Corpusfishing.com

[Oil Field Trash II]

not sure if everyone has seen this, but there are some residents on the island wanting to push the current 1,000 foot distance from houses to 1 mile for duck hunting.

I did some measuring on google earth, and if they changed the current 1,000 foot buffer to 1 mile, as it it relates to all the buffered edges (homes, businesess, JFK causeway, and other roads), it would eliminate about 13,000-15,000 acres. If they changed it to 1 mile just for homes, it would remove about 7500 acres

http://www.kiiitv.com/news/local/island-residents-want-new-regulations-for-hunters/386020117


http://www.kiiitv.com/news/local/duck-hunters-react-to-residents-plan-to-request-a-new-hunting-ordinance-on-the-island/386315018

[Bigrock]

Lol That's what two months of deer season sound like here along the valley of Spring Creek with all the 50/100 acre farms up and down the valley. And our projectiles certainly travel more than a few hundred yards.

Sticky problem down there. Residents need to realize they are still up and breathing and alive. They aren't in Heaven....yet. They still have to deal with life, including some things they may not like. Hope the battle ends up in hunters favor.

[Tyler]

I saw the kiii piece. The reporter talked about it being a war zone and mentioned "spoiler" islands. The island home owner acted as if he was shocked that he had to put up with this. This smells a lot like the beach acess issue with folks having to put up with drunks doing donuts in their lifted pickups. I think they want to Californiacate the place.
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[Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm]

[Oil Field Trash II]

The guy's name is Rick Hunts who seems to be spear heading this issue on the island.

On a related note. The inventor of the Flowbee is named Rick Hunts, and is from Corpus Christi.

the first Kiii story was horrible. One of the opening lines was "this has all the makings of war". sensationalize much?

Good for them for allowing the other side of the story though. I believe David Sikes is working on a story as well.

[fishinglady]

I am not opposed to duck hunting, but the noise level here on the Island has increased dramatically in the 10 years that I have lived here. .....as have the number of duck blinds within shouting distance of the houses. I can see 6-8 duck blinds from my house, and hunters also use clumps of bushes as blinds. On a weekend, there are easily 10 or more places that I can see hunters.

At least one or more of the duck hunters this year are using "magnum/double loads" or something. Some of the shots are easily twice as loud as the normal shotgun blasts. The excessive noise scares people's pets as well as the people. Some of the closer houses actually have their windows rattled by these louder blasts.

A compromise solution might be to limit the number of duck blinds within a given area close to homes, and not permit the "double loads" that are so loud.

[Oil Field Trash II]

[Central Scrutinizer]

I'm just off Waldron (for nearly 20 years) and the noise level (=shotgun blasts) doesn't seem to be any worse now than in the past.
Personally, I kind of find it comforting to hear on a chilly winters day! And I don't even dunk hunt!!! GO FIGURE

[Oil Field Trash II]

I will add... as a personal opinion, I wish the guys hunting right there were not shooting towards the houses. even though there's no chance of the shot reaching the house, I was always taught not to shoot towards someone's house.

[ironmanstan]

[SeanHHH]

Given the topography (better yet, lack of it) and lots of open water, the sound of firearms is bound to travel far in the coastal bend. That being said, the shots sound much closer than they actually are.

The great thing is that no one is reporting property damage, nor injuries to person or pets in spite of the waterfowlers who are hunting legally. Public hunting opportunities are extremely limited in Texas due to nearly 100 percent of the state being privately owned. Saturday I had the opportunity to take my daughter duck hunting on the Laguna. We have been doing this for years. Take the public access away and we wouldn't be able to spend this quality time together. Same goes for lots of other folks.

Seems that sound is the issue. Next they will want to outlaw fireworks, airboats, planes, hot rods, Harleys, gas blowers, lawnmowers, etc.

This reminds me of people who complain of noise despite choosing to live near a base or airport.

And, if a local ordinance is passed to increase the distance from complaining homeowners, what law enforcement entity would enforce it? State game wardens?

[topdog15]

Classic example of folks leaving one place for another, and then trying to make the new place like the one they just left.
Sorry, but this is part of our lifestyle here. And no laws are being broken.
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[TailStalker]

It's a shame that the main guy spearheading this is a long time island resident and not a newbie either. Wonder what make him/them think they deserve the right to be able to alter other peoples legal rights for their own personal satisfaction?

[Lone-star]

It's unfortunate the way he has gone about this, because he does have some legitimate gripes however the way they are framing the issue is absurd and isn't going to gain much support.

I don't think it is unreasonable to not want a duck blind built facing your house, and being used by a guide 2-3 times a day. Additionally this guide is engaged in illegal activity, I watch him frequently harassing the ducks to give his customers shots, he will drop his customers off and then run back and forth across the flat to jump the ducks up. And apparently there's something wrong with his prop because he feels the need to blast off from the middle of the canal 100 feet from the edge of the flat throwing a huge wake through the canal. Then there's the empties littering the canals along with the whole ducks left to rot in the canal.

To me it's all the non-sense these guys hunting that side of the spoil have brought to the area, more than the actual hunting itself.

Hell, if they were just facing the other direction the noise is much more tolerable, but then they wouldn't be able to exploit all the boat traffic in the area jumping the ducks up, which is the main reason these guys hunt there.

Then there's the recent spoil fire, which was set by duck hunters, I watched them do it through high quality glass, clear as day, easily identifiable boat, if the game warden had been around it would have been very easy to catch them, however he was not.

I live in that area and I do believe he has some legitimate gripes however I disagree with how he is framing it and do not support the absurd 1 mile thing. This is more of an issue with a few particular flatbillers and I think they should be dealt with rather than making stupid new rules that affect all hunters.

[hickroots07]

I was always taught to not shoot towards anyone or anything i didnt intend to kill. I always try to be curteous even to other hunters around me. If this new law were to become a reality my hunting area would be considerably smaller. I don't hunt the canals or by any houses, but this rule would pretty much take away my opportunity to hunt. Its a few people doing stupid, irresponsible things that could potentially ruin hunting for the majority of good considerate people. I hate that!
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