got a question for the duck hunters here. me and my buddy were hunting the new jersey coastal opener in barnegat setting our decoys out excited for the days hunt and i guess we were in a spot some one else wanted so we flashed our light and got some words i cant repeat on here and then they came speeding by us making a big wake only to turn around to do the same again while we were standing in our boat putting decoys out is this a normal thing to do cause i no we would not do that.
opening day coastal
- Thread starter shaun
- Start date
Why guys pull acts if ignorance like that I will never know. I hunt the coast, but up north in Raritan Bay, but have heard guys can get very territorial down there. Yet I cant figure it out, because theres so much damn marsh to hunt down there, you can just move to an equally productive spot. There will always be a few like that, but dont let it discourage you. You were there first, let them run there mouths, dont fuel the fire, and they will be gone, and you will be hammering birds. Good luck.
Gene Jr.
Well-known member
I've been very fortunate to have a lot less issues in coastal NJ than I do here in PA. Every once in awhile someone is a jerk, sets up close... But as a whole I think the lack of built blinds reduces a lot of this. The last couple years it has been the flaoting blinds that have driven me crazy. The put them in the middle of an area and block out a spot that several people could hunt from the edges. Then they come in at the last minute and set up in front of people who are already there because their blind was "there first". Acting like no one else should hunt where their blind is because they might decide to hunt out of it that day. Sorry for the rant! I have been overwhelmingly surprised at how NICE most of the NJ waterfowlers I meet are, especially those from this site
Gene
Gene
Luke Berkey
Well-known member
I have never hunted Barn. Bay but I hear it can get like that up there. I doing almost all my hunting in Cape May county and very rarely encounter that kind of stuff.
Anthony A
Well-known member
Shaun,
It's not a specific Barnegat Bay thing. I've encountered similar situations on both tidal rivers and freshwater hunting areas.
The worst is when guys set up near you, on purpose, shooting at birds from afar just to flare them. I wonder sometimes how sad these people's lives are that they can derive pleasure from doing stuff like that. If they want the spot that badly, and are acting particularly nasty, I usually move, because I don't want my vehicle or trailer vandalized the next time I go to that launch (or worse).
At one of the small tidal river WMAs where I hunt, the guys arrive at the launch area pretty much one after the other in quick succession. It's not a very big area, and can only hold only 5 or 6 groups of hunters. You can only bring cartop boats and most guys hunt with a kayak, or from shore (few guys have a retriever). They're mostly local guys who hunt alone, a few hunt in pairs. The best spots are within 100 yrds immediately around the launch area. I quickly learned to arrive early. We usually say hello and I tell them where I am planning to go, and I make sure to go to the next guys in line and tell them where I, and the guys in front of them, plan to go, so we don't mess each other up. They're usually quiet about it, but I hope they can see and respect what I'm trying to do - first come first serve and all.
On a particularly full morning at that place, I got the spot I wanted, but a guy showed up late and was setting his decoys directly opposite the river from where I was already set up. He obviously did not have a boat and he didn't seem to look like he knew what he was doing; my decoys were very obvious only 40 yards away, and he was trying to wade out to place his decoys at low tide (tide would be high by 10 am). I flashed him with my light, but I don't think he noticed. I did not feel like yelling. He was also placing his decoys way too close to each other. I knew this to be a recipe for disaster to my plans for hunting that morning. I paddled over to him and discovered that, yes, he was a newbie, and that he had never hunted before. All his equipment was brand new. I told him about the tide and discoverd that his lines weren't long enough and I knew that the current and tide would just pick them up and carry them away... I felt bad for the guy and decided that it would be easiest for everyone if he just made it back to shore (through knee deep mud), and I move my decoys over to where he wanted to hunt, from shore. It was not the ideal spot, but maybe we could entice the ducks to our side, and maybe I can tell this guy a thing or two about duck hunting and hunting etiquette (as I see it). I am by no means an expert, but I know how hard it was doing it all from scratch for years without a mentor, and could have used some friendly advice along the way.
Alas, the ducks all went the way I had originally thought. Late in the morning, a pair of mallards came right into our decoys in textbook fashion. I let him shoot first; he missed his shots, but I got the drake. It was a nice big one, with a great big thick neck, as if he was on steroids. He got very excited, and appreciated what I had to tell him. Although I never saw him again, I wish him well.
AA-
It's not a specific Barnegat Bay thing. I've encountered similar situations on both tidal rivers and freshwater hunting areas.
The worst is when guys set up near you, on purpose, shooting at birds from afar just to flare them. I wonder sometimes how sad these people's lives are that they can derive pleasure from doing stuff like that. If they want the spot that badly, and are acting particularly nasty, I usually move, because I don't want my vehicle or trailer vandalized the next time I go to that launch (or worse).
At one of the small tidal river WMAs where I hunt, the guys arrive at the launch area pretty much one after the other in quick succession. It's not a very big area, and can only hold only 5 or 6 groups of hunters. You can only bring cartop boats and most guys hunt with a kayak, or from shore (few guys have a retriever). They're mostly local guys who hunt alone, a few hunt in pairs. The best spots are within 100 yrds immediately around the launch area. I quickly learned to arrive early. We usually say hello and I tell them where I am planning to go, and I make sure to go to the next guys in line and tell them where I, and the guys in front of them, plan to go, so we don't mess each other up. They're usually quiet about it, but I hope they can see and respect what I'm trying to do - first come first serve and all.
On a particularly full morning at that place, I got the spot I wanted, but a guy showed up late and was setting his decoys directly opposite the river from where I was already set up. He obviously did not have a boat and he didn't seem to look like he knew what he was doing; my decoys were very obvious only 40 yards away, and he was trying to wade out to place his decoys at low tide (tide would be high by 10 am). I flashed him with my light, but I don't think he noticed. I did not feel like yelling. He was also placing his decoys way too close to each other. I knew this to be a recipe for disaster to my plans for hunting that morning. I paddled over to him and discovered that, yes, he was a newbie, and that he had never hunted before. All his equipment was brand new. I told him about the tide and discoverd that his lines weren't long enough and I knew that the current and tide would just pick them up and carry them away... I felt bad for the guy and decided that it would be easiest for everyone if he just made it back to shore (through knee deep mud), and I move my decoys over to where he wanted to hunt, from shore. It was not the ideal spot, but maybe we could entice the ducks to our side, and maybe I can tell this guy a thing or two about duck hunting and hunting etiquette (as I see it). I am by no means an expert, but I know how hard it was doing it all from scratch for years without a mentor, and could have used some friendly advice along the way.
Alas, the ducks all went the way I had originally thought. Late in the morning, a pair of mallards came right into our decoys in textbook fashion. I let him shoot first; he missed his shots, but I got the drake. It was a nice big one, with a great big thick neck, as if he was on steroids. He got very excited, and appreciated what I had to tell him. Although I never saw him again, I wish him well.
AA-
Shaun, keep hunting, and don't let the bad guys get you down. There are a lot of places to hunt waterfowl in the garden state, just start poking around. The smaller area's get over-gunned because they are easy to get to and usually can be a walk in spot. I have hunted in Barnegat Bay behind LBI over the years, and there is plenty of room out there and all of the good spots don't get taken. But I would try and get away from spots that are near the towns at the head of the bay, there is easy access there and just more people in general. Try putting in near manahawkin and head either north or south, you can go several miles in either direction and find plenty of marsh. There are several good ramps all along the bay and on the island that you can use to get out in the bay. Use bing maps to get an idea of what is out there, then get in your boat and go.
Rob Canady
Member
Coastal NC is notorious for this mess, i have had times where i wanted to give it up all together because the competition and ignorance of other people make it not even enjoyable anymore.
I have been up to cape may and hunted the bay with a friend of mine thats from there and i will have to say i was amazed at the lack of hunting pressure. We had a great week of hunting and ran into only a couple groups all of which were as nice as they could be, now im sure there are exceptions but it left a great taste in my mouth of hunting in south jersey. I sure wish i could find a career where i could hunt that way more often, you seem to have many more birds then we do here as well.