# Fp 10-31-2014



## oldsalt mi (Oct 5, 2010)

I would feel like hell if I lost 6 birds on one hunt. 

I would have to rethink things for sure. 


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## Nuff Daddy (Dec 5, 2012)

We lost 3 birds today and it killed me. All 3 hit the water hard inside 25 yards in the decoys. 2 swam low to a 10' wide brush line just outside our decoys. 2 of us kicked around in there for 20min for each bird and came up with nothing. The third fell hard in the same spot but dove soon as we went out to grab it. Never came back up where we could see it. I watch guys at FP sail so many birds one after another is crazy. If you can't drop the bird so it's right on top of you or in the open water in the decoys you just plain shouldn't shoot. If everyone would let the birds work inside of 25 yards the hunting would be 10x better at the WMAs. 40-50 yard passing shots do nothing but produce educated birds and cripples.


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## bheary (Dec 29, 2010)

poppineyes said:


> Finally got a good draw and got 18 ducks. Downed another 6 or so that we couldn't retrieve. Shot a mixed bag of ducks: Pintail, buffleheads, teal, mallards, and black ducks. Great mid season hunt. On a side note, during the morning informational meeting at the barn, I couldn't believe the tone and word usage by this Brickel gentleman. Threatening fines and citations for various things and just had an aggressive tone....I don't need to hear that s*** as my taxes and fees pay for his job! I miss the era of Gearman!!!


"Downed another 6 or so" Really? And you wonder why the manager might seem to have a attitude.


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## poppineyes (Jan 23, 2013)

Yup, you guys have it all figured out. Hunt the way you want as I will do the same. Just wanted to give a report of the various species we shot today and you slam me. I couldn't care less what your opinions are


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## Nuff Daddy (Dec 5, 2012)

poppineyes said:


> Yup, you guys have it all figured out. Hunt the way you want as I will do the same. Just wanted to give a report of the various species we shot today and you slam me. I couldn't care less what your opinions are



No. You made this post to complain about the staff warning you that citations will be given out if you shoot a swan or don't turn your card in. I've hunted there 3 times this year and got the same speech you did. Just like everyone else has that hunted there this year. And yet you are the only one with a problem.


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## bheary (Dec 29, 2010)

Well they do tell you in the brief before the draw that you shall count birds that were not retrieved against your daily limit. So your party actually shot 6 more than you are supposed to, that means that you broke more than one law.


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## Nuff Daddy (Dec 5, 2012)

bheary said:


> Well they do tell you in the brief before the draw that you shall count birds that were not retrieved against your daily limit. So your party actually shot 6 more than you are supposed to, that means that you broke more than one law.


I don't recall them saying that. They want them written on the card, but if you can't find a cripple you legally don't have to count it. Ethically...that depends on the person.


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## bheary (Dec 29, 2010)

Nuff Daddy said:


> I don't recall them saying that. They want them written on the card, but if you can't find a cripple you legally don't have to count it. Ethically...that depends on the person.


Ahh....maybe I was confused by that. I always counted them against my bag limit.


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## craigrh13 (Oct 24, 2011)

I just got off the phone with FP. They said 600 birds were shot yesterday. 101 parties this AM.


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## bheary (Dec 29, 2010)

Holy smoke


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## spartansfan (Nov 8, 2011)

craigrh13 said:


> I just got off the phone with FP. They said 600 birds were shot yesterday. 101 parties this AM.


Sounds about right. It was non stop shooting from 1-dark in the afternoon.


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## craigrh13 (Oct 24, 2011)

That's awesome. We're all zones shooting or was it mostly aroubd the refuge?


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## poppineyes (Jan 23, 2013)

bheary,

Do you know how to count? I said we shot 18 ducks and lost 6. 18+6=24....:lol:


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## Nuff Daddy (Dec 5, 2012)

craigrh13 said:


> That's awesome. We're all zones shooting or was it mostly aroubd the refuge?



We were in the 40s. Almost ran out of shells. Shooting in the 50s....everywhere around us had birds. We never didn't have birds in sight from 1-6:30


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## limitville (May 30, 2010)

In the 15 years I have hunted at FP I have never heard anyone say to count cripples in your bag. As long as you make a good faith effort to find the birds you are abiding by the law as far as I know.

To the guys who claim to have lost 1 bird in several years or none at all then either you don't hunt at FP much or you don't shoot many birds. If they fall in the corn alongside of you or behind you and they have any life in them when they hit they can be tough to find. I don't think that birds falling in the corn is necessarily indicative of skybusting. I didn't hear the OP say that his birds were falling in other zones, all I read is that he couldn't find all of his birds.

I find it funny how all these guys post about the etiquette to have and to "let the birds work". You must not hunt anywhere near me because I can count on my right hand the number of times I have run into courteous hunters at FP. If you let your birds circle, your neighbors are shooting and I can pretty much guarantee that. You guys posting about etiquette are the same guys hunting next to me taking a crack at the birds working my decoys.

My dad took me out there a long time ago with the "let the birds work" motto. After years of being disappointed out there by fellow hunters I don't blame anyone for taking what they can get out there. If I can knock it down and feel I can retrieve it, I am shooting.


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## craigrh13 (Oct 24, 2011)

limitville said:


> In the 15 years I have hunted at FP I have never heard anyone say to count cripples in your bag. As long as you make a good faith effort to find the birds you are abiding by the law as far as I know.
> 
> To the guys who claim to have lost 1 bird in several years or none at all then either you don't hunt at FP much or you don't shoot many birds. If they fall in the corn alongside of you or behind you and they have any life in them when they hit they can be tough to find. I don't think that birds falling in the corn is necessarily indicative of skybusting. I didn't hear the OP say that his birds were falling in other zones, all I read is that he couldn't find all of his birds.
> 
> ...


Untrue. Everytime I hunt a GMU I will do not and will not call at birds that are clearly working someones spread. That's just the way I was taught. If everyone would let the birds work they wouldn't stall out at 40-50 yards. People shooting them on the pass is what educates them the most. The problem is you have a bunch of morons with no experience hunting the areas. They really do ruin it or make it harder on everyone.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

limitville said:


> To the guys who claim to have lost 1 bird in several years or none at all then either you don't hunt at FP much or you don't shoot many birds. If they fall in the corn alongside of you or behind you and they have any life in them when they hit they can be tough to find. I don't think that birds falling in the corn is necessarily indicative of skybusting.


This.

I don't know how many times a flock comes in hunting 3 guys, each shoots one where on falling looks dead, pull to another, miss, pull to another and knock it down. 6 birds down, look at the water while reloading and only see 2 birds. No one knows what happened to have 6 cripples but the guys in his party, yet plenty of guys see someone with the balls to post about cripples and can't pass up the chance to bash him.


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## limitville (May 30, 2010)

You said untrue then went on to type that there are inexperienced people that ruin it for everyone. That was my point. Why should I sit there and have every group of birds that want to work get called at and shot at thus leaving me with my gun and %$^& in my hand. If you are letting birds work out there then you are in the minority. The odds of having a guy like you to my left, my right, in front of me, and behind me is nearly impossible. I am not saying to sky bust but If i can knock it down and feel I can retrieve it I am dusting that bitch.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Buk said:


> Ive seen close to 100 birds killed this year and have lost about six that's not taking moral high ground that's just calling out a skybuster shooting ducks just to shoot ducks


It absolutely is since your pointing out how awesome you are and he's a "sky buster".


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## bfaber (Apr 17, 2010)

Sure glad i hunt private land in my mind you all sound like a bunch of jelous yahoos. One thing for sure a guy that admits they lost 6 cripples is at least truthfull and my hat tips to that. Wish we all spent more time hunting then hidding behind a screan pointing at each others down falls. 


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## Magic Man (Apr 17, 2010)

Shoot if you want, and if they get crippled so be it. I have hunted fishpoint, SGA, Mississippi and every body I know loses cripples. Part of the gig. To make it seem uncommon or imply someone is reckless by losing birds is dumb. 

I have no problem with a weekender downing a few extra ducks. The problem is the guy that goes everyday and fills his limit. Vis a vis Shiawasee kid, I seen the pictures from ND, looks like a game hog to me.


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## Big Skip (Sep 1, 2010)

I wasn't around but sounds like there were upwards of 40 mph winds? Umm...ya some birds will get lost in that weather. To the poster, don't let the know it alls bother you...they are just jealous they didn't have as good of a shoot as you.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

Magic Man said:


> Shoot if you want, and if they get crippled so be it. I have hunted fishpoint, SGA, Mississippi and every body I know loses cripples. Part of the gig. To make it seem uncommon or imply someone is reckless by losing birds is dumb.
> 
> I have no problem with a weekender downing a few extra ducks. The problem is the guy that goes everyday and fills his limit. Vis a vis Shiawasee kid, I seen the pictures from ND, looks like a game hog to me.


So a guy that shoots a lot of ducks = game hog, lol got it. I'm a game hog then. Yer gonna be mad now cause there is a lot of game hogs on this site...and don't me mad when I tell you..most of them kill more ducks than me...crazy ain't it...I know them bastards and all their success...you know who you are. Hogs.


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## craigrh13 (Oct 24, 2011)

limitville said:


> You said untrue then went on to type that there are inexperienced people that ruin it for everyone. That was my point. Why should I sit there and have every group of birds that want to work get called at and shot at thus leaving me with my gun and %$^& in my hand. If you are letting birds work out there then you are in the minority. The odds of having a guy like you to my left, my right, in front of me, and behind me is nearly impossible. I am not saying to sky bust but If i can knock it down and feel I can retrieve it I am dusting that bitch.



All I am saying is I don't want to have to stoop to their level. If someone else wants to then so be it. I'm not that hard up to kill ducks. I enjoy the hunt. I enjoy watching the birds work. I understand that at somewhere like Fish Point that can be hard as the birds are pressured. I pass up shots that others most likely would take. I'm ok with that. To me the excitement is in finishing birds. 

For the record I wasn't trying to crucify the op for his cripples. It definitely can be hard in the corn especial coupled with high winds. It happens. I was simply saying shooting a tighter choke and trying to finish the birds has helped me reduce my cripples substantialy. Cripples will happen. That is just part of the hunt.


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## bloomy321 (Oct 18, 2006)

Flock of teal fly in.... You knock a few down. Your world class retriever fetches all of them because apparently no one has ever lost a duck in the weeds. The dog brings back 2 green wings and a merganser. After reading the past comments about ethics and the lessons we all need to learn out there.... Which of the duck commanders will eat the merganser? Or better yet, who would be able to identify the odd ball duck in a group of a dozen whipping in sideways at 50 mph.... Or better yet, most of us wouldn't even take the shot because they would land in the boat if you did. Give the guy a break... We all can't be as professional as all you pros on ms.com. We are watching A&E trying to do our best.


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## Lurker (Jan 25, 2009)

very entertaining


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## Dead Bird (Oct 2, 2001)

so I am going to close this thread...

1. we have birds at FP...

2. the rest is is a lot of he said she said...

lets not be so fast to judge and a little more supportive... when someone is typing a response and is using less than a 100 words to explain himself.. that leaves a lot for interpretation...


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