[paddler]

I was up at FB a week or so ago. There were two Utah Parks guys there checking boats. One of them was over on the ramp, the other in the truck. I stopped and talked to the guy in the truck, and asked f they had written any ebike citations. He replied, "No, why would I do that?" Uh oh, I thought. I asked if he was aware of the ebike rules for WMAs, wildlife areas, etc, and he had no clue. Said he hadn't received any training in that regard.

I explained about Class 1 one bikes, pedal assist only, assist maxes out at 20MPH, throttle bikes were illegal. He looked at my bike and said, "Your bike has a throttle, so you could be ticketed." I explained that my bike doesn't have a motor and he was looking at my front brake lever. Appears that enforcement will be spotty.

 

[taxidermist]

They should allow anyone to use anything to get around the dikes. Anything from a tricycle to a sandrail.

Maybe they should make the entire areas motorless. the only water you can run a motor on a boat would be the GSL and Utah Lake.

 

[paddler]

They should allow anyone to use anything to get around the dikes. Anything from a tricycle to a sandrail.

Maybe they should make the entire areas motorless. the only water you can run a motor on a boat would be the GSL and Utah Lake.

Awesome ideas.

 

[doublehaul]

Motorless would be awesome.

 

[Cootbooter]

Motorless would be awesome.

Let's restrict hunters even more.. Brilliant. Nobody is making anyone else NOT have a boat. They're available. Buy a mud boat. Buy an airboat. Or don't and walk or peddle. I like my boat. I don't always hint out of it. I walk a long ways from it on some days. They're fun to use. You want motorless? Make it walk in only. No bikes. No paddles. Foot power only. Drag your decoys all your stuff with a sled. Still a good idea? Duh.

 

[camodad]

no motor vehicles, If the dnr can drive on it, we the people should have the same access rights, ebike, power boat, wheeler, jeep whats the diff. Im half crippled forced to sled or cart behind the rangers truck at 72 or just not go. Maybe no utv or lead during for big game leave them in camp if hunting, horse or walk ok. Oh ya no trailcams. Its a privacy issue if not posted same as home security cams. Obey the rules and have fun, I am.

 

[taxidermist]

Let's restrict hunters even more.. Brilliant. Nobody is making anyone else NOT have a boat. They're available. Buy a mud boat. Buy an airboat. Or don't and walk or peddle. I like my boat. I don't always hint out of it. I walk a long ways from it on some days. They're fun to use. You want motorless? Make it walk in only. No bikes. No paddles. Foot power only. Drag your decoys all your stuff with a sled. Still a good idea? Duh.

Years ago I had the big fancy boat, the latest and greatest equipment, hunt test champion Lab. Yup, I had it all, the cool kid on the block. Didn't make me a better hunter or shoot a limit any faster either. Having a boat was a bigger PITA than not having one. But I could sure bragg and beat my chest with that stuff, "look at me! I've spent tens of thousands of dollars" to kill some ducks. I believe hunting has gotten to the point of hunters thinking they "need" the latest, best, coolest equipment. Some do this for some kind of "stature" or "look at me" syndrome.
I don't care what others use to chase fowl or game, but if one has to be the "Big Man" don't look down on the little guy with a Mutt breed dog that would likely out retrieve a 4K papered dog, shooting a Winchester 1300, wearing old military camo, and some rubber hip boots that have been patched a few times.

 

[JerryH]

Years ago I had the big fancy boat, the latest and greatest equipment, hunt test champion Lab. Yup, I had it all, the cool kid on the block. Didn't make me a better hunter or shoot a limit any faster either. Having a boat was a bigger PITA than not having one. But I could sure bragg and beat my chest with that stuff, "look at me! I've spent tens of thousands of dollars" to kill some ducks. I believe hunting has gotten to the point of hunters thinking they "need" the latest, best, coolest equipment. Some do this for some kind of "stature" or "look at me" syndrome.
I don't care what others use to chase fowl or game, but if one has to be the "Big Man" don't look down on the little guy with a Mutt breed dog that would likely out retrieve a 4K papered dog, shooting a Winchester 1300, wearing old military camo, and some rubber hip boots that have been patched a few times.

Glad to someone else is up at 3am!

 

[taxidermist]

Glad to someone else is up at 3am!

Ya, it sucks! Been doing it for over 40 years. I blame it on my parents and the line of work they chose.

 

[Cootbooter]

Years ago I had the big fancy boat, the latest and greatest equipment, hunt test champion Lab. Yup, I had it all, the cool kid on the block. Didn't make me a better hunter or shoot a limit any faster either. Having a boat was a bigger PITA than not having one. But I could sure bragg and beat my chest with that stuff, "look at me! I've spent tens of thousands of dollars" to kill some ducks. I believe hunting has gotten to the point of hunters thinking they "need" the latest, best, coolest equipment. Some do this for some kind of "stature" or "look at me" syndrome.
I don't care what others use to chase fowl or game, but if one has to be the "Big Man" don't look down on the little guy with a Mutt breed dog that would likely out retrieve a 4K papered dog, shooting a Winchester 1300, wearing old military camo, and some rubber hip boots that have been patched a few times.

I'm not that guy. I have a modest at best boat and not a 30k rigged out monster. I hunted with a Remington 870 pump for YEARS until it gave up the ghost. I don't hate the guys that have sexy and shiny duck boats at all. They're doing their thing. I don't have insta or FB and don't hunt for the glory. I just go out and shoot stuff cause it's fun. Is it easier with a boat? Depends. It's easy to walk the dike and not trailer a boat and worry about all the hassle that comes with it. A boat is harder to hide if you're hunting out of it. At 18-20mph I don't break a sweat getting to my spot amd can carry as many deeks as I want or feel like setting. It's not for everyone. For those who don't want them for the PITA reasons... Don't get them. Just don't try to make it impossible for people who have or want them to use them.

 

[doublehaul]

Let's restrict hunters even more.. Brilliant. Nobody is making anyone else NOT have a boat. They're available. Buy a mud boat. Buy an airboat. Or don't and walk or peddle. I like my boat. I don't always hint out of it. I walk a long ways from it on some days. They're fun to use. You want motorless? Make it walk in only. No bikes. No paddles. Foot power only. Drag your decoys all your stuff with a sled. Still a good idea? Duh.

Why not let the airboats inside the dikes then? Why not open the gates on the dikes to vehicles? What about punt guns?

 

[taxidermist]

What about punt guns?

HELL YA!! That would be so cool to watch a sneak boat slip up to a raft of birds and fire 10 pounds of shot at them. I'm in for sure.

 

[doublehaul]

HELL YA!! That would be so cool to watch a sneak boat slip up to a raft of birds and fire 10 pounds of shot at them. I'm in for sure.

That would be sweet, then I could just order a pintail and a beer at a restaurant. Unfortunately there's all these "brilliant" restrictions in place...

 

[Cootbooter]

That would be sweet, then I could just order a pintail and a beer at a restaurant. Unfortunately there's all these "brilliant" restrictions in place...

You know that's ridiculous.... Punt guns are illegal lol...
You know how much access airboats have? Many times more than a mud boat and if you've ever been on one out there it's not like the place is crawling with ducks everywhere. They have to find the x also.. I'd rather see access for the airboats inside the dikes than completely motorless.. That's just me though.

 

[taxidermist]

Air boats are also LOUD. That alone will limit their places to be used.

 

[doublehaul]

You know that's ridiculous.... Punt guns are illegal lol...
You know how much access airboats have? Many times more than a mud boat and if you've ever been on one out there it's not like the place is crawling with ducks everywhere. They have to find the x also.. I'd rather see access for the airboats inside the dikes than completely motorless.. That's just me though.

I can agree about the birds not being where the airboats frequent, I've been out there (sans airboat) and seen it myself. The X's are few and far for obvious reasons, that's why they aren't allowed in the dikes. The shooting, layout boats and mud motors inside the dikes are about all those areas can take and still hold birds, take a look at the rest ponds...
I'm all for the freedom to do as you wish as long as the negative effects on everyone and everything else don't wholly outweigh the benefits to the individual. Where that line sits is and always has been up for debate even when the answer is obvious. Look around.
The swan hunt this year comes to mind when discussing letting people decide to be ethical or not. Folks tend to do things until they can't. You can decide for yourself why things are like that.

 

[MWScott72]

Years ago I had the big fancy boat, the latest and greatest equipment, hunt test champion Lab. Yup, I had it all, the cool kid on the block. Didn't make me a better hunter or shoot a limit any faster either. Having a boat was a bigger PITA than not having one. But I could sure bragg and beat my chest with that stuff, "look at me! I've spent tens of thousands of dollars" to kill some ducks. I believe hunting has gotten to the point of hunters thinking they "need" the latest, best, coolest equipment. Some do this for some kind of "stature" or "look at me" syndrome.
I don't care what others use to chase fowl or game, but if one has to be the "Big Man" don't look down on the little guy with a Mutt breed dog that would likely out retrieve a 4K papered dog, shooting a Winchester 1300, wearing old military camo, and some rubber hip boots that have been patched a few times.

I don't think anyone here is "looking down" on someone that doesn't have the latest and greatest equipment. That in no way should influence what is or is not allowed in the WMAs. I understand the need for restrictions, but if taken too far, they really get in the way of actually enjoying the sport that we all portend to love.

Current restrictions? Airboats outside the diked units but forbidden inside? Seems fair enough to me. There wouldn't be 5 birds on Unit 1 or 2 if airboats were in there. There might be 10 on Turpin since it's a bigger unit. Therefore, the airboat restriction makes sense.

I have a harder time with eBike restrictions. If we're going to allow mud boats inside the diked areas, why are we restricting land access by bike? Mud motors are loud, eBikes are not. I don't understand how motored access on the water somehow trumps psuedo-motored access via land. Doesn't make sense to me. Those eBikes might get you back further, but you're not shooting limits of birds off the dikes on an even irregular basis. You still have to get off the dikes and hoof it out to where the birds are or want to be. All this coming from a guy that doesn't have an eBike (but wishes he could afford one!).

I can totally appreciate Cootbooter's comments pertaining to boats. I have a modest 16' underpowered flat bottom. It's fun to hunt out of and use, but it's kind of a pain in the a$$ too sometimes. Went out Friday morning totally planning on using it during the storm. Stupid throttle cable had froze up, so my boat hunt became a dike hunt. Couldn't get to where I would have liked off the dike either because I didn't bring all that other stuff that would have made the hunt more successful (sled, silos/socks, etc). Boats are great to a point, but they don't make you a better hunter. I can shoot a limit out of the boat or trudging out onto the flats or out to the GSL. A boat may make it easier sometimes, but there's plenty of headaches associated with them to mitigate their supposed "upside".

 

[doublehaul]

I don't think anyone here is "looking down" on someone that doesn't have the latest and greatest equipment. That in no way should influence what is or is not allowed in the WMAs. I understand the need for restrictions, but if taken too far, they really get in the way of actually enjoying the sport that we all portend to love.

Current restrictions? Airboats outside the diked units but forbidden inside? Seems fair enough to me. There wouldn't be 5 birds on Unit 1 or 2 if airboats were in there. There might be 10 on Turpin since it's a bigger unit. Therefore, the airboat restriction makes sense.

I have a harder time with eBike restrictions. If we're going to allow mud boats inside the diked areas, why are we restricting land access by bike? Mud motors are loud, eBikes are not. I don't understand how motored access on the water somehow trumps psuedo-motored access via land. Doesn't make sense to me. Those eBikes might get you back further, but you're not shooting limits of birds off the dikes on an even irregular basis. You still have to get off the dikes and hoof it out to where the birds are or want to be. All this coming from a guy that doesn't have an eBike (but wishes he could afford one!).

I can totally appreciate Cootbooter's comments pertaining to boats. I have a modest 16' underpowered flat bottom. It's fun to hunt out of and use, but it's kind of a pain in the a$$ too sometimes. Went out Friday morning totally planning on using it during the storm. Stupid throttle cable had froze up, so my boat hunt became a dike hunt. Couldn't get to where I would have liked off the dike either because I didn't bring all that other stuff that would have made the hunt more successful (sled, silos/socks, etc). Boats are great to a point, but they don't make you a better hunter. I can shoot a limit out of the boat or trudging out onto the flats or out to the GSL. A boat may make it easier sometimes, but there's plenty of headaches associated with them to mitigate their supposed "upside".

Peddling around the dikes is so easy with a regular bike, I could care less about having it powered. These places aren't that big. I fully agree about the double standard of letting motors on the water, while restricting them on land though. Traditions die hard.
I have more than one boat with a motor attached to it and yes they can be a massive PITA and lots of fun at the same time. I just question the wisdom of blowing out the refuges and marshes on a daily basis in the name of convenience, but I also pass on a lot of shots and don't care if I "limit out" anymore. Different mindset I guess.