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Post by featherduster on Aug 19, 2007 20:47:24 GMT -5
Glen is having to make some changes to the ditch in the GUMZ REFUGE along TOTO road.This is at the request of the Starke co. Highway and Drainage boards.Glen is thinking of turning the entire Gumz refuge into yearlong refuge. By this I mean he is thinking of not farming it and letting it grow wild also letting it flood without draining it.This idea has been suggested ever since the state took possession of that property.They are also going to spray by plane the second and third units and other areas of the property to kill of Buck brush and other evasive plants.
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Post by stillwatersniper on Aug 19, 2007 21:25:38 GMT -5
Sounds like he is just looking to take the easy way out and not have to put any effort into farming the property. Why would you turn Gumz into a year long refuge instead of just cutting back days that they hunt it? Just sounds like Glen is looking to make life easy on himself so that he has to do very little during the summer.
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Post by featherduster on Aug 21, 2007 17:22:56 GMT -5
Sniper: you may have misunderstood my post.Glen only intends to set aside the Gumz refuge not the entire Gumz property.The refuge is the tract of land in the SOUTHWEST corner along Toto road and west of the check station. Setting this aside is a win win situation. good for all animals seeking refuge and good for waterfowl because this tract of land can be flooded without having to wait for crops to be picked. Also having corn left on the ground in this refuge was never a good idea because the birds don't want to leave. Let it grow wild,flood it early and you will see a difference.
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Post by stillwatersniper on Aug 21, 2007 19:09:36 GMT -5
I've seen something similar at a South Zone property with the growth going and no food. It doesn't work as well you would think. You think Kank doesn't hold birds now, wait til he takes their refuge of food away then you will see less birds hanging out in the flooded weeds than the row crops.
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Post by featherduster on Aug 21, 2007 21:08:48 GMT -5
Also the state of Indiana does not do the farming, they open if for bids every 3-4 years. Part of the payment from the farmer is to do maintenance work on the Gumz unit such as the digging of the goose ponds, cleaning of the ditches and graveling of the roads.
As far as the idea of leaving food in the refuge in my 37 years of hunting private ground in and around the Kankakee leaving food in a refuge has not worked well. There is plenty of food on the ground in the Gumz pits and blinds area and a heck of alot more at the private clubs around the area.Just give the birds a quite are to rest and make them fly out to search for food thats the perfect setup.
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Post by pigeonflier on Aug 21, 2007 21:38:07 GMT -5
I would agree,, there is plenty of food off the Kank for them. Really I would like to see them close the fields off to hunters.. Its just luck to draw in early... I have had the best days at the Kank,, in the woods before the corn was open. But thats on the years when birds get there before they open the corn. And that hasnt been for a couple years
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Post by duff on Aug 22, 2007 19:08:51 GMT -5
... and other evasive plants. Is that why they are using a plane the plants are hard to sneak up on? Last I knew buckbrush was pretty stationary ;D Just giving you a hard time. I know you meant invasive. There's plenty of duck food in a good wetland too and it actually would probably benifit the ducks more with a variety of food, not to mention the other benifits of taking flood prone farm ground out of service. Key to holding ducks isn't food but pressure IMO. And the key to good duck hunting is hunting the areas where ducks are holding. |
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Post by stillwatersniper on Aug 22, 2007 19:11:51 GMT -5
I think the problem up there is that they hunt the woods everyday. They never give it a rest and of course the birds get up and fly from refuge to refuge because they know it's certain death in the woods.
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Post by steelbb on Aug 27, 2007 6:25:40 GMT -5
They don't hunt the middle unit when they start hunting Gumz.
The problem that I see is that they are holding water year around in the first and third units which is killing all the trees. They did the same thing at LaSalle and turned it into a lake. They are doing this for fishing as far as I can tell.
As for food in the refuge I think this is a bad idea. If you look a Fish Point in Mich. there refuge is 1 square mile of flood button bush. The birds sit there unharrassed and have to fly out to get food. All the hunting strips are flood corn fields. They shoot around 10000 ducks and 5 geese a year.
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