waterfowl refuge

duckintheblood · 08-24-2005, 07:55 PM

i live in sherwood oregon. we have a huge waterfowl refuge that takes up almost the whole city and they are buying more and more land every year. this is a refuge that doesn't allow any hunting or fishing what so ever. now i do realize that this helps the duck and goose population but it really upsets me that we aren't allowed to hunt it at all and it has taken away from all the duck huntin within my town becuase the birds just sit there all day. all i am askin for is one or two days a week to hunt, hell it doesn't even have to be the weekend i just want something so it will keep the birds movin. is this to much to ask?

baltz526 · 08-24-2005, 08:00 PM

i know what fudge is but i'm not shure i want to know what refudge is.

bullslayer · 08-24-2005, 08:45 PM

I feel your pain and can sympathize with you. I hunt near Basket slough "refuge" and we haven't been able to hunt it for probably close to 20 years. We're suppose to have federal funding for this purpose. If we could hunt a couple of days a week it sure would help spread the birds out.

I guess will have to start complaining to the higher ups and see what happens. Kris.

blacktail519 · 08-24-2005, 09:19 PM

Quote:

i know what fudge is but i'm not shure i want to know what refudge is.

I was thinking the same thing.

duckintheblood · 08-24-2005, 09:47 PM

that is just it who are the bigger ups if i knew i would for sure try and bleed my case to them. i mean do we have to start at the local level and then work our way up or just go straight to the top.

HuntNFishAddict · 08-24-2005, 09:58 PM

DIB,
There are several clubs around the TV Refuge. It is very tough to keep the birds moving, but we try to help out when we can.
There is one club in particular that seems to have just purchased some land right next to the refuge on the East side of 99W. This should get the birds moving a little more this year.
Send me a PM and I can get some info.

wife&3kids · 08-25-2005, 08:31 AM

As far as it being a benefit to the birds, you are right only in the sense that they have a "refuge" to avoid being shot at. However; there is a bigger picture. I am not an expert, so this is an opinion. Allowing Metro or any other organization to buy land and make it into refuge is not a good thing for anyone. It's not good for farmers because the refuges,may or may not contain enough food for the Geese to consume. As an example the Jackson Bottom refuge does not have the food neccesary to feed the 5,000 or so birds wintering there. I may not be right here, but my understanding is 1 goose needs 1 acre per winter for food.
This would mean that there would need to be 5,000 acres of planted feed for the Geese.
As far as the farmers go, this does not help them as the geese move off the refuge to feed - its pretty obviuos.
As far as the geese, they are getting shot more and more as hunters figure out how to get them in the fields they are using. Long term, who does it help?

duckintheblood · 08-25-2005, 10:40 AM

that is a very good point and the thing is you are right there isn't enough food there for the birds which does force them off to find food. but it is at night where thry can't be shot so they just destroy the crops and night and then head back to the refuge during the day and stay there all day. it will drive a man insane knowing that there are over 15,000 to 20,000 birds within your town and you never really have a great opprotunity to hunt them.

younggun20 · 08-25-2005, 01:53 PM

refudge huh

You must have come out of the Sherwood school system.

waterfowlin101 · 08-25-2005, 04:40 PM

Quote:

it will drive a man insane knowing that there are over 15,000 to 20,000 birds within your town and you never really have a great opprotunity to hunt them.

Follow them some morning and see where they go. Some leave the "refudge" and you can kill them. You sound like you have already given up. Pony up and figure out how to hunt these birds. Consider it a challenge, a "hunt" if you will.

Jon

duckintheblood · 08-25-2005, 09:05 PM

i haven't givin up pal. all the areas that surround the refuge are either duck clubs or there are roads so there is no way to get in on these areas. trust me i have tried to think of everything.

08-26-2005, 07:26 PM

duckintheblood, Take it easy. Waterfowlin101 is giving you some helpful advice. There is one thing you can do,go look for some other birds. If you have already decided that these Tualatin/Sherwood birds are going to be tough to hunt because they sit on the refuge all day then hunt somewhere else. There is a good amount of public lands in Oregon give some of them a try. Hope your season goes well.

" Shoot em with their feet down "
Eric Strand

duckintheblood · 08-26-2005, 07:33 PM

you are right i guess i just took that kinda offensivly. me and waterfowlin101 actually talked for a while and i don't think that he got exactly what i was talkin about but after talkin with him i realized that he is a lot like me he lives to hunt waterfowl like me. i mean i am not some poser who says he is a hunter i really work for my birds. i do hunt public lands in fact i hunt sauvie island a ton. i just wish i had some way to get at all of these birds that are in my backyard ya know what i mean.

BrotherWolf · 08-27-2005, 08:27 AM

Quote:

after talkin with him i realized that he is a lot like me

Ummm does that mean you wear painties also?

Sorry I couldnt pass that up Jon!hehe
But your right he is like alot of us we live to hunt waterfowl 24/7 all year long. Im mean really what else is there?... Its bad enought that I have to take a week off to go elk hunting this year and that week is always been for the birds. But hey I could get lucky on the opener and bust the chops off a nice bull and guess where I will be the next morning :smile:

Flatfish · 08-27-2005, 09:14 AM

We hunt off the refudge in FG. Every morning, maybe 15 minutes before legal light, we see anywhere between 100-2000 (That's not a typo...2000 ducks) birds come off the pond, and fly back to the refudge for the day.

This pattern becomes very clear in December, and runs thru the winter. They even fly out a month after season is over.

Sure, some stragglers stay behind, but it is tough with 5000 live decoys 1/2 mile from our plastic blocks.

Hunting gets better if it gets cold and windy. But if it stays above 40 degrees, they don't need to eat during the day.

Metro tried pretty hard to buy the land a couple years back....it seems they plan on making a bigger refudge....all the way down the Tualatin river.

Mark and the dog.

STRUTTIN-1 · 08-27-2005, 01:57 PM

I think we outo REFUDGE the whole state

.If we did it know
it would not be killing me slowly.

duckintheblood · 08-27-2005, 05:55 PM

i know exactly what you mean you mean flatfish you just can't compete with live birds. we have the same problem in sherwood with birds just sittin on the refuge unless it is just absolutly pourin and why wouldn't they there is water, some feed and no huntin pressure. i guess that is just the way it is goin to be.

Acuta · 08-27-2005, 10:37 PM

Bah! If it were'nt for the "refudge" where would they be? The birds need a safe place. I'm NOT the best waterfowler around, but somehow I manage my fair share. In an increasingly urbanized area, where the heck you think the birds are goin to go to rest a bit??? The idea of "I can't shoot em so it ain't fair" is BS. Get it right. How long you think you're gonna even be able to discharge a firearm in some of these areas? At least these areas are bein protected. Would you prefer more California-style sub-divisions???? Perhaps you folks would prefer a scenario closer to that of Pacific Brant? The vast majority of which now bypass America for Mexico because we buggered the eelgrass beds. Face it, without "refudge" we have NO birds. Period. Don't believe me? Ask Ducks Unlimited. They have a LONG history of doing right by the birds. Without birds, we have no sport. Preserve what you have and don't whine about losing opportunities. We're gonna HAVE to give and take. I don't like it much either (look at the mainstem Columbia!). If we pull our collective heads outa our (petunias) we'll be all right.

/rant off

Eric

duckintheblood · 08-28-2005, 01:47 PM

look acuta i understand the need for a place for the birds to rest just as much as the next guy but i also understand how this refuge works. they are always buyin more and more land in sherwood. they are also providing more and more feed on this refuge to keep the birds there. they are a bunch of tree huggin, dope smokin hippies who don't want to anybody hunt in this town. hell these people want to see our sport die. i am not askin for more than my share i just want to see the sport stay in my town. if that is wrong i dont want to me right

Flatfish · 08-28-2005, 02:07 PM

I would not mind it so much if the refudges were spread out in small ponds(less than 1 acre). But Jackson Bottom is tough competition for any hunter within 5 miles of it.

To try and decoy/call birds with 5000 live dekes within sight is sporting to say the least.

I am all for giving the birds a place to rest. I do not believe you can stockpile birds for very long.....2 dry springs in a row, and nesting will fall apart.

Kinda like salmon fishing.....

Mark and the dog.

rimrock · 08-28-2005, 02:19 PM

I'm responsible for most of the habitat/infrastructure work on the Refuge, including overseeing the Ducks Unlimited lead projects. What do you want to know?

younggun20 · 08-28-2005, 04:27 PM

It does suck to have to compete with live birds and having them just sit on the refuge all day, but I think that acuta makes some great points. Dan you really need to read over your posts before you post them. Sometimes I swear you are not even typing in English.