a group or anyone pay that kind of money for sixty days, when you could buy your own spot, apply that to a yearly payment? Its beyond me.
 

WilcoKen

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I believe they will take their time before doing anything. I think they want to do whats best for everyone involved. Only thing as far as buying blinds goes, why would a group or anyone pay that kind of money for sixty days, when you could buy your own spot, apply that to a yearly payment? Its beyond me.
Good question tickweed—especially in mid TN where duck hunting is pretty bad. I can see how I will be looking for private leases in the coming years. I'm in Middle TN so I'm not really in the know as far as finding those private leases. We've got one lined up in MO next year but honestly that's too far for me. I need something not too far from TN River in order to hunt often like I have here in Middle. I can be in our blinds on Old Hickory within 30 minutes of my house. So I hunt a minimum of 30 days per season. I fear those days are over for me.
 

Crosshairy

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The one thing that I hadn't really heard being addressed in any of the conversations thus far has been around how the season-long blinds have always required some (or a lot) of maintenance to be functional. Brushing in, or outright repairs/construction, have been required to make those spots functional.

Is the TWRA going to start taking responsibility for that so that they can then book those hunts out for 3-day slots?

That was the main reason why the season-long locations actually made sense - there wasn't another practical way to make sure the spots were ready to hunt unless you rewarded someone's efforts with a big chunk of hunting time. If they go to 3-day hunts, folks will probably start brushing a spot out and then tearing it back out before they leave to discourage other folks from having it too easy.

Or are they thinking they will all just be GPS coordinates and you must hunt out of a boat or stand in water, depending on depth?

That part is really weird...
 

Crosshairy

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Here's the layout of Shelby Forest's walk-in spots. This view is from the west, looking east, as if you're hovering over the MS River. The bright red is a very steep bluff, appx. 150' - 200' elevation drop in a very short distance. From there is about a 200 yard trudge through flooded cypress swamp. Once you get to the bottom of the bluff, cell service disappears. Holes #9 and #7 are small (appx. 2 acres), and are each about 200-250 yards from #8, which is probably closer to 3-4 acres. Hole #6 is about 500 yards south of #7, and is more a wide open slough more than an opening in the swamp. So there's not much room to expand access here without really crowding it out. Including my first hunt in 2016, I've only drawn there twice. This is the second year in a row none of my group of 5 has pulled a spot there. Despite its difficulty, it's becoming a pretty sought-after location. There aren't many areas to expand access here, but the Wolf River WMA in Fayette County could sure benefit from a similar program to Thorny Cypress or Bogota. View attachment 60698

There are places in Shelby Forest that are currently not allowable to hunt at all that could be converted to extra draw spots. They call out the southern half of the WMA as being the "Draw hunt" area, but there are flooded sloughs that could theoretically support another spot or two. The north end is way less reliable and not worth it most of the time, so I at least agree with their decision on the idea of not locking it down.
 

drake799

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To my understanding it's just gonna be boat hunting in most of these places which sucks. Everyone keeps saying who's gonna brush the blinds and maintain em.....well no one You know TWRA isn't lol It just a way for TWRA to do a little bit less On top of not having draws in person now they also won't have to worry with people getting blinds put in and finished on time. And also won't have to worry with people getting them out after season either When seasons over they just pull the water and kick back in the AC. It's sad days ahead for TN duck hunters i'm feared. These wmas will go to crap.
 

tickweed

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I have hunted the WMAs, been part of the blind draws, though never drawn, been ever yr to Camden since 1980, but have got to sign on a time or two. I don't see it as gloom and doom for duck hunters. If passed, it will probably become in the end a staked site type of boat hunting, kinda like crockett. Its not near as comfortable hunting out of a boat, I know. I wish TWRA would do something about areas they just open wide open to as many boats that want to hunt, in very small areas. Especially the ones with easy boat access. These need to be limited. These are the ones that need numbered stake sites, instead of 60 boats on 100 acres. Very unsafe, an just kills the hunting in these areas with all the pressure. People start camping out at the ramps Thanksgiving morning, 2 days before season to be first in line to acess one of the few good holes on the WMA. TWRA has many acres that people could spread out better, with limited access. Crazy. Why don't these guys just get a lease? Then you got people shooting low birds right in each others faces. I wish ALL WMAs had a type of daily or weekly draw for waterfowl hunting just for this very reason, especially west Tn. As Crosshairy stated in a previous post, TWRA has lots of acres, especially Tigrett that could support boat sites, staked, that people don't even hunt. Lots of acres on the middle and north fork that people could hunt.
 
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TNGunsmoke

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The one thing no one has mentioned yet about this is the other part of the presentation the other day. The possibility of rest days on the WMAs. If they rest them 2 or 3 days mid-week, it COULD lead to some better hunts on the weekends, but not necessarily. The biggest thing impacting a lot of that lately is lack of ducks, and we can't control the weather or farming practices to our north. And I imagine if you cut off access to the WMAs for by having those rest days, you remove about a third of the season for access which will really tick off some folks.
 

tickweed

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The one thing no one has mentioned yet about this is the other part of the presentation the other day. The possibility of rest days on the WMAs. If they rest them 2 or 3 days mid-week, it COULD lead to some better hunts on the weekends, but not necessarily. The biggest thing impacting a lot of that lately is lack of ducks, and we can't control the weather or farming practices to our north. And I imagine if you cut off access to the WMAs for by having those rest days, you remove about a third of the season for access which will really tick off some folks.
Steve, such a great point. Pressure,pressure,pressure. People just dont get it. Then they wonder why ducks pack the refugees, move mainly at nite. And they do shift due to pressure. They last few years seems to be shifting westward. These areas need rest days. And cut off times could be noon. In my opinion, this is what TWRAs main concern an focus should be.
 

West_Tn

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The one thing that I hadn't really heard being addressed in any of the conversations thus far has been around how the season-long blinds have always required some (or a lot) of maintenance to be functional. Brushing in, or outright repairs/construction, have been required to make those spots functional.

Is the TWRA going to start taking responsibility for that so that they can then book those hunts out for 3-day slots?
That's a joke. Even if that is what they actually wanted to do the simply don't have the money, or the man power to come remotely close to getting it done. They can talk all the BS they want like they did at the last meeting about them possibly taking care of it, or even subcontracting it out. They'll never do that it's just not feasible. They said that to simply try and calm people down in my opinion.

Just look at the numbers. There are 454 permanent blinds. We all know what it takes to build one. Trying to save money you could probably build one for around $1500-$2000. Easily more if you wanted to build it nice. If TWRA took it over they would understandably build them as cheap as possible. Even if they found a way to do it for $1000 a blind thats $454,000.

That's just building them...they will still need to be brushed. No way on earth can TWRA cut brush and haul it to 13 wma's and brush 454 duck blinds. That's no knock on TWRA that's just an impossible task.
 

WilcoKen

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That's a joke. Even if that is what they actually wanted to do the simply don't have the money, or the man power to come remotely close to getting it done. They can talk all the BS they want like they did at the last meeting about them possibly taking care of it, or even subcontracting it out. They'll never do that it's just not feasible. They said that to simply try and calm people down in my opinion.

Just look at the numbers. There are 454 permanent blinds. We all know what it takes to build one. Trying to save money you could probably build one for around $1500-$2000. Easily more if you wanted to build it nice. If TWRA took it over they would understandably build them as cheap as possible. Even if they found a way to do it for $1000 a blind thats $454,000.

That's just building them...they will still need to be brushed. No way on earth can TWRA cut brush and haul it to 13 wma's and brush 454 duck blinds. That's no knock on TWRA that's just an impossible task.
TWRA knowing all this, tells me they are setting all this up to end permanent blinds. And that will be a shame.
 

Pic IN the Casa

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TWRA knowing all this, tells me they are setting all this up to end permanent blinds. And that will be a shame.
Yes. The speaker at the last meeting threw out an idea of DU or Delta Waterfowl 'sponsoring' blinds. That tells me they haven't even thought that far in advance.
It's almost like Obama care. We have to pass the bill before you see what's in it.
 
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Levee Jumper

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The state actually did build some in places back in the beginning when there was a handheld draw every morning at the boat ramp. They provided 4 man brushed blinds and john boats. I think that was mostly due to the fact that the Corps of Engineers screwed up the duck hunting bad when they decided to dredge the rivers in most of west Tennessee and the state was looking to help fix the situation.

That being said, the state is not going to be in the business of providing blinds, and if they did you would much rather be in a good boat blind. If this moves forward then there will be a little brown metal sign nailed to hundreds of trees throughout the state where you can hunt out of your own boat if drawn. If existing 3 or 4 day hunt draws are any indication of actual attendance, I would venture to bet that approximately 40-50% of all sites will not get hunted each day.

People get all butt hurt about having equal opportunities, but when they get drawn for a spot that they have no idea about and have never layed eyes on, they consistently find an excuse not to show up. Talking about shooting limits of mallards gets everyone fired up to put in for a draw hunt 3-8 hours away but actually putting in and drawing a good spot, having good conditions, having fresh ducks and having the right set up to kill them is an entirely different situation.
 

WilcoKen

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People get all butt hurt about having equal opportunities, but when they get drawn for a spot that they have no idea about and have never layed eyes on, they consistently find an excuse not to show up. Talking about shooting limits of mallards gets everyone fired up to put in for a draw hunt 3-8 hours away but actually putting in and drawing a good spot, having good conditions, having fresh ducks and having the right set up to kill them is an entirely different situation
This nails it 100%...And it will happen without a doubt. I cannot stand waste and if the new system is like we think, public land resources will be wasted. Trying to solve a perceived problem (lack of opportunity) will be creating a much bigger problem that will be real. We WILL see the waste of the resource.
 

drake799

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Exactly right people are gonna draw these spots then do a little internet scouting and find out " the killin" is happening and won't show. People
That think they're just gonna get a blind in West Tn and come kill em are sadly mistaken lol. I'd hate to take off work and drive across the state to hunt 3 days kill 10-15 ducks and have to drive 3-5 hrs home lol. And spend the night in a hotel a few of those nights. Be some expensive ducks
 

younggun308

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I wish they allowed blind jumping in Chickamauga blind WMAs. I live less than an hour from all but one of them (less than half an hour from more than half of them). It would increase the odds that they get hunted on weekdays and not just weekends. I'll always put in for the 3-day hunts, and eventually I'll draw. But it would be nice to be able to roll the dice on a weekday morning.
But the agency is probably convinced, with good reason, that agents will end up wasting hours breaking up fistfights if they allow blind hoppers. At the very least they should have a sunrise draw for unoccupied blinds if anyone is in the parking lot.

I have a buddy in Illinois who deer hunted in a State Forest where they assign you a somewhat loosely labeled "zone." First-come, first-serve to a point, but also works in such a way that if someone leaves the spot opens back up. That would mean someone from the agency has to be present, though.
 

Levee Jumper

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Exactly right people are gonna draw these spots then do a little internet scouting and find out " the killin" is happening and won't show. People
That think they're just gonna get a blind in West Tn and come kill em are sadly mistaken lol. I'd hate to take off work and drive across the state to hunt 3 days kill 10-15 ducks and have to drive 3-5 hrs home lol. And spend the night in a hotel a few of those nights. Be some expensive ducks
You have to remember that these are the same folks that are happy going to reelfoot and paying $200/head/day to scratch down 7-8 scrap ducks at 80 yards high.... It's sad but it's true.
 

Smashdn

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I bet most of those leftover blinds at Old Hickory were computer draws that people decided they weren't into duck hunting as much as they thought.
They were. Most were complete rebuilds too. People who drew them decided it wasn't worth rebuilding from where the old blind was burned.

One problem I see with the blinds is that people who build them just don't have much in the way of carpentry skills. You can't build a blind or of untreated pallet wood and expect it to lay more than one season. OSB should be forbidden too.

It takes at least four full weekends to build one right from scratch and brush it. Most guys don't want to invest that time when other hunting seasons are open.
 

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