STA? No Way!

[donbitz]

Sta 1W in case you haven't heard, the ducks left 2 weeks ago and haven't been back since. Seems they raised the water levels and much of the hydrilla is underwater. Unless some miracle happens, don't waste your time, permit or no permit.

Sta 5 has slacked way off. You can still get your limit if you have a permit and get in at daybreak, but lately all the permitees (24 last week) have been showing up and standbys have been getting in well after sunup, like 9 or 10 o'clock. By Friday "after work" there were a couple dozen on the walk-in list.

The party (ducks stop flying) is over now around 9 am, no more 'teal time', as the resident birds are far more wary.

Thought you'd like to know ....

[Steve W]

You guys hunting the STAs are not getting any sympathy from us guys in the northern part of the state. :rolleyes:

[D Duck]

Other than changing water conditions, is there any discussion of the 2-a-day hunts having an impact on the ducks usage of the areas? There are arguments both ways, but I am a firm believer in not hunting in the afternoon/evenings - it will move birds out of an area permanently.

[N. Cook]

I continue to remind folks that the most important reason the 400,000 acres the SFWMD will buy for the EVerglades Restoration, including the STAs, need to be hunted as much as we are allowed to spread the birds out and into their normal wintering areas.....if they are run off the STAs in one day of hunting allowed for 100 total hunters....GREAT!!!!!!! Maybe all those hunting the Glades, Lake O, Kissimmee, and other open to the public areas will have some ducks. We are not trying to build exclusive STA hunting clubs for the few.

[Randy Clark]

looking at the total numbers that so called drop in teal time is almost non existent the fog screwed up people limiting out early last weekend we still had fifty ducks in the decoys that afternoon hunting afternoons is not scaring the birds away at all just look at the total numbers