# Todd Farm Zone Consolidation Poll



## Big Honkers (Dec 20, 2008)

Quick poll on the 50% zone consolidation at the Todd Farm/Fennville Farm Unit/Allegan GMU.


----------



## field-n-feathers (Oct 20, 2008)

Yes, please keep it like it was this season. Some of the corn rows sucked this season, but that's not a big deal. We hunted with blinds a few times. Also, I would like to see them start charging the daily use fee before you even get your card.


----------



## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

field-n-feathers said:


> Yes, please keep it like it was this season. Some of the corn rows sucked this season, but that's not a big deal. We hunted with blinds a few times. Also, I would like to see them start charging the daily use fee before you even get your card.


X2 this year it was like a 75 percent reduction for people without layouts. Ohh well, better hunting for us that do...with better corn next year there will be more birds, and hopefully if they keep the zone reductions the skybusters will stay home cuz they cant leech off of other peoples calling and decoys.


----------



## TNL (Jan 6, 2005)

I applaud the folks at the Todd trying to change things up for a better hunt. We went the day after the opener and were pleasantly surprised to see the parties next to us were a couple hundred yards away. And yes, those same guys took a crack at birds in our zone, but still it was better than it has been since they took the blinds out of there.

The geese are the same however. They know exactly where the refuge boundries are located. Perhaps if they could be changed from year to year and the crops rotated, there would be more shooting opportunities. That soil has never had a break. It's the same corn every year with grass in the killing zone. 

Just my $.02 after hunting there for 35 years.


----------



## waterfowlhunter83 (Aug 10, 2005)

TNL said:


> The geese are the same however. They know exactly where the refuge boundries are located. Perhaps if they could be changed from year to year and the crops rotated, there would be more shooting opportunities. That soil has never had a break. It's the same corn every year with grass in the killing zone.
> 
> Just my $.02 after hunting there for 35 years.


Bingo Steve! What needs to be done is some way of hiding the "refuge" line...several seasons ago they had the crops run right up to the refuge line in Zone 7. Birds decoys nicely down there (at least when I hunted it). There is so much that could be done to that area but change comes very slow down there. I think the mentality down there is you can still hunt geese there like you could even 10-15 years ago. So much has changed with not only goose hunting but the geese, that the way the Farm is set up is not the best way anymore.


----------



## field-n-feathers (Oct 20, 2008)

As with any managed area, if people would just let the birds work into their decoys.....the hunting could be better. That, in addition to reducing the shell limit during goose hunting only days, would help a bunch. 15 shells for 2 geese is a bit excessive.

Many people judge their hunting success differently as well. Some truly don't know anything different than pass shooting geese. They don't take the time to learn anything else. For example, when the season re-opened this year......Zone 7 was hammering geese. It wasn't because they were finishing in the decoys either.


----------



## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

crop rotation is a must. When they see a boarder of green fields around the refuge they learn in a hurry they need to stay inside of it. If they planned the zones to look more similar to the refuge and rotated crops, the birds would really be in trouble.

i wish the water level at the highbanks was good so the pass shooters could go bust at em over there and leave the decoying birds at the farm alone...


----------



## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

Yes, please keep it. The quality of the hunts I had this year was way higher than years past. 

That and whack the trees in front of 4 and 5, and 3D. In fact whack all the trees anywhere near the boundary.

Quackersmacker - before you were born, the highbanks were the first posts taken every day. That and the 6 posts inside the pool there - there would be 20-25 duck boats in the parking lot. It was not uncommon to get draw 40 and pick the zone you wanted at the farm.

I liked the cut corn in the zones a few years ago. Besides helping to get the birds to work, it provided entertainment watching the people in the zones next to you trip all the time. Until they got to watch you trip and faceplant.


----------



## Bellyup (Nov 13, 2007)

While I can appreciate the motive behind the zone consolidation, I am kind of torn in liking it. I only hunted the Farm twice becasue of it this season. It reduced my chances in half at an already difficult draw. I have to travel an hour and 20 minutes one way to make the draw, and leave by 3:45 - 4:00 to make it on time without any unforseen issues. With this I am unable to scout like people say to do. But I still like to spend my money and time there. If I lived close I would probably like it a lot more. This past season I never clicked the safety off. Drew 18 one day, and 12 the other. My little nephew and another young kid I take were dissapointed, but hey, it is what it is, it is hunting. They just don't understand getting up so early for that when we can do well around here on geese at times. So we never went back once the late season opened. Last year we did well at the Farm. This year I felt like if I was not drawn in the top 5 the hunt turned into an expensive practise exercise. 

So I doubt I will be back next year much if the zones stay that way. I will still come and play agasint lady luck when the other seasons are closed and it is the only game in town, but that is about it.


----------



## FullBody (Nov 4, 2008)

Yeah...I voted yes....barely. It never benifited me cuz I never drew even in the top 20. You pretty much needed to be top 15 to even bother this year. So while I am sure it benefited those who drew well, there were a lot of us who went home everyday. I am willing to give it another chance knowing that when I finally get where I want to be, the quality of the hunt should be improved.


----------



## anon2192012 (Jul 27, 2008)

FullBody said:


> Yeah...I voted yes....barely. It never benifited me cuz I never drew even in the top 20. You pretty much needed to be top 15 to even bother this year. So while I am sure it benefited those who drew well, there were a lot of us who went home everyday. I am willing to give it another chance knowing that when I finally get where I want to be, the quality of the hunt should be improved.


 
x2...


----------



## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

Far Beyond Driven said:


> Yes, please keep it. The quality of the hunts I had this year was way higher than years past.
> 
> That and whack the trees in front of 4 and 5, and 3D. In fact whack all the trees anywhere near the boundary.
> 
> ...


yep ive heard great things about the highbanks from my grandpa and charlie nicosia, if the TF put cut corn in the zones, whacked trees, and got the highbanks huntable for pass shooters, i think the hunts would be alot higher quality for everybody. Whats the deal on bravo unit, was that ever good?


----------



## anon2192012 (Jul 27, 2008)

The bravo unit was good for wounding geese. My uncle used to go there a couple times a week w/ his dog and he could always get his goose just by letting the dog go for a stroll through the woods.:lol:


----------



## anon2192012 (Jul 27, 2008)

quackersmacker13 said:


> X2 this year it was like a 75 percent reduction for people without layouts. Ohh well, better hunting for us that do...with better corn next year there will be more birds, and hopefully if they keep the zone reductions the skybusters will stay home cuz they cant leech off of other peoples calling and decoys.


 

I didn't make it up there a lot this year, but the few times I went the skybusting was worse than ever! Didn't think it could get much worse, but I saw some shots this year that were 200 plus yards...makes you wonder if they think they are actually going to hit one at that distance.


----------



## anon2192012 (Jul 27, 2008)

I also saw something out there this year that I had never seen before. A couple times a flock would want to leave the farm. They would fly to the edge of the refuge at about 70 yds. high, hit the line and turn back, fly to the middle of the refuge and come back out at 150 yds high. I thought that was sort of neat.


----------



## RyanV (Oct 7, 2009)

The consolidation has its benefits, but also limited opportunity to hunt. Especially on busy days.

I sugested they should re draw the blinds. Make each blind 50 percent bigger, instead of double.


----------



## goosemanrdk (Jan 14, 2003)

RyanV said:


> The consolidation has its benefits, but also limited opportunity to hunt. Especially on busy days.
> 
> I sugested they should re draw the blinds. Make each blind 50 percent bigger, instead of double.


Never hunted there this year, as I had enough birds elsewhere to keep me busy. That said, the above was my major concern when I heard the announcement. While I get that they were trying to " increase hunter satisfaction" not sure that this was the best option of ways to do it.

Yes, I am sure the satisfaction of those that hunted/got drawn was increased, but what about those that seem to only ever be able to draw marginal(30-60's). Under the old system, those guys at least still had a chance to get a "marginal" spot, hunt and have a chance to harvest a few birds. Under the new system, those draws(30-60's) are going to have a hard time even getting into a marginal spot anymore. Still confused as to how more people being turned way after each draw is "increasing" satisifaction.

I could see doubling the zone size on weekdays(like they did a few years ago) when there are far fewer parties, but the weekend, not so certain about that.

my 2cents


----------



## quackersmacker13 (Dec 9, 2009)

Huntermax-4 said:


> The bravo unit was good for wounding geese. My uncle used to go there a couple times a week w/ his dog and he could always get his goose just by letting the dog go for a stroll through the woods.:lol:


Thats what i do, except in the refuge by the pond 

JK but really im sure there are a ton of crips swimmin around in there, especially after youth day.


----------



## Shootemintheface (Nov 7, 2007)

I too agree with Bellyup. Long drives and a hope at a decent draw without the ability to scout is a gamble. But the couple trips up during the late season showed me that it might be working. No one shot at geese near me, even though I chose to pass due to the distance. I never made a top 20 draw, but was happy not to have sky busters spoiling any chance I had at decoying a geese.


----------



## Knight (Dec 7, 2005)

FullBody said:


> It never benifited me cuz I never drew even in the top 20. You pretty much needed to be top 15 to even bother this year.


I voted yes, but disagree a bit with this statement. I was there three times. I think we drew approx. 68th out of 75, 36 out of 75, and 88th out of 100. Went to another field on the 88th one. But the other two we stayed. 68th - we were in the hottest zone. We should have pass shot instead of thinking we could let the birds decoy. 36th - we picked up at 10:15 and had birds all over us as we left the field. Not a huge sample to draw a conclusion from, but it worked for us.

It is amazing how well those birds know the boundaries. In 7 we had flock upon flock hit the edge and turn around all afternoon long.


----------

