I was looking at Capt. Jacks post over on the fishing board and his map has public hunting drawn in on certain places. Does that mean that anyone with a duck stamp and hunting license can go down there during duck season and set up somewhere to shoot a few ducks? I've never been duck hunting since I dont have a lease or anything but I would try and go if I was allowed to just go set up somewhere and see what came my way. I've got the gun, all I'd need it a place. Any advice on doing this? I remember running up too close to a duck hunter one winter in my boat becuase I had no idea you could hunt in the bays. I felt really bad and stayed away for the rest of the time but still remember being so shocked when a guy stood up and started waving me off. Thanks!
StuckInTheMud
Public Duck hunting in Christmas and Bastrop?
Stuck-
Yeap- You can drive in to any of the wildlife refuges and paddle or walk in to the areas open for hunting and hunt. We are very fortunate to have many great public waterfowl hunting opportunities along our coast.
If I'm hunting in the BrazoriaWLR I normally launch at the end of the road at ClayBanks along BastropBayou and I paddle up MiddleBayou into the MiddleBayou hunting area. I have a few secret spots... shhhh...
Another good place is to launch from the Condos in ChristmasBay or the easterly launch point in DrumBay (see my map) and hunt around RattlesnakePoint.
Info for Brazoria WLR
Yeap- You can drive in to any of the wildlife refuges and paddle or walk in to the areas open for hunting and hunt. We are very fortunate to have many great public waterfowl hunting opportunities along our coast.
If I'm hunting in the BrazoriaWLR I normally launch at the end of the road at ClayBanks along BastropBayou and I paddle up MiddleBayou into the MiddleBayou hunting area. I have a few secret spots... shhhh...
Another good place is to launch from the Condos in ChristmasBay or the easterly launch point in DrumBay (see my map) and hunt around RattlesnakePoint.
Info for Brazoria WLR
Last edited by CaptJack on Thu Jul 31, 2003 7:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Blindcasting
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Capt.Jack - I just wanted to make sure that this "public hunt" area didn't fall under the public hunts permit that you have to buy and then TPWD sends you the list of locations and maps. Some of the state parks and wildlife refuges around San Antonio are called public hunt sites, but they require that you buy the permit.
Blindcasting wrote:Capt.Jack - I just wanted to make sure that this "public hunt" area didn't fall under the public hunts permit that you have to buy and then TPWD sends you the list of locations and maps. Some of the state parks and wildlife refuges around San Antonio are called public hunt sites, but they require that you buy the permit.
BC - the local WLR that requires the state TypeII permit is PeachPoint- just west of Freeport and just east of the SanBernardNWLR.
For our area- Anahuac, Brazoria & SanBernard NWLRs, are all federal and are free and don't require the TypeII or a daily $10 fee.
Make sure you have your state & federal duck stamps for anywhere....
Stuck-
One more thing-
Make sure you do a scouting trip to any place you plan on hunting. You need to see it in the daylight and it doesn't hurt to mark a waypoint for the spot you want to hunt with a GPS if you have one. Look around for birds flying over certain paths/ natural flyways. Mark a waypoint for where you park your car as well. If you ever get out on a really foggy day it helps to get you back to your car- if you're not real familiar with the area.
If you call the Wildlife Refuge office in Angleton they will send you all the maps, rules etc. for Brazoria & SanBernard. You can call Parks&Wildlife and they will mail you the info for PeachPoint.
The Angleton office will also give you the numbers for Anahuac and any other wildlife refuge you want info for.
Teal season is a great time for scouting trips
One more thing-
Make sure you do a scouting trip to any place you plan on hunting. You need to see it in the daylight and it doesn't hurt to mark a waypoint for the spot you want to hunt with a GPS if you have one. Look around for birds flying over certain paths/ natural flyways. Mark a waypoint for where you park your car as well. If you ever get out on a really foggy day it helps to get you back to your car- if you're not real familiar with the area.
If you call the Wildlife Refuge office in Angleton they will send you all the maps, rules etc. for Brazoria & SanBernard. You can call Parks&Wildlife and they will mail you the info for PeachPoint.
The Angleton office will also give you the numbers for Anahuac and any other wildlife refuge you want info for.
Teal season is a great time for scouting trips
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StuckInTheMud
Thanks Capt!
Thanks for the sound advice! I'm pretty familiar with the area as I love fishing down there but I fully understand the worth of a scouting trip. I still have to figure out how I'd go about getting to a spot for a blind because I have a 14' aluminum boat but I also borrow my friends tandem yak now and then. I know christmas, drum and Bastrop have tons of reefs so I'd definitely need to mark those with a GPS. I do have one little worry about being a newbie, and that's properly identifying the right ducks that I can shoot during certain time periods/seasons. I had this worry before I went on a few dove hunts and after one I quickly learned to ID a dove in the air. I'm sure ducks are pretty much the same way but I'll have to figure out some way to work on that before I start slinging shot into the air. We'll see how things work out come winter and maybe I'll get my first duck hunt in sometime. THanks again!
StuckInTheMud
StuckInTheMud
Stuck-
One of the best, fastest, small ID field book for ducks is the:
LeMaster Waterfowl Identification
One of the best, fastest, small ID field book for ducks is the:
LeMaster Waterfowl Identification
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Blindcasting
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Here's my favorite resource for identifying ducks.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tool ... ckdist.htm
Get a printed version asap. You can study it in the "library" or at red lights.
Local parks can be a great place to get familiar with greenheads and the sounds that they REALLY make.
Ask the guys who hunt there what ducks you can most likely expect to find and get familiar with their flight patterns etc... pre-season scouting will make a huge difference. If all else fails find an attorney who is an experienced duck hunter and take him with you. You need not bring him back as there are no size or possession limits on lawyers.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tool ... ckdist.htm
Get a printed version asap. You can study it in the "library" or at red lights.
Local parks can be a great place to get familiar with greenheads and the sounds that they REALLY make.
Ask the guys who hunt there what ducks you can most likely expect to find and get familiar with their flight patterns etc... pre-season scouting will make a huge difference. If all else fails find an attorney who is an experienced duck hunter and take him with you. You need not bring him back as there are no size or possession limits on lawyers.
As far as I know, the point system has not been around for a while now. What is in effect though, are overall 6/duck day bag limits, and within that are bag limits per day for particular types of ducks, and specific seasons for certain species (like pintails were last year).
For example, let's say it is the general duck season (these numbers are all based on last seasons rules, so these may change for the upcoming season):
You can bag 6 ducks per day, BUT only 5 of those can be Mallards, and of those 5 only 2 can be hens. Also, Pintails were only legal for a limited part of the overal season last year, so make sure the date you're hunting is in the specific Pintail season before pulling the trigger.
Most of the ducks species you will find down at the coast will allow 6 ducks a day to be taken. Gadwalls, Teal, Widgeons are all 6 duck/day birds. Some that you may find down there that have limited numbers per day are Redheads (2/day), Scaup (3/day), and possibly Wood Ducks (2/day).
There is absolutely NO open season for Canvasbacks, which to the inexperienced hunter may look like a Redhead, so be careful and double check if the duck has a redhead, has a fairly large body, and has a slender, long, pointy head and beak. That is probably a Canvasback. Redheads have rounded heads, and are just average sized ducks.
Anyway, I hope this helps explain some of the rules as they appeared last season.
For example, let's say it is the general duck season (these numbers are all based on last seasons rules, so these may change for the upcoming season):
You can bag 6 ducks per day, BUT only 5 of those can be Mallards, and of those 5 only 2 can be hens. Also, Pintails were only legal for a limited part of the overal season last year, so make sure the date you're hunting is in the specific Pintail season before pulling the trigger.
Most of the ducks species you will find down at the coast will allow 6 ducks a day to be taken. Gadwalls, Teal, Widgeons are all 6 duck/day birds. Some that you may find down there that have limited numbers per day are Redheads (2/day), Scaup (3/day), and possibly Wood Ducks (2/day).
There is absolutely NO open season for Canvasbacks, which to the inexperienced hunter may look like a Redhead, so be careful and double check if the duck has a redhead, has a fairly large body, and has a slender, long, pointy head and beak. That is probably a Canvasback. Redheads have rounded heads, and are just average sized ducks.
Anyway, I hope this helps explain some of the rules as they appeared last season.
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Guest
Rattlesnake Pt.
Looks like a good place.
Key Largo has a parking spot on the south side that looks like a short paddle across the bay.
Any body used that as a put in?
Looks like some great fishing spots there as well.
Key Largo has a parking spot on the south side that looks like a short paddle across the bay.
Any body used that as a put in?
Looks like some great fishing spots there as well.