re: Duck boats in Venice....

VIDEO

Venice is very hard hunting. It's very rewarding, but it's rough. I'm actually surprised how there are more and more people hunting down there every year.

I made the decision last week that I need to get in as much Venice hunting as I can while I'm young

There is no other place like it. High risk, high reward... Very high reward.

quote:

---

After reading this thread, if I was forced to hunt Venice or quit duck hunting, I think I would pull the plug on it. I am not mad at them enough anymore to go through this kind of life or death misery for a duck.

---

If you experience Venice when it's on one time, you'll understand why people do the work. Something about picking out sprigs over teal and spoonbills swimming circles in your decoys is pretty awesome .

I tell my kids all the time how great they have it to be able to go down to the camp. Trout, reds, bass, flounder, ducks, deer and hogs. Something to catch or kill almost all year long. I don't know how all those guys carry all that gear to camp at the campgrounds. Our Bay boat is always loaded and we have a camp there.

If the amount of people keeps increasing the way it has the last 3 years, I think the duck numbers will start to dwindle. No matter what place you hunt, if there's too much pressure, the ducks will find other places to go.

Tuna part of me agrees and part of me wonders if you are wrong.

A few observations...

Back in the baiting days you could not physically shoot birds off feed, as long as the marsh is healthy you seemingly can't shoot them out of Venice, yes the move to the bays and gulf during the day but they stay in the area. My basis for this is Baptiste Collette, it's absolutely loaded with hunters, more hunters than would seemingly be possible and they still kill the shite out of ducks. I haven't hunted over there in years as there is just too many people.

I agree the pressure is too great and sooner or later there will be changes but some parts of me wonder as long as the groceries are there thick I think the birds will likely be there too.

quote:

---

as long as the groceries are there thick I think the birds will likely be there too.

---

People seem to forget how lucky we have been the last 6-7 years with the Tropical storms. We had a dismal few years down there the couple of years between Katrina and Gustav. Throughout that time period they a bunch of TS's that wiped out feed on the entire East side from Venice to Canarvon. It takes at least 2-3 years for duck potatoes to come back thick after even a moderate storm/large tidal event.

I am a believer in Imprinting, and the idea ducks return to the same spot year after year as long as there is a stable food source. When the feed was wiped out numerous times in a couple year span we definitely saw a decrease in ducks that seemed to get worse every time we lost more feed before the season. I remember getting excited seeing a patch of duck potatoes 30-40ft long. Now you can go to spots on the Delta where DP's cover the entire bay (or at least large portions of it).

Unfortunately we will not see a decrease in the number of hunters as long as Venice is holding ducks (basically until a couple of storms move through back to back and wipe out the habitat which no one wants or plaquemines paris/WLF/PAL figures out a legal way to reduce/ban the use of surface drives from Sept-February which I doubt will ever happen.

Nah, I was just joking around with a podna for posting TMI. He came back with a strong edit after I called him out so I just kept playing along. Between using a pic ofmy dog in my AVI and posting a pic of my dock/hunting boat I am not really worried about hiding my identity.



Our camp is on a ditch with a few other camps, but it's not the pipeline canal that is usually referred too as the camp canal. What's the story with the redfish boat? If it has anything to do with blocking access I wouldn't be surprised if it happened by my camp. I don't see how anyone onyone on the camp Canal would have the right to block access to anyone but I absolutely could see someone over that way talking shite or threatening a tourney fisherman for blowing past their camps pushing a big wake.