I was reading "Tides ending" by B.B. last night and was struck by his comment son how the estuaries he hunted had changed from before WWII, through the war, and afterwards. He lamented areas that he would not see another gunner and with time those places became crowded with gunners, to the point that he stopped visiting those haunts. He discusses how agriculture intruded on marshes, and how airfields caused the geese to go eslewhere.
It caused me to reflect on some of my own experiences. Growing up on the homestead in Colorado, i remember when Canada geese were just being introduced. before, they were rarely seen. I still have the band from one I found poached on the neighbor's pond. The trips with my dad to the lake a half mile away where they hunted ducks. Those fields are now apartment houses, and the lake ringed by houses. I haven't returned in years because I prefer to remember how it was.
I remember being able to drive for 30 minutes up any road into the mountains and be able to stop, fish, and get away. Now, drive over an hour and you're still in someone's yard with barking dogs and an irate landowner who believe they also own the pull-outs. Never mind trying to fish, it's rare that you'll even see a 3 inch trout.
I remember driving to Horsetooth Reservoir to fish. It seemed that you drove through miles of wheat fields. On the corner, as you turned to drive up to the reservoir, there was 1 gas/bait/license station. When I was last there in the late 80's while going to CSU, the station was still there surrounded by houses. The drive up to and around the south end was continuous houses, and there was tons of sand hauled in to make a "beach."
Here in Louisiana, fields that i used to watch the specks land in while driving to work are now houses. A rice field we surveyed shorebirds in is now a school. The overgrown field next to my house where the quail covey lived, and king rails greeted the dawn, now has 2 houses on it, and the owners keep the grass mowed like a golf course. I have people stealing geese and swans from my yard.
It leads onbe to wonder what things will be like in 10 years. Will there be any places one can escape to?
Clint
It caused me to reflect on some of my own experiences. Growing up on the homestead in Colorado, i remember when Canada geese were just being introduced. before, they were rarely seen. I still have the band from one I found poached on the neighbor's pond. The trips with my dad to the lake a half mile away where they hunted ducks. Those fields are now apartment houses, and the lake ringed by houses. I haven't returned in years because I prefer to remember how it was.
I remember being able to drive for 30 minutes up any road into the mountains and be able to stop, fish, and get away. Now, drive over an hour and you're still in someone's yard with barking dogs and an irate landowner who believe they also own the pull-outs. Never mind trying to fish, it's rare that you'll even see a 3 inch trout.
I remember driving to Horsetooth Reservoir to fish. It seemed that you drove through miles of wheat fields. On the corner, as you turned to drive up to the reservoir, there was 1 gas/bait/license station. When I was last there in the late 80's while going to CSU, the station was still there surrounded by houses. The drive up to and around the south end was continuous houses, and there was tons of sand hauled in to make a "beach."
Here in Louisiana, fields that i used to watch the specks land in while driving to work are now houses. A rice field we surveyed shorebirds in is now a school. The overgrown field next to my house where the quail covey lived, and king rails greeted the dawn, now has 2 houses on it, and the owners keep the grass mowed like a golf course. I have people stealing geese and swans from my yard.
It leads onbe to wonder what things will be like in 10 years. Will there be any places one can escape to?
Clint
