Heads up CT Waterfowl Regs Meeting date

S

SJ Fairbank

Well-known member
Supporter
Someone else has probably posted regarding this but just in case, I copied this from the DEEP website:

Attention Migratory Bird Hunters: The Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations Meeting, which has been held in late July/early August in years past, will be held on Friday, April 1, 2016, from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, in the upstairs conference room at Cabela's, 475 East Hartford Blvd. N., East Hartford.
 
These good ole days sure are swell, NOTHING ever gets better. Not worth wasting your time going to it.

Good thing DEEP positions aren't determined by vote.
 
I sense bitterness and disillusionment Chris. Don't let it get you down, you have many years to look forward to. Let us old farts complain.

OTOH, when I saw the April 1st date, I thought how apropos.
 
Someone else has probably posted regarding this but just in case, I copied this from the DEEP website:

Attention Migratory Bird Hunters: The Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations Meeting, which has been held in late July/early August in years past, will be held on Friday, April 1, 2016, from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, in the upstairs conference room at Cabela's, 475 East Hartford Blvd. N., East Hartford.
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Can you buy overpriced lousy food too since it si at Cablelas?

It has been a few years since I've been to one of those meetings, but I'm guessing not much has changed.
 
Last edited:
Someone else has probably posted regarding this but just in case, I copied this from the DEEP website:

Attention Migratory Bird Hunters: The Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations Meeting, which has been held in late July/early August in years past, will be held on Friday, April 1, 2016, from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, in the upstairs conference room at Cabela's, 475 East Hartford Blvd. N., East Hartford.
Click to expand...

Can you buy overpriced lousy food too since it si at Cablelas?

It has been a few years since I've been to one of those meetings, but I'm guessing not much has changed.
Click to expand...

Since you already know that FWS have proposed a liberal season with same length season, same bag limits, and same species restrictions, I am just curious what is on the table besides season dates?
 
Can you buy overpriced lousy food too since it si at Cablelas?

It has been a few years since I've been to one of those meetings, but I'm guessing not much has changed.
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I bet you can still buy the same fine food. Yum, do you take low dose aspirin too?

What I'm interested in is the spin with the meeting in the spring. No doubt the pre-determined seasons will be based on superior stats compared to the "old" way. Our leaders at USFWS & DEEP know what's best, I trust them.
 
There are a number of changes that you will see.



1. Due to concerns over all sea duck populations, the USFWS and the Atlantic Flyway have agreed to reduce the sea duck season to 60 days and to reduce the overall bag limit to 5 sea ducks, of which no more than 4 can be of any species. In CT we have been at 5 birds for quite some time, the change now is to reduce the season to 60 days.



The USFWS has proposed to include the sea duck bag in with the regular duck bag. This change likely won't occur for a year or so. would you be willing to roll the sea duck bag into the regular duck bag now???



2. If climate change is going to result in milder and later winters, do we want more days in the late season than in the early season? We will not hunt later than January 20. There are biological concerns with that, as well as some energetic concerns. But, we can shift days from the early season to the late season if hunters want more days later. Let us know. Right now we have taken 3 days off of the inland early season and put those into the late season.



3. The brant season will be a 50 day, 2 bird season. The brant midwinter count was about 45,000 more birds than the previous year. This is not biologically possible. Brant have experienced 4 years of very bad production, and last year we debated closing the season. This population has been slowly declining over the past 8 years. We are bound by a hunt plan in the Atlantic Brant management plan that has set, prescribed seasons for different population levels. With the new regulatory cycle in which we are setting seasons based on year old data, we have no leeway in being more conservative than what the plan calls for. The plan calls for a 60 day/2 bird season. We are advocating a more conservative approach.



The pamphlet should be out by July. The new regulatory cycle now allows us to get the pamphlet printed and distributed well in advance of the coming season.
 
Our leaders at USFWS & DEEP know what's best, I trust them.[/QUOTE]


LOL. Think for yourself question authority.


if people only knew what i learned when i worked for the DEEP. there is only one person i trust there, he actually cared.
 
I think everything is already set for duck season. The only thing most duck hunters that hunt the south zone want is to hunt one more week in Jan. and that is not going to happen. I wonder if he will let us hunt until the 21st and close on a Sat. ???? All they are going to talk about is goose season dates and how bad all the populations are (but we are still in a liberal season).
Pete
 
Sad to see the end of the sea duck season. At the risk of starting a s**t-storm I will opine that if it wasn't legal to guide for sea ducks there wouldn't be a problem. The constant 8-12 bird pounding every day for 3 months takes a toll. Because the birds require such specialized equipment to pursue them, the pressure would drop right off. A weekend warrior like me, who has as much or more gear than any guide, only hunts a few weekends. But I'm sure someone smarter than me has statistics that say I'm all wrong.

Note how the plan cqlls for a 60 day/2 brant limit but "The brant season will be 50 days/2 birds". One more example of how much input from the public means. Not that I disagree, just that the deal is done beforehand.
 
Someone else has probably posted regarding this but just in case, I copied this from the DEEP website:

Attention Migratory Bird Hunters: The Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations Meeting, which has been held in late July/early August in years past, will be held on Friday, April 1, 2016, from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM, in the upstairs conference room at Cabela's, 475 East Hartford Blvd. N., East Hartford.
Click to expand...

Can you buy overpriced lousy food too since it si at Cablelas?

It has been a few years since I've been to one of those meetings, but I'm guessing not much has changed.
Click to expand...

Since you already know that FWS have proposed a liberal season with same length season, same bag limits, and same species restrictions, I am just curious what is on the table besides season dates?
Click to expand...

See Chris' post below...
 
Now I don't live in sea duck land and I have never hunted them. Seen 5 down here (1 surf, 1 oldsquaw and 3 white-wings) in almost 20 years.
BUT:
Given the known long term trend in sea duck populations (down) and there reproductive biology (hens don't nest for first 2-3 years, relatively low fecundity compared to other waterfowl), I have wondered for years why sea duck season was open from October to the end of January with an additive bag limit.
I kinda figured it was only a matter of time before that ended and am surprised its taken this long.


On another note, our season dates will most likely be 11/25 & 26 and then 12/03 - 01/29.
 
I understand that sea ducks are trending down and a shorter season would be advisable. But combining the sea duck limit with "regular" ducks is bull. It sucks that mergansers are included in this limit as well.

I eat what I kill. Mergs, eider, old squaw, what people call trash ducks. I call those people poor cooks.


Everything gets chipped away, no one gets outraged and eventually we can't kill anything.

I'm surprised they don't initiate binocular permits, "looking at breeding pairs leads to performance anxiety and limp erections leading to lower sperm count and decreased fecundity" (Haung, et al. 2015)


Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!
 
You eat fishcrates? Eiders, OldSquaw, scoters ok, but shelldrakes? You are one of a kind kid.

You probably know this, but the mergansers got lumped in for purely political reasons. Our leaders at DEEP's view is that it just "looks bad" to shoot stuff most guys won't eat, and they know best. Last time I shot about 200 crows, I don't remember eating them. Next it's crows, pigeons, starlings and English sparrows.
 
You eat fishcrates? Eiders, OldSquaw, scoters ok, but shelldrakes? You are one of a kind kid.

You probably know this, but the mergansers got lumped in for purely political reasons. Our leaders at DEEP's view is that it just "looks bad" to shoot stuff most guys won't eat, and they know best. Last time I shot about 200 crows, I don't remember eating them. Next it's crows, pigeons, starlings and English sparrows.
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Political reasons? I thought it was so young hunters could feel more successful and get their limit?
 
Squab is good, they are fun to shoot off the cow barns

Why kill something and not eat it?

I think wanton waste is pathetic and should be enforced by stripping liscences. If u don't eat it some one will.

I do not understand trophy hunters.
 
Squab is good, they are fun to shoot off the cow barns

Why kill something and not eat it?

I think wanton waste is pathetic and should be enforced by stripping liscences. If u don't eat it some one will.

I do not understand trophy hunters.
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I'll drop em off at your house. :-)
 
You eat fishcrates? Eiders, OldSquaw, scoters ok, but shelldrakes? You are one of a kind kid.

You probably know this, but the mergansers got lumped in for purely political reasons. Our leaders at DEEP's view is that it just "looks bad" to shoot stuff most guys won't eat, and they know best. Last time I shot about 200 crows, I don't remember eating them. Next it's crows, pigeons, starlings and English sparrows.
Click to expand...

Political reasons? I thought it was so young hunters could feel more successful and get their limit?
Click to expand...

LOL!
 
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