# I hate Shiawassee



## Duke (Oct 6, 2000)

No, what I really mean is I hate some of the people at Shiawassee-

I usually visit once per year, and often head out into the woods because I love that habitat even if there aren't loads of ducks most times. There weren't many this time either, and thanks to the jackholes in another party in the woods I did not get to enjoy working those few ducks on a level playing field. Apparently they thought the spinner ban only meant "no spinners unless nobody can see your spread, then its ok to sneak them in". Just wanted to let those guys know that not every one is as stupid as you are, and it was obvious you were cheating. Congratulations. 

I thought I might get out there more often this year because of the spinner ban, but now I'm especially glad I had plenty of ducks other places that I didn't have to resort to it.


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## Adam Gibbs (Jul 13, 2006)

did you call the RAP line and get a CO out there? im sure they would love to bust someone with the new law. if you didnt, i wouldnt be complaining too much. its our responsibility as hunters to keep everyone in check.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

seriously? i mean if you got names? Did you ACTUALLY see spinners in their spread or you are making an assumption?

...honestly, sometimes people just get out hunted and this is the typical response. 

I mean i can see having a bad experience but your painting a broad brush and to be honest, some of the good guys will take offense. 

there was never 1 report of a spinner being used all season...I find it ironic that you think people would take the woods to sneak a spinner out when its the most patrolled area on the game area. 90% of violations written are written there.


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## flintfisher44 (Jun 19, 2009)

Adam Gibbs said:


> i wouldnt be complaining too much. its our responsibility as hunters to keep everyone in check.


I agree. We are the eyes and ears out in the field. When other hunters are obviously breaking the law, it is our responsibility to let someone know. 
I called the RAP line once this year when a goose was taken at a SGA during the split. I don't feel proud that I had to turn someone in, but I do believe it is our responsibilty to know the rules or man-up if we didn't and face the consequences.


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## hunting man (Mar 2, 2005)

I would have been angry as all get out. I dont mind being out hunted if the playing field is level but thats terrible using a banned tool. I hope they get a ticket.


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## Big Honkers (Dec 20, 2008)

You did not have the stones to go over and say something to them but you had the keyboard courage to make this post???

Come on man.



With that said, I do not want to make it sound like you are in the wrong in this scenerio. If the other guys were using spinners they were wrong, period. I just think I would have handled it differently than posting some random thoughts online days or weeks later.

Just sayin.


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## KLR (Sep 2, 2006)

How do you know they had spinners??? Were all the birds flaring??


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## Water_Hazard (Aug 16, 2006)

Shiawassee_Kid said:


> seriously?
> 
> there was never 1 report of a spinner being used all season....


Seen one on Prior road this year, it didn't last long.


Did the spinner in the woods work for them?


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## DEDGOOSE (Jan 19, 2007)

KLR said:


> How do you know they had spinners??? Were all the birds flaring??


Sounds like the opposite 

That JF does hunt in MI a quite a bit..


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Water_Hazard said:


> Seen one on Prior road this year, it didn't last long.
> 
> 
> Did the spinner in the woods work for them?


I heard second-hand stories of a couple being seen at SRSGA this fall, but I didn't personally see any. And I'm not aware of any tickets issued.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Duke said:


> No, what I really mean is I hate some of the people at Shiawassee-
> ....


Yeah but c'mon man, I could say that about "some of the people" who hunt Maple River, Saginaw Bay, or a million other places. Let's face it...the world is full of a-holes, and apparently you ran into some. But let's don't condemn the area because of it.

Honestly, I was at a meeting at MUCC last week representing both MDHA and SFCHA, and I was asked for general thoughts about how the ban went this year. I reported (based on discussions with DNRE field staff at SRSGA, and many hunters in the field) that it seemed to go well this year, with no complaints at all about the ban itself that I was aware of, and lots of positive comments about how hunters seemed to enjoy the place more this fall. I personally hunted there about a dozen times, and I never heard one complaint at the draw during the instructions...not even any grumbling or swearing in the back of the room, which I fully expected this year. I also reported that everyone said the geese worked better this year, and we could all speculate all day on whether it was due to the ban or not. 

As I said in another post, I heard a couple second-hand reports about seeing spinners being used, but I'm not aware of any tickets issued.


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## Duke (Oct 6, 2000)

Yeah, you're right- I went with the attention grabbing headlines and I shouldn't have. Just wanted to make sure people read it, tabloid-style, just in case the fellas were reading on here. Sorry about that, I certainly don't condemn the whole area because of this or because of the few bad apples. I do love the opportunities that the area provides, its just not my usual cup of tea. But I'm sure it was much better w/o the spinners this year. I did not think I was making some show of "keyborad courage" (I like that, Big Honkers, but the rest of your post is garbage. Besides, random thoughts are all I got, and what else exactly is the web good for??).

I was not about to interrupt my hunt, try to negotiate the maze and find these guys to confront them. We were all going to meet back at the parking lot anyway- that is, until they fired up their mud motor and left like an hour before shooting hours (I wonder why they did that...???). You might disagree, but I didn't think it was a big enough deal to call RAP. Yeah its against the (local) law, and I was a little annoyed, but it takes more than that to tick me off enough to try and get someone in trouble. Bona fide game violations- yep, I call. 

Yes, the spinners worked for them but not well enough to make up for their inability to hide, I'm guessing. The few ducks seen would bee-line right down on them, but most would shy away or even flare once they got to 40-60 yds or so, as best as I could tell. So I give the guys credit for not blazing at everything in range. Or maybe they were actually holding off on hens- before and/or after they may have shot theirs. Either way, I give them credit for that.


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## Ferris_StateHunter (Apr 24, 2006)

Shiawassee_Kid said:


> seriously? i mean if you got names? Did you ACTUALLY see spinners in their spread or you are making an assumption?
> 
> ...honestly, sometimes people just get out hunted and this is the typical response.
> 
> ...


One day we were in the 30's we had heard of a guy in 10 using one. The guys in 9 busted em and called the co. From what I was told the spinner was taken down with a ticket issued
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

Well I stand corrected, guess few guys tried to use them. All in all didn't hear much noise about it from my circle. I didn't get a chance hunt as much as normal. When I did hunt it was a more enjoyable experience.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Duke said:


> ...You might disagree, but I didn't think it was a big enough deal to call RAP. Yeah its against the (local) law, and I was a little annoyed, but it takes more than that to tick me off enough to try and get someone in trouble. Bona fide game violations- yep, I call....


I will disagree. You're making your own value judgements about how serious the violation is. Yes, the ban was only applicable to Shiawassee River, but the fact is it's a violation of law...a misdemeanor. What about carrying more than 25 shells out at Shiawassee, or the no-wake boating law in the ditches there? Same kind of local regulation, but still a violation of law, and both have gotten people tickets in the past. 

You certainly have a choice not to call the RAP line, but I'd encourage you to do it anytime you witness a violation of any law.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

Ferris_StateHunter said:


> One day we were in the 30's we had heard of a guy in 10 using one. The guys in 9 busted em and called the co. From what I was told the spinner was taken down with a ticket issued
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


And think about it...if the guys honestly didn't know about the ban, they would've raised holy hell with the DNRE. But none of us regular Shiawassee guys heard a peep, which tells me they knew damn well, and they just bit the bullet and accepted their punishment.

It will be interesting to hear the end of season report regarding how many violations they had. Then again, people have to report it in order for it to be on the DNRE's radar.


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## sthiede (Aug 31, 2004)

just ducky said:


> I will disagree. You're making your own value judgements about how serious the violation is. Yes, the ban was only applicable to Shiawassee River, but the fact is it's a violation of law...a misdemeanor. What about carrying more than 25 shells out at Shiawassee, or *the no-wake boating law in the ditches there*? Same kind of local regulation, but still a violation of law, and both have gotten people tickets in the past.
> 
> You certainly have a choice not to call the RAP line, but I'd encourage you to do it anytime you witness a violation of any law.


They really need to rephrase the wording before the draws when talking about the no wake law. They say "the whole area is a no wake zone, so make sure you slow down when passing someone slower than you." If you have to slow down, then you must have been creating wake in the first place. That rule contradicts itself, and they should consider changing the wording.


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## Po'Boy (Oct 15, 2010)

sthiede said:


> They really need to rephrase the wording before the draws when talking about the no wake law. They say "the whole area is a no wake zone, so make sure you slow down when passing someone slower than you." If you have to slow down, then you must have been creating wake in the first place. That rule contradicts itself, and they should consider changing the wording.


I will second that. I've been hunting there 35 years and I'm still confused by that. Is it no wake while passing (which appears to be the practice) or no wake? The wakes have to be kind of hard on the dikes.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

Po'Boy said:


> I will second that. I've been hunting there 35 years and I'm still confused by that. Is it no wake while passing (which appears to be the practice) or no wake? The wakes have to be kind of hard on the dikes.


muskrats do more damage than the wakes.


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## gotmygreens (Dec 17, 2008)

I agree with you Danny, rats do way more damage than wakes. As far as the law contradicting itself, I can tell you that there are certain individuals with a half an inch of freeboard and a trolling motor that you could swamp without creating any wake.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

i know 3 guys that pretty much didn't miss a draw this year. one of them spotted one spinner in prior and it was taken down quickly. 

season gets over and i hear of "5 of them" and "bunch of spinners".....lol. I mean if waterhazard only seen 1 or 2 spinners this year, i would say most everyone adhered to the spinner ban....cuz waterhazard hunted over 40 of 60 draw days.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

As WaterHazard said in an earlier post, if they'd have been using them in a field by me, it wouldn't have lasted long, or else the RAP line would've been called. Honestly no excuse for using them, because it was made perfectly clear at the draws, on the Kiosk board, in the regulations, etc. And like I said before, if there were confusion and people not knowing about the ban, I'm sure we would've heard the bitching at the draws. Never heard any complaints, nor did anyone in the DNRE last I knew. I'm sure there were a few people trying to get away with it, but I think if it were wide-spread, we would've heard about it. We'll get the full scoop at the January SFCHA meeting, which I'm sure will include a wrap-up on hunting season.


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## tyler2009 (Oct 23, 2008)

I don't hunt this area, and chances are, never will; however, I don't understand why you guys are asking to put more restrictions on yourself. I feel like the government and antis are already trying to pin us hunters down and by making more restrictions, you are only helping their causes.

I understand your point of view, but maybe keep mine in mind as well. Many people probably feel the same way as I do anyway.


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## PhilBernardi (Sep 6, 2010)

_I don't understand why you guys are asking to put more restrictions on yourself.

_We are in order to enhance the experience of hunting waterfowl at SSGA; by "enhance", we mean to increase the probability of seeing and shooting more ducks and geese for more waterfowlers through the season. 

If it takes a restriction to accomplish that goal, so be it.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

hardly ever are the restrictions changed at srsga....if they do they are very minimal. This was the first year of a drastic change..(spinners) and that was only because it became such a huge problem. We went from complaints non-stop daily about abuse and problems....to not a peep this year. It was a more enjoyable experience.

I for one loved the fact that I didn't have to even put them in my boat. I'm pretty comfortable shooting birds without them.


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## tyler2009 (Oct 23, 2008)

PhilBernardi said:


> _I don't understand why you guys are asking to put more restrictions on yourself._
> 
> We are in order to enhance the experience of hunting waterfowl at SSGA; by "enhance", we mean to increase the probability of seeing and shooting more ducks and geese for more waterfowlers through the season.
> 
> If it takes a restriction to accomplish that goal, so be it.


OH I SEE! Restricting the size of the motors must be directly linked with "the probability and shooting more ducks and geese for more waterfowlers through the season." It all makes sense now!


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

I dont believe a motor restriction is a good idea either. Its not like motors are a dime a dozen and everyone can go out and buy one to accomadate a SGA.....Also, doesnt matter if you have a 2 hp or a 200 hp, if you use common sense noone would have a problem.:idea: Just sayin'.


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## ducslayer (Sep 28, 2009)

Common sense.....or the lack of it is the real problem. If everyone obeyed the no wake, then we would not be having this discussion. I don't like having big brother telling me what to do, but this is a safety issue. A few bad apples ruin it for the rest of us


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## MICHIGOOSE (Nov 20, 2002)

ducslayer said:


> Common sense.....or the lack of it is the real problem. If everyone obeyed the no wake, then we would not be having this discussion. I don't like having big brother telling me what to do, but this is a safety issue. A few bad apples ruin it for the rest of us


There is definately an issue, but IMO a large part of the problem are the slower/smaller/overloaded boats and lack of boating etiquette. If everyone OBEYED the no wake rule there would be 12 guys a year that hunted the 30's and 40's because it would take an hour and a half each way. The slower boats need to learn to stop so that a faster boat can safely pass them. I run a flat bottom now, but when I used to run a canoe with a 2HP I still made a substantial wake at WOT. With all the gear that is required to hunt out there, and everyone trying to make it to there field ASAP it is IMO impossible to expect everyone to be completely no wake. It is however very reasonable to expect everyone to try to be safe. I think it would go a long way for safety if the slower boats would stop when they are overtaken. I hunt quite a few days out there a year, and I don't remember anyone with a "faster" boat being wreckless. Not saying it doesn't happen, however nearly every trip I see at least one boat that is way overloaded, doesn't have running lights, etc.


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## Tom_Miller (Apr 23, 2010)

I also am one of the smaller boats. I don't feel I have ever been a problem to the faster boats and have always pulled over to let them pass. The faster boats have never been a problem to me either, while duck hunting, but they have on occasion been an issue while fishing on the Bad River. As for the spinners, I was glad to see them gone this year. One less thing I had to think about possibly bringing along.


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## PhilBernardi (Sep 6, 2010)

_OH I SEE! Restricting the size of the motors must be directly linked with "the probability and shooting more ducks and geese for more waterfowlers through the season." It all makes sense now!
 
_
I never wrote nor implied anything about motors and its relation to _"the probability and shooting more ducks and geese for more waterfowlers through the season." _

I don't know the background on the motor restriction issue(s). Fill me in. 

_ 
_


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