bilgerat
Senior
Just saw this posted on the FB, is it for real?
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WMA close at noon for dove?
- Thread starter bilgerat
- Start date
Long Cut
Senior Member
Seems legit. Not worth going then, birds seem to fly best from 4-5PM to dusk.
Your DNR dollars at work.
Danny Leigh
GONetwork Member
Unfortunately, it's real.
https://forum.gon.com/threads/changes-to-2021-dove-season.993503/
Under the WMA section of the regs...
Be sure to voice your opinion in the spring and go ahead and send an email to one of the assistant directors, Tina Johannsen. She's already heard from me and said that I was the only 1 to complain so far but to feel free to send out her email if others had questions or to voice their opinion.
tina.johannsen@dnr.ga.gov
It makes perfect sence in a world that no longer does. They just trying to fit in.
I bet they drank coffee and ate donuts while making this important decision!
Of course they did the social distance thing and wore mask ? while discussing this important matter. After all it only effects every bird hunter who supports this system with Lic purchased. hey they would buy the licenses anyway !
A Ga. traditional hunt has maybe changed forever. Little kids will be asking thier grampa , really y’all use to hunt opening day in the afternoons ?
I bet they drank coffee and ate donuts while making this important decision!
Of course they did the social distance thing and wore mask ? while discussing this important matter. After all it only effects every bird hunter who supports this system with Lic purchased. hey they would buy the licenses anyway !
A Ga. traditional hunt has maybe changed forever. Little kids will be asking thier grampa , really y’all use to hunt opening day in the afternoons ?
transfixer
Senior Member
I haven't Dove hunted in years, because of the prices they charge to hunt good fields now, its gotten ridiculous, and the guys I grew up with hunting on their grandparents farm no longer have access as the farm was sold,
When I saw the regs were changed and now allows hunting after sunrise on opening day I was like ,, What ? so they are destroying another tradition of everyone gathering and having lunch and getting together before the first shots are fired at noon ! pretty ridiculous to me,,,, so now they are going to go ahead and make the best time for dove shooting off limits on opening day ?
What kind of idiocy did they use to determine that was a good idea?
When I saw the regs were changed and now allows hunting after sunrise on opening day I was like ,, What ? so they are destroying another tradition of everyone gathering and having lunch and getting together before the first shots are fired at noon ! pretty ridiculous to me,,,, so now they are going to go ahead and make the best time for dove shooting off limits on opening day ?
What kind of idiocy did they use to determine that was a good idea?
I sent a message.
bilgerat
Senior
I dont plan on hunting a wma on opening day but was surprised at the new reg, Dont understand the reasoning behind it? I havent hunted dove birds in a few years but Ill be hunting My own property opening morn . Prob wont hit a darn thing but air but Im Looking forward to it.
35 Whelen
Senior Member
On WMA'S closing at noon is opening day only (unless otherwise noted in area listing) :
DOVE: On managed dove felds on opening day, legal hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise to noon unless otherwise noted in area listing. Dove hunters may not enter the feld prior to 1 hour before sunrise.
On private land dove hunting is from 1/2 hour before sunrise until sunset every day of dove season, including opening day.
LEGAL HOURS:
ALL MIGRATORY BIRDS: ½ hour before sunrise to sunset.
DOVE: On managed dove felds on opening day, legal hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise to noon unless otherwise noted in area listing. Dove hunters may not enter the feld prior to 1 hour before sunrise.
On private land dove hunting is from 1/2 hour before sunrise until sunset every day of dove season, including opening day.
LEGAL HOURS:
ALL MIGRATORY BIRDS: ½ hour before sunrise to sunset.
transfixer
Senior Member
Just sent Miss Johannsen an email with my opinion ,, she probably won't like it 
and evidently she's on vacation,, just got an automatic reply saying she will be out of office till Aug 16th,
I wonder if we can load up her inbox before then ?
and evidently she's on vacation,, just got an automatic reply saying she will be out of office till Aug 16th,
I wonder if we can load up her inbox before then ?
I'm not going to post what I really think because I'll end up violating forum rules. I have no idea the reasoning on penalizing public land hunters vs. private land hunters. Let's take half a day away from them and make it during the time of day that birds aren't even flying.
across the river
Senior Member
They sent out a survey and the majority of the people on the survey stated that they wanted an early morning opening day like every other day of the season. That is what people got. As far as stopping at noon on opening day on WMAs, anyone who has ever been to one of the “managed” fields knows it typically a zoo on opening day, so agree or not I understand the reasoning. You have people get there early and hunt and then a continuous train of people in and out of the field all day on top of each other. Have just the morning hunt and people get in the field before daylight and everyone is out at noon. From a safety standpoint it makes sense. If they don’t fly until the afternoon, then go the next day in the afternoon and wear them out. Or find a clear cut on one and hunt the afternoon of opening day. I don’t understand why this is such a big deal to people.
Danny Leigh
GONetwork Member
Ms. Johannsen's comment to me was that they chose to close the fields at noon to preserve the quality of the field and to not have it shot out on opening day. So let's penalize public hunters for the slight chance the 2nd weekend might be better.
Across the River, you obviously don't hunt doves on WMAs on opening day. How is setting up in the dark safer?
Across the River, you obviously don't hunt doves on WMAs on opening day. How is setting up in the dark safer?
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transfixer
Senior Member
Survey must have been answered by modern day hunters/youtube hunters too accustomed to air conditioning I guess,,, didn't like dealing with the heat that comes with midday ? they'll go hunt till 9;30 or 10, then go back to their air conditioning
Started dove hunting when I was 13yrs old, standing around the edges of a cow pasture, in the heat and sun, unless there was a pine tree close enough to get under, watching the sky for those elusive birds to come whizzing past. and was always glad towards the end of the day as the sun was going down, they seem to fly more frequently,, and it began to cool off a bit usually .
Its just another tradition modern hunters or modern times are doing away with .
As far as no afternoon hunting on a WMA,, WMA's are paid for by our license fees, for our use,,, they restrict them enough already.
Started dove hunting when I was 13yrs old, standing around the edges of a cow pasture, in the heat and sun, unless there was a pine tree close enough to get under, watching the sky for those elusive birds to come whizzing past. and was always glad towards the end of the day as the sun was going down, they seem to fly more frequently,, and it began to cool off a bit usually .
Its just another tradition modern hunters or modern times are doing away with .
As far as no afternoon hunting on a WMA,, WMA's are paid for by our license fees, for our use,,, they restrict them enough already.
Crowds will be there regardless so I see no difference. Actually, based on my experience, the second weekends can be worse safety wise when people set up before daylight and don't see others around them.
For the hunt the next day comment, just about every WMA dove field that I know of is Saturday only until much later in the season.
j_seph
Senior Member
Least the sign didn't state
across the river
Senior Member
I have dove hunted WMA's plenty in the morning, and people have set up in the dark on every other day of the season for years. It is nothing new. The only difference this year it occurs on opening day and people have to leave at noon.
transfixer
Senior Member
Least the sign didn't state
that'll probably be next ,,,
across the river
Senior Member
Some do, and some don't, so there are options either way. By next day, I meant the nest hunt day. If people are saying the birds don't show until the afternoon, then there should be plenty of them available on the next available hunt, whenever that is. I've worn the doves out plenty of times on WMA's no where near a manger field, so where there is a will, there is a way. They made the changes based on hunter feedback, so I don't get all the complaining, even if it didn't go the way you voted in the survey. If you want to hunt the afternoon, find a private shoot or somewhere on a WMA holding birds not on managed field, and hunt in the afternoon like you always have. I guess I just don't get why it is that big of a deal.
Danny Leigh
GONetwork Member
The changes were not made based on the survey. Ms. Johannsen didn't even know about the survey. 53% vs 47% out of 800 people wanted to start at daylight instead of starting at noon. Not exactly a resounding majority. Lets see them take a real survey as everyone has to leave the field.
