[Riverrat77]

First layout hunt.... sort of. Hunted out of a sled a new friend donated to me..... holy crap, is that ever the way to go. Talk about birds ten feet from your face... with no idea you are even there. :lol: What a blast!!! Todd, thank you so much for that generosity. Bummer about the area though and what I found....

I did get some good pictures of the area with all the dead birds and that **** plane came back by as I was picking up and I got some good pictures of it.... as well as a side view with the tail # if the DWR can sharpen up the image a little. Bastards..... seeing all those ducks and gulls left laying dead was just disgraceful..... for those of you with no clue what I'm talking about, but remember the prior post about dead birds in coffin holes, etc. There was more of that... on a much larger scale this time. Try 50 or so ducks and seagulls left laying on a mudflat and sandbars, all shot to hell, with three brands and two gauges of shells laying everywhere, empty shell boxes, and carnage all up and down the beach. Some of the birds looked like they'd been shot with a rifle or something... one little hole with a chunk missing out of the chest. Absolutely disgusting... thankfully, there are now two DWR guys in touch with me and whoever did this... you will be caught, even if I have to take days off to go out there and scope out that spot to catch you. There are other guys who I've talked to about this that feel the same way. Go take your trash and your wannabe hunting style somewhere else, because the folks that give a **** won't put up with it. :evil:

The airplane I was talking about came buzzing over the lake swooping low over flocks of birds, flushing them up and out over the lake.... he was only maybe 20-30 feet off the deck and was clearly just out chasing birds off the water.... I got a good picture of his aircraft that will be going to the DWR since they were extremely interested in what he was up to. :twisted:

Here are some pictures of the hunt, and the carnage.

Guys... this stuff has to be stopped.... I'm not sure what kind of penalty shooting a seagull brings... but there were at least four that I counted, possibly more that had already been eaten by foxes or whatever. The trash, leaving ducks (even the supposedly "better" Green Wing teals)... all that crap is stuff that we need to weed out on our own. God help us all if some anti whoever goes out and sees this situation left laying around. If you know anyone that has been a part of this or hear guys bragging about this kind of stuff, get in touch with Sergeant Tony Wood of the DWR. He and another officer (whose name I can't recall right off hand) are on this and promised to work the area as much as possible to catch these lowlife scum who try to hide among the ranks of hunters. I seriously hope they can touch up the airplane photos as well to get the tail number and bust that idiot as well.

 

[Rabbit_slayer16]

Nice job on the hunt. WOW! that is just not right! Wish I could have taken you up on the offer huh? Oh well. nice job.

 

[Kraizee]

Nice hunt there RR77! Hopefully those guys are caught and get the books thrown at them!! That is just disgustingly wrong on all sorts of levels!

 

[Riverrat77]

Tell me about it guys... it was really disturbing. I walked out in the morning and kicked something in the darkness... looked down and it was a bird, frozen to the ground. I kept walking and spooked off a ton of birds... but some apparently didn't leave, which I thought was odd. I didn't realize until it got more light that I was surrounded by dead and/or dying ducks..... One hen spoonie was acting all weird, head all bobbing around and stuff. She swam out to me putting out dekes, and I put her back on the land in some little shallow water areas but I saw her pick her way out to the lake again and swim off.... I just let her go. It was pretty sad.... really disgraceful that some folks have such little regard for the resource.

 

[BIG NEWB]

The guys in the plane mignt have been the DWR they do their bird counting on Tuesday's and from a plane. I use to have Tuesday's off and would see them flying low over FB when I would be hunting out there. It's to bad about all the dead and wasted birds, when many of us work so hard to get what birds we can to take home and be proud of.

 

[Riverrat77]

I hope so.... that would at least be a halfway decent explanation but the DWR officer I had on the phone the first time it flew over had no idea who it would be.... I'd seen the plane over Farmington as well.... didn't they used to fly ultralights out there also? This guy, whoever it was, flew low over me the first time, came back and then was gone all day. Then as I was picking up, he flew over again and vanished out west... he didn't come back and I wonder if it was me holding up the camera that convince him it might not be wise to give me another shot at him?? I honestly do hope you're right though.... maybe they were out to get photos of the carnage as well or something.

 

[bugchuker]

I took a walk out by the GSL marina the other day and seen a bunch of dead grebes and shovelers, I was able to walk right up to within 10 yards of a bunch of ducks, they would fly about 20 yds and set down again, I think there might be some of that avian collera or botchelism going on out there. The trash was sickening, maybe they ought to implement a deposit on shotgun shells, so you cant get your money back if you dont have your empty's.

 

[Riverrat77]

seen a bunch of dead grebes. I think there might be some of that avian collera or botchelism going on out there. The trash was sickening, maybe they ought to implement a deposit on shotgun shells, so you cant get your money back if you dont have your empty's.

I wondered that myself actually when I saw the grebes... because I didn't want to think that somebody had shot all those birds and left them lay. Doesn't the botchulism (sp) happen when its warm and the bacteria grows in stagnant water or something like that? I know nothing about avian cholera though. That would be a little better anyway if it was ma nature at work instead of human wastefulness. Might explain the hen Shoveler I ran across as well. Maybe I ought to bag up one of the birds and see what the DWR says about it.

 

[Leaky]

Man oh man, I'm glad I couldn't make it out with ya. I would have been totally bummed. :x Keep us posted on what the DWR finds, ok? I may be out there in a while and will keep my eyes open. Glad you got some birds but I don't know, it sure sounds like a discouraging hunt. I really would like to catch these guys and give em their "just rewards". Would you be willing to answer your cell and come out and help me if I find em? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: Best to call the DWR, huh? I'd probably be put in jail for assault.
P.S. Did you find any chuckars?
Leaky

 

[Tealboy]

hey i remember those sleds glad you got a chance to use them and i'm glad it worked out! Thank you for being a responsable sportsman and reporting the bird masacare! that is a load of crap what slobs will do! i doubt the ducks were sick, from the hole in the one pic and from what you said on the phone those birds were shot! as was mentiond about the plane i'm sure the plane was the dwr. tom aldrich loves teal and loves to hunt the lake he flys on tues and flys from one end of the lake to the other doing bird counts.

 

[woollybugger]

Hey RR77, I have a theory about your dead birds. It might just be the work of another avian cholera event. The trash: is just trash left behind by the slob hunters. The plane could be The DWR census flight, who knows. I do know that the spooners and teal that raft up out there are very susceptible to avian cholera this time of year. The holes in the birds might just be where the gulls were picking at them, much to their own demise. I have seen cholera outbreaks out there before. It's really sad. A few years back it was really bad, with 1000's of dead spooners, goldeneyes, teal, pintails, and gulls. Please let us know what you find out from the DWR about what is going on out there. If it is a couple of bad players (poacher slobs), then I hope the CO's nail their worthless butts! I used to hunt out there a bit, but I haven't been there ion few years. Maybe I need to go check it out.

 

[Riverrat77]

Woolleybugger, Tealboy, I sure hope you guys are right. And if I'm wrong about the plane, then I truly do apologize to Mr. Aldrich. Why he felt it so necessary to swing right over my spread three different times while chasing the birds out of the area is kinda beyond me though. I figure he could have counted the birds just as well swinging out over the lake to go around the area I was hunting. About the sickness.... I shot those birds but haven't done much with them yet because the "sick birds" thought had been kinda kicking around upstairs... do I dare eat them, clean them, or anything else?? Or should I bag them and give em to the DWR to check out? Right now they're just "chilling" and aging I guess you'd call it. I surely don't want to cook up something that'll get the family sick if we all eat it. If my daughter got sick from eating sick birds, I'd feel just as bad if not worse about that than I do the birds I saw laying around out there. :|