Steve
12-22-2004, 12:20 AM
I loved hunting STA 5 last weekend, but I was thinking of all the guys who are going to hunt it for the first time who might not know what they are in for, starting with how to get there.
Looking at the map with STA 5 brochure, you see Blumberg Road coming up after a big curve in County Road 835. Blumberg is actually a curve or two after that. We almost turned off on the wrong road last Saturday, but I remembered that there is a street sign for Blumberg and we kept going. You can also keep track of the mileage -- 9.5 miles to Blumberg -- and the street sign is easy to see. Just before you get to STA 5, there are a couple of side dirt roads, I believe one to the left and one to the right. Keep going on Blumberg to STA 5. I asked why there wasn't a small sign saying STA 5 with a straight-ahead arrow and Bill the check station guy said there was one, but it's missing. When you get to STA 5 you'll see a bunch of vehicles parked on the side of the road. Those are guys waiting to walk-in. If you have a permit, drive up and check in. My buddy wasn't sure if the walk-ins were permitted hunters waiting to check in, so he got in line while I walked to the check station, then I called him on his cell phone to pull up.
Getting around in the area is tough because it is carpeted with hydrilla, and I mean carpeted. We launched our canoe easily enough from the south side into cell 1B, hit the open water of the canal, which was like 5 feet deep, then plowed into the hydrilla. We'd head for some open water, then plow back into the hydrilla. By the time we found some cover without other hunters in it, we felt like we'd gone halfway across the cell. When the fog finally lifted, we saw that we had gone in a big arc and were about 200 yards from the truck! That didn't bother the ducks, who flew all around us. Standing in the water next to the canoe and cover, we ended up with six BWT, four ringers, a mottled and a black-bellied whistling duck.
One of the guys hunting near us stopped to chat after walking out to get one of his ducks, which fell about 50 yards from us, and he said poling was the best way to get around out there. We had paddles and we did more pushing off the bottom with the paddle blades that paddling.
Walking out through the crotch-deep water to retrieve the ducks was a struggle. I felt like I was doing the high hurdles, swinging my rear leg forward over the hydrilla rather than trying to march through the hydrilla. Coming back, I followed my trail, which was only slightly easier to negotiate.
Despite the difficulties it was a wonderful hunt, with lots of birds and plenty of chances to shoot. When we were done, we picked up all the empty shotshells and tossed them in the canoe and later transferred them to a plastic Publix bag, along with our other trash, which was deposited in the trash can at the check station. After all, when we clean up on the ducks, the least we can do is clean up after ourselves.
Looking at the map with STA 5 brochure, you see Blumberg Road coming up after a big curve in County Road 835. Blumberg is actually a curve or two after that. We almost turned off on the wrong road last Saturday, but I remembered that there is a street sign for Blumberg and we kept going. You can also keep track of the mileage -- 9.5 miles to Blumberg -- and the street sign is easy to see. Just before you get to STA 5, there are a couple of side dirt roads, I believe one to the left and one to the right. Keep going on Blumberg to STA 5. I asked why there wasn't a small sign saying STA 5 with a straight-ahead arrow and Bill the check station guy said there was one, but it's missing. When you get to STA 5 you'll see a bunch of vehicles parked on the side of the road. Those are guys waiting to walk-in. If you have a permit, drive up and check in. My buddy wasn't sure if the walk-ins were permitted hunters waiting to check in, so he got in line while I walked to the check station, then I called him on his cell phone to pull up.
Getting around in the area is tough because it is carpeted with hydrilla, and I mean carpeted. We launched our canoe easily enough from the south side into cell 1B, hit the open water of the canal, which was like 5 feet deep, then plowed into the hydrilla. We'd head for some open water, then plow back into the hydrilla. By the time we found some cover without other hunters in it, we felt like we'd gone halfway across the cell. When the fog finally lifted, we saw that we had gone in a big arc and were about 200 yards from the truck! That didn't bother the ducks, who flew all around us. Standing in the water next to the canoe and cover, we ended up with six BWT, four ringers, a mottled and a black-bellied whistling duck.
One of the guys hunting near us stopped to chat after walking out to get one of his ducks, which fell about 50 yards from us, and he said poling was the best way to get around out there. We had paddles and we did more pushing off the bottom with the paddle blades that paddling.
Walking out through the crotch-deep water to retrieve the ducks was a struggle. I felt like I was doing the high hurdles, swinging my rear leg forward over the hydrilla rather than trying to march through the hydrilla. Coming back, I followed my trail, which was only slightly easier to negotiate.
Despite the difficulties it was a wonderful hunt, with lots of birds and plenty of chances to shoot. When we were done, we picked up all the empty shotshells and tossed them in the canoe and later transferred them to a plastic Publix bag, along with our other trash, which was deposited in the trash can at the check station. After all, when we clean up on the ducks, the least we can do is clean up after ourselves.