A Chink In The Armour Of Quick Draw!

[jdmidwest]

MDC haa tried for years to screw up the hunting at the best areas that they are supposed to provide. Years back at Otter Slough, they went to the all party draw to choke out the single hunter that decided to hunt without a bunch of others. Then came the Quick Draw System, hunters could put in and see what they got ahead of time on a weekly basis, no reservations. I applied every day last year and was chosen for one draw, it was a frozen out time of the year when the ice was thick. But I have a big axe, the hunt was good and we killed a good lot of ducks. Others I know were chosen and declined several times because they did not have a good pill. Even the last pick at the areas can produce a limit of ducks if you can figure out how the ducks are working the area and decoy them in. Several years back, I drew pill 2 and picked what the area rep thought was the worst spot. I put out 7 dekes and killed a limit of mallards and 2 other ducks.

What I realized was that a lot of hunters applied and were chosen, but did not show up. This skewed the morning draw to the point that the poor line hunters did not attempt to try since most of the good positions were tossed out in the Quick Draw. Then, there was still the all party draw. The all party draw system just guaranties most hunters will get out to the area after shooting hours and most ducks have left the area in the commotion.

I purpose to kill the Quick Draw System, Kill the All Party Draw, and manage the areas to the point that all hunters can enjoy what our tax dollars have been used for to allow us some prime waterfowl habitat to hunt.

Go back to the old ways, they really work. Schell Osage was Great! Otter Slough, you need some pointers.

Quick Draw Errors!

[Feathers and Fins]

If you want the Best system I have ever seen or been part of it is how the California Fish and Game handles the draw system or at least use to.

1. Hunters send in for area and date they wish to hunt $1.00 fee per day and per are

( it was common to put in for multiple areas for the same day)

2. Random computer generated numbers assigned to the hunter

( if hunter selected more than one area the computer insured they did not get the same number for each spot) This actually allowed for a hunter to submit for multiple refuges and then hunt the one he wanted or had best reservation number for.

3. No limit on amount of days you can apply for any refuge

( I typically applied for 2 refuges every Sat,Sun and Wend of the season)

4. Assigned a number to winners of the draw date from 1 to whatever

5. Number 1 picks first and so on until all reservations are filled

6. Sweat line is dealt out numbers the night before at 10pm by ping pong raffle or the morning of the hunt in first come first serve order depending on the refuge.

7. 3am blinds are issued, first to reservation then to sweat line

8. Fill in is from 1^st party checking in till 2pm

I seldom did not get a spot in the morning and the few times I did not I was within the first 10 to refill spots as people came out. This allowed for almost everyone to get to hunt. Nice thing about refill is if you had a bad spot in the AM you could refill later and try and get a better spot. Also Refills had the ability to cherry pick spots. #1 refill could opt out and allow others to go ahead of him. So long as he held #1 refill he was always given the opportunity to YEA or NEA the refill. This was a great boom for people who wanted a specific blind and also a way to hook up with other hunters.

I wish MDOC would use this method. EVERYONE HUNTS and EVERYONE gets to use the facility.

[jdmidwest]

If I remember right, at first when I started hunting public land, we shelled out $5 each at the start of the draw. And the areas even offered dekes for rent.

They rolled the dice and you decided to pick or pass, fall back and roll again. It took some time also, but most ended up hunting something.

[Feathers and Fins]

What gets me is why is there noplace in the southwest region that is managed for waterfowl? Nearest is 4rivers and Schell which is a 2.5 to 3hr drive for me. You would think with Springfield and Joplin's populations the MDC would have a managed area in the region. Shawnee Trail could easily be turned into a managed wetlands with a little effort.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Actually Shawnee Trail has an area that is managed for waterfowl. You will have to do a lot of walking though. In fact, the MDC rebuilt several of the ponds this year. This year due to the drought and some vandals that drained one of the ponds, hunting will be nothing like it was last year.

There are numerous other MDC areas that are not "known" as duck centers here in SWMO, but hold more ducks and geese than you have shells to shoot. But again, due to the drought conditions this year, I would be hesitant to drive up from AR just to find no water.

[jdmidwest]

There are several areas across the state that could be managed for waterfowl but I doubt if they would put out the money for the levees, wells, ditches, and manpower. But the "southern zone" of Missouri is lacking waterfowl managed area except for lakes and rivers.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I guess it is all in how you look at it. When I sat in my blind last year at Shawnee Trail while deer hunting, I estimated near 1000 waterfowl for the day. Not bad for an area not managed for it. But the next day was half that. SWMO has thousands upon thousands of acres of row crops with numerous surface acres of ponds and lakes. Short of a flashing neon "Vacancy" sign, I don't know what else you want. But as you move east, that does become less. Until you get closer to the bootheel. But again, you can't have everything in your back yard. Sometimes you have to work a little for it.

[Feathers and Fins]

Chief, I know many of the areas you speak opf and do hunt them. Heck i am sitting at Browning as i type this, have to go to KS for a bid today and thought what better way to start a day then to leave early and drive up here to see the lake come alive.. Anyway my point was we need managed areas not areas that are just maintained.

[Outside Bend]

No system's perfect, and while I'm no fan of quick draw I can understand why MDC would think letting waterfowlers know if they can hunt ahead of time would be a benefit. Similar thing with the party rule- MDC's just trying to ensure the largest number of people get to hunt on a given day. Maybe a decent compromise would be alternating weeks- one week the party system/quick draw, the next week giving both parties and single hunters equal opportunity to draw a spot. May make regulations a bit more confusing, but over the course of the season it may level the playing field a bit.

As far as creating more areas, I'd rather see MDC engage in sportsman's easements with private landowners. If MDC wants to purchase acreage for "real" wetland restoration- creating natural water regimes, restoring native flora and fauna, managing habitat for shorebirds, songbirds, herps, fish, etc, I could get behind that. But if the point is to flood cornfields to concentrate ducks, I'd rather see MDC work with private landowners to open up some of their property to public hunting. Maybe it's just a pipe dream (especially given the lucrative nature of waterfowl leases), but it's an idea.

There's also a ton of acreage between the levees on our major riverways, much of which is publicly owned and essentially unmanaged from a wildlife perspective. Perhaps the Corps, MDC, Fish & Wildlife, DU, even Audobon Society and other orgs could get together to create some wetland habitat in these corridors.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Chief, I know many of the areas you speak opf and do hunt them. Heck i am sitting at Browning as i type this, have to go to KS for a bid today and thought what better way to start a day then to leave early and drive up here to see the lake come alive.. Anyway my point was we need managed areas not areas that are just maintained.

I see your point. But as in Shawnee for example, it is managed for dove and quail. Though I like dove and quail, it should be managed for the Greater Prairie Chicken. I'll stop there before I get off on another tangent.

Most other CA's in SWMO are not large enough to be properly managed for waterfowl. Most are small prairie remnants. And most of them are really too small to be managed for any specific species. A lot of them are about 100 acres or less. And many of them also have shallow pond/lakes that can and do hold a respectable number of ducks during the winter months.

And I just want to go on the record as saying I am no fan of the QD system either. I have never tried it as I don't really want to get into all of that mess. To dang many people for me. I like hitting the smaller out of the way areas best.