Mtg on opening Camp Blanding for hunting/fishing

[northfla_hunter]

All,

I realize there arent any ducks in this area, but im sure many of you also fish and hunt deer, hogs or turkey.

camp blanding is an army base located in clay county, about halfway between Jacksonville and Gainesville. there is a WMA on part of it. it consists of woods for hunting as well as 3 lakes that have some pretty good fishing. see here for the pamphlet - http://myfwc.com/hunting/wma/NC_Region/Camp_Blanding-2005-06.pdf

anyways, after 9/11, most of it was closed to the public (including all the lakes) and has been ever since. they are talking about opening it back up for next year for hunting and are having a public meeting to get input. people need to show up to voice support for them opening if for hunting but also pressure them to open it year round for fishing (like it used to be).

i grew up just down the road from this area and fished these lakes all the time. they are beautiful clear water, sand bottom lakes and peaceful (no skiiers/jet skis to bother you) and i have caught tons of bass, specks and crappie in them. there are also lots of deer, turkeys and hogs in there.

the meeting is Feb 7 from 6:30-8:30 at the Clay Co Fairgrounds (SR 16 a few miles west of Green Cove Springs).

even if you cannot make the meeting, please take a minute to write a note to Karen Parker at the FWC (Karen.Parker@MyFWC.com or 386-758-0525) and support the opening of Camp Blanding for both hunting AND fishing.

here is the official proposal being considered:
http://myfwc.com/whatsnew/05/northcentral/blanding.html

thanks for your time guys!

- Mike Haney
i guess i am a "pending" Northeast Regional Director

[N. Cook]

Thanks for the info Mike.....email on the way to Karen.

[Steve W]

Email sent.

Also, maybe we should try to have a NE FL duck hunters meeting in April or May to discuss issues that UW could possibly help with.

[northfla_hunter]

works for me. i brought up the idea last year but it never happened. maybe a day at the clays range with a meeting afterwards will get folks out. since i volunteered to take on the regional director position i will make a note to set this up.

[Keith Yates]

Mike this is good news for sure. I would like to see an option for an expanded supervised youth hunt(as we only have 2 for the whole state) as well as a family hunt quota. Weneed to continue to bring in the youngins at every opportunity we can. Not sure at this point if I will make the Feb 7th meeting but I do plan on attending the FWC Commission meeting Feb 1st.

Newton any support by Allied Sportsman?

[D Duck]

Keith - I like the idea of a youth hunt in our area. We now support both the hunts at Goodwin and the STA's, but need to get something going further north - Merritt would be a good choice.

A meeting later this spring (better wait till after Turkey season) is a good idea as well. But only if you can get enough participation. There are a lot of knowlegeable guys in this area, just need to get 'em all to a meeting.

[Keith Yates]

Don the supervised youth hunts I was talking about are for deer/hog. We currently have only 2 WMA's supporting this Andrews and Camp Blanding. Just would like to see the supervised youth hunt expanded to cover the acreage we may gain back at Blanding. My bad I should have clarified myself better. Not sure how much ducking opportunities at Blanding.

I agree and would support an organized youth waterfowl hunt at MINWR. The kids can hunt both days there. My son killed lots of ducks there while he was young. Some years the youth hunt was better than opening day and it was hard to watch him shoot up all my shells.

[D Duck]

Keith - sorry, I have tunnel vision.... Is there anything to hunt other than ducks???? :smileinbo

I agree about youth day at MI, it can be incredible.

[northfla_hunter]

bump. meeting next tuesday. i will be there, can anyone else make it?

[N. Cook]

The plan for the area was laid out by the FWC's Nick Wiley at Gainsville the FWC meeting, attended by a military representative for the base.

The closed areas will mostly be reopened. The archery areas will remain the same. The north area will be changed to a dog hunt area. The two reopened south areas will not allow dogs. ( this is the opposite of years pass) The southern reopened area will have a south and north portion, the central portion will remained closed for security.

Several people spoke in favor of the plan and were appreciative that the military had worked with the FWC to get most of the base reopened after the 9/11 closure.

[northfla_hunter]

That's pretty much it Newton. There is only a buffer zone around the secure area that is closed permanently, the rest is being opened back up. You can see a map of the new layout here - http://myfwc.com/whatsnew/05/northcentral/blanding_map.html

mr garcia (regional FWC manager) said that they got approval from all 7 commissioners in gville last week and that there shouldnt be a problem getting all this rushed through so camp blanding is open for next hunting season.

as a side note, i was talking to one of the biologists and he said that you are allowed to use bird dogs to hunt quail, snipe, doves, etc in there. he also said they will be putting in some food plots and hopefully have a nice population of birds.

there were actually way more people than i expected at the meeting, about 150 turned out. this is actually a very unique opportunity given that the area has been closed to all hunting for 5 years. there should be some nice animals in there next season!

as for the lakes, they are being handled separately because they are trying to rush the hunting access issue through the process to get it approved before april when everything is finalized for next hunting season. the FWC and armory personnel have been talking about the lakes though and they said there is no reason they shouldnt be opened up. they said information would be coming about that issue soon.

[Keith Yates]

Mike good deal. If you need help catching them fish or finding them quail let me know. I'll bring my rod and bird dogs. Thanks for taking the lead and following this issue through :icon_salu

[N. Cook]

Mike, thanks for representing UW-F at the meeting....I am sure you saw, with 150 other "interested parties" there, that attending these meetings is important if you want to have any influence. Also, the good contacts with the FWC and other agencies will pay off.

I wished I had known more about any duck hunting opportunities on the area while at the FWC Comm. Meeting in Gainesville...I could have put in a formal request to study the subject...If there are areas of marsh or lakes that could be huntable, do they have names or can be marked on a map?.....we can do a letter to Nick Wiley to at least start getting them considered in regulations.