# Nayanquine Point refuge



## Richard6908 (Jan 26, 2006)

Just a little info for anyone curious about the refuge.Water levels a re horrible.South field has no water.North field only two zones have poor water conditions and the middle field which is the best but is still low and the corn cover is poor i n all areas.


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## everlast1 (Nov 9, 2006)

Richard, Careful buddy, shoot the messenger is alive and well on this site.


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## Daisycutter (Jul 7, 2007)

Man, that is sad to hear. That is the area I grew up hunting. When I moved back to Michigan I went over there to try and it and was amazed at how much different (and not for the better) it was. Hopefully the water conditions will improve in the bay over the next few years and all those areas can get back on track. great memories for me over that way, but I never even bother trying it anymore.


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## GoneFishin (Jan 11, 2001)

Yep, I had a lot of good shoots up there. But my favorite spot in the managed area is just about completely grown over now.


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## Daisycutter (Jul 7, 2007)

GoneFishin said:


> Yep, I had a lot of good shoots up there. But my favorite spot in the managed area is just about completely grown over now.


Is that the old open water marsh area? I hadn't been there since I was 14 years old and just went back a couple years ago. I swore to a friend of mine that whole area you look over, toawrds the bay, from the observation tower was mostly open water. Now it is solid cattails. He didn't believe me, but unless I am crazy, I remember putting in on the left side of the road there and motoring across to the little point on the far side and shooting the crap out of the ringnecks and bluebills...


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

In case anyone does a search of conditions at nayanquing point I thought I'd toss in the correct spelling.


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## Blue (Oct 15, 2003)

Daisycutter. Your memory is still sharp. The east marsh was almost all open water and you could motor quite easily throughout the whole area. I always thought it was the best area in the managed unit to hunt.


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## Steve B. (Nov 22, 2004)

GoneFishin said:


> Yep, I had a lot of good shoots up there.


Yeah, I agree. I remember some of the good hunts I had at Crow Island too. I will never forget the November day when I got my first drake Pintail with a pin. He's still on the wall.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

It seems to me that that East Flooding being discussed could be kept flooded all year long. It would be a good place for ducks to raise broods in the spring and summer.


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## MadHatter (Mar 4, 2004)

That place hasn't been the same since Bob B. left. I understand that low water beyond anyone's control, but that place hasn't had corn higher than your nipples in years. It just seams that the TLC just isn't there anymore.


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## Daisycutter (Jul 7, 2007)

It really is too bad...I would say 75% of my hunting when I was a kid was done there with my dad. My first goose was shot there, my first big fat migrator greenhead, the first time I saw serious flights of ducks, hunts in the snow, my first limit...so many good times. I drove over there one hunt, when I got back into Michigan hunting and can't imagine going over there at all right now based on the conditions I saw.:sad:


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## limige (Sep 2, 2005)

yeah, i dropped by the end of pinconning rd thinking birds should be dropping in the little bay there to rest. holy cow, what bay? the water used to run to coggens rd, now it barely crosses the old piles noth of the parking lot..look toward the river and you see sand bars poking out of the water. 

it's insane to see how low the water is. they really need to stop letting it all out into the mississippi and down to niagra. heck with the asain carp in the mississippi i figure they should close that end right up, let the river drain and the fish die off and crack her open and start all again!


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

MadHatter said:


> That place hasn't been the same since Bob B. left. I understand that low water beyond anyone's control, but that place hasn't had corn higher than your nipples in years. It just seams that the TLC just isn't there anymore.


Your not the only one that thinks like that....The corn is always pitiful!


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

i used to burn my reserved permit on it every year up til early 90's. i shot my first ducks there (hooded merg) when i was 12. Used to be sorta a tradition to hunt the opener there (me, my dad and uncle) all put in for opener there. It's sad to see the decline, and i think it started way before water levels took a dive. sharecropping is an art form, its kinda hard to find farmers who will put 110% into the crop knowing they are gonna leave it behind. 

At shiawassee it was tough to get a farmer out who was giving us horrible crops every year with prestine conditions....but after we got a new farmer in to do those blocks man....our crops have been excellent. I can't say enough about the farmers we have today...these guys are awesome. :bloos:


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

Do the game areas use treated seed or fertilizers at all? Theyre blaming the poor corn in the game area on drought. Last i checked all the corn in the area is pretty damn tall and full of corn. Even the fields without irrigation, so im not biting on that one. This is rediculous. Year after year the conditions are poor. If they have a farmer that doesnt wanna commit to the program, then they ought to get someone else who does. That place needs allot of TLC. Im sure its not a freebee, so at least give the money to someone who cares about the outcome.....Its just plain pitiful to stand in the middle zone and see the upper half of every hunter in the entire zone.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

adam bomb said:


> If they have a farmer that doesnt wanna commit to the program, then they ought to get someone else who does.


good luck. took us 3-4 years to get a farmer out who gave us bad results. it was pretty obvious he was fertilizing "his" share of the crop and not ours. he also had a bad habit of not harvesting when the other farmers did and we would never get the fields flooded til it was late in season. getting a farmer replaced is sorta like firing a union worker. They get like 5 warnings and then you can write them up only to have to wait to the next year to see if he actually fixes what he was warned about. rinse, cycle, repeat.


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## GoneFishin (Jan 11, 2001)

MadHatter said:


> That place hasn't been the same since Bob B. left. I understand that low water beyond anyone's control, but that place hasn't had corn higher than your nipples in years. It just seams that the TLC just isn't there anymore.


Blue and I were talkin' about that the other day, Bob used to give a lot of TLC to the NP unit, it was always in A-1 shape when he ran it. 

IMO, the same thing happened to SRSGA after Marv J. left it's finally starting to get back on track. Wouldn't mind seein' 'em go back to opening the whole woods in da mornings and closing it in the afternoons giving the ducks a rest/roost area. Seems they used to hold a lot more ducks then than they do with 1/2 of it refuge.


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## ScavengerMan (Sep 6, 2006)

Although he did a fine job, I'm glad Bob is gone. Very few people realize what Don has gone through to get the place flooded for the last several years. I don't think there is a chance in the world Bob would have got up in the middle of the night to run the pumps taking advantage of every temporary wind shift. IMO Don doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves. 

What a bunch of whiners 

Whatever you do, please don't burden yourself all the lousy conditions at NP and go seek out the promised land at Shiawassee.


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## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

I haven't been to NQP in 3-4 years. It's a shame to hear this stuff. I, too, took my first duck there (more years ago than I want to admit). Until we get some wet years to bring the Great Lakes water levels up, it's hard to imagine that things will change. Then there's the funding problem at the State level.... There's a lot of factors that go into it, even if the farmer/crop problem could be improved. Sad, sad times indeed.


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## adam bomb (Feb 27, 2006)

The conditions im talking about are the corn, not the water levels. The water level is uncontrolable with the Bay levels being so low. If you cant get water to the pump, you cant pump it, plain and simple. The crop conditions are what im talking about.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

Next year there will be a good reason to go to The Point. And that's after you're done hunting you'll be able to go to the new casino 10 miles up the road.:xzicon_sm


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## duckhunter88 (Oct 19, 2006)

ScavengerMan said:


> Although he did a fine job, I'm glad Bob is gone. Very few people realize what Don has gone through to get the place flooded for the last several years. I don't think there is a chance in the world Bob would have got up in the middle of the night to run the pumps taking advantage of every temporary wind shift. IMO Don doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves.
> 
> What a bunch of whiners
> 
> Whatever you do, please don't burden yourself all the lousy conditions at NP and go seek out the promised land at Shiawassee.


 
To scavengerMans Comments about being glad that Bob's gone. I think you are sadley mistaken. 

Bob would have been there at in the middle of the night, but there's alot more to it than just the water level. That's mother nature. 

Don does'nt do anything to keep the flooded woods open to hunters or the open water marsh. I have never in all my years seen the corn so low and unhuntable. It's a wonder why the farmer has huntable corn right next door. 

What keeps the ducks around only the water?. I don't think so, corn and Buckwheat keeps the birds around. A little extra work would be a big help maybe its time for a new face at the Point. Someone that understands that he is there working for the duck hunters. without us there would be know reason for him ( Don) to have a job.


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## MadHatter (Mar 4, 2004)

ScavengerMan said:


> Although he did a fine job, I'm glad Bob is gone. Very few people realize what Don has gone through to get the place flooded for the last several years. I don't think there is a chance in the world Bob would have got up in the middle of the night to run the pumps taking advantage of every temporary wind shift. IMO Don doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves.
> 
> What a bunch of whiners
> 
> Whatever you do, please don't burden yourself all the lousy conditions at NP and go seek out the promised land at Shiawassee.


Wow, I had no idea that Don got up in the middle of the night and ran the pump to take advantage of temporary wind shifts. I guess that place is a good place to hunt.

Whining is not the theme of this thread, it is one of dissappointment in what used to be one of the best managed areas in the state of Michigan. I don't think anyone can dispute the fact that it has fallen from grace. This steadily decline just happened to coincide with change in management out there. The corn used to grow and now it doesn't.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

ScavengerMan said:


> Whatever you do, please don't burden yourself all the lousy conditions at NP and go seek out the promised land at Shiawassee.


they are. and i think thats the point. you don't have any hunters there.....there will be no nypoint soon.


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## chessiepup (Oct 24, 2002)

Shiawassee_Kid said:


> they are. and i think thats the point. you don't have any hunters there.....there will be no nypoint soon.


don't forget nayanquing is the smallest managed area in the state,it is sure to be the first to go with budget cuts,especially if there are no hunter #'s to show that its being used

Remember when wigwam bay and crow island had draws for opening weekend?

now those areas aren't even planted with crops any longer or managed other than kept flooded, nayanquing will be the next,


they have put in new pumps in all the fields,why not sink them deeper and dredge the cuts?

low water has only been a problem for the last 8 years I would think some one would have figured it out by now


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## steelsetter (Dec 14, 2003)

seeing there. There is NO corn on the stalks even. Water levels are no ones fault if there is no water to draw. But why is EVERY corn field I drove by around the refuge so healthy? I never recall "little Bob" having issues like this. It used to be a pleasure to swing in there to see if you could hit a hot field before going out on the bay if you pulled a bad draw. 

I remember when it was a quality hunting experience.

Quality was not what I saw today unfortunately.

In all fairness though it has been 5 or more seasons since I hunted a draw besides the Federal goose hunt. 

Maybe this was just a bad year up there? Although some of the locals told me not at the launch....


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## N.E. Outdoorsman (Sep 18, 2006)

Our party of four hunted the morning Sunday. We drew 5th and took the last zone with some water. It was a nice surprise. We shot BWT, GWT, Shoveler, Pintails, Ring-neck, and Mallards. We brought 12 ducks in to check at 10:00AM. We couldn't take the Sun in our face any more. So I don't know what to say about N.P., other than WE did good. It was a rare occasion where we were at the spot the ducks wanted to be. I think the total was 19 birds that moring for all parties.

The corn stalks are knee high and sparse. The water is bad. The ducks were flying.

Bring on the Divers!!!!!!!!!!


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## quackmaster (Sep 29, 2004)

Hunted out there on Sat morning....I think it was 12 parties for the draw....I remember when I first started going there it would be 100+ early in the season on a Sat. I must say the skybusting out there was the worst I have ever seen it in all the times Ive been out there. And I know I expect some skybusting every time I go there especially on slow days, but this was realll bad. Corn isnt the best Ive seen out there, the buckwheat looks real good, the ducks are hit or miss, but there are still ducks to be had. We managed a black, mallard, and shoveler. I would hate to see Nyanquing go I have had a lot of fond memories there.


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## Sea Duck (Jul 9, 2001)

Ahhhhh yes, another thread about mismanagement of the Bingo Fields....oh, and some skybusting reports to boot! Wow, now that's a surprise!


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## bucknduck (Nov 7, 2003)

N.E. Outdoorsman said:


> We brought 12 ducks in to check at 10:00AM. I think the total was 19 birds that moring for all parties.


Was there a guy in your group asking about a duck id book? There was a group there on Sunday that mentioned taking that many ducks. I was there with my lab on cripple retrieve. congrats and good meeting you if that was you. BTW, here is the book that I use since I hunt both upland birds and waterfowl
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=upland+book&noImage=0


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## N.E. Outdoorsman (Sep 18, 2006)

bucknduck said:


> Was there a guy in your group asking about a duck id book? There was a group there on Sunday that mentioned taking that many ducks. I was there with my lab on cripple retrieve. congrats and good meeting you if that was you. BTW, here is the book that I use since I hunt both upland birds and waterfowl
> 
> Yes. That was us. It was good meeting you and thanks for the info.


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## Fordman7795 (Sep 9, 2007)

NE Outdoorsman:

Were you in field 15? i was in 12 next to you. I got 1 Drake Mallard. I only shot at 4 ducks total. I saw you guys were hammerin pretty good. Must have been better water over there. All the ducks that thought about coming near me ending up getting swatted by you guys. Good luck to you in the future.


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## N.E. Outdoorsman (Sep 18, 2006)

Fordman7795 said:


> NE Outdoorsman:
> 
> Were you in field 15? i was in 12 next to you. I got 1 Drake Mallard. I only shot at 4 ducks total. I saw you guys were hammerin pretty good. Must have been better water over there. All the ducks that thought about coming near me ending up getting swatted by you guys. Good luck to you in the future.
> 
> ...


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## Tunaman (Apr 17, 2006)

For your information. This is Don's last year at the point. His wife is going to be our states new waterfowl chief in lansing.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

It was a great day at the Point on Tuesday afternoon. As long as it rained the ducks flew.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

answerguy8 said:


> It was a great day at the Point on Tuesday afternoon. As long as it rained the ducks flew.


same at shiawassee...soon as rain stopped....so did the ducks.


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## N.E. Outdoorsman (Sep 18, 2006)

I hunted the same spot yesterday morning. I was kinda bummed. The Teal weren't buzzing like last week. The wind and rain were hammering us. The Mallards were flying, but extremely decoy shy. It looked like they were trying to land anywhere they could find a spot NO WHERE near a decoy spread. I shot one GWT and that's it.

"Ducky" weather doesn't necessarily mean Ducks! I was taking a buddy that is getting into waterfowling. I'd hoped to get him a duck or two. Oh well, he did shoot a goose when we got home and hunted in Oscoda. We had a great time!


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

A concern that I have at Nyanquing is how close the hunters can be to each other. I was in zone 11 on Tuesday afternoon and the only place to set decoys is on the east side of the corn (very sparse corn BTW). The group in 14 set up their decoys on the west side of their corn strip which meant we were facing each other at what seemed to be less than 100 yards away.

At Fish Point I'm pretty sure they require hunters to all put their dekes on the same side of their corn strips which keeps things much safer.


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## N.E. Outdoorsman (Sep 18, 2006)

answerguy8 said:


> A concern that I have at Nyanquing is how close the hunters can be to each other. I was in zone 11 on Tuesday afternoon and the only place to set decoys is on the east side of the corn (very sparse corn BTW). The group in 14 set up their decoys on the west side of their corn strip which meant we were facing each other at what seemed to be less than 100 yards away.
> 
> At Fish Point I'm pretty sure they require hunters to all put their dekes on the same side of their corn strips which keeps things much safer.


 
I agree with you. We have had pellets whiz past us and ripping through our dekes this year. I know what you mean. We hunted 15 Thur morning. We set up facing 18. It was a bad set-up for the wind, but we had more space between us and 18 as opposed to 12 if we had set up with the wind at our back.

We have been trying to judge where the opposing party is by their flashlights and noises and make sure we are not straight across from them, but it still can be dangerous. I'm not complaining about it. It is just something to keep in mind there.


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

answerguy8 said:


> At Fish Point I'm pretty sure they require hunters to all put their dekes on the same side of their corn strips which keeps things much safer.


this is not accurate. you can hunt either side of your cornrow.


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