Feed Permit

Someone posted earlier about a feed tag. ive been saying this for years that it would help. To me it would definitely even the playing field. If this doesn't help maybe a little help from LDWF would help. At least try some of our thoughts out and see what works.
What do yall think?

I agree , tropical storms floated all our grass on the bank . Another season with no feed . I’d take a 5 duck limit with feed instead of 6 !

I wish there was a way to bring it to a vote, and the vote being if you will flood fields to gain an advantage on water foul then it should be illegal. If this vote would win then a second vote be put in place, that vote being for a Feed permit. This would allow them to plant and create an artificial pond and allow us to place bait in a natural pond. I have said this before but I will say it again. 1000 years ago when ducks migrated south; did they have the option to stop over along the way to feast in fields of corn, rice, millet? Where acres upon acres of fields flooded to the correct depth and unfrozen with turbines to make it as cozy as possible for the ducks? The answer is no. it has altered the flight patterns, possibly holding ducks further north and putting them at risk of harsh freezing temperatures. Its easy for people who hunt flooding field do disagree with a feed permit because currently they are hunting over feed with no consequences. They should have to leave the fields dry!

Ya'll are wasting your time with this guys. This topic has been hashed out too many times to no avail. We can't get the ones in charge to give us a helping hand in attracting more ducks to southeast LA. Maybe they listen when the hunter participants drop off and state lose revenue. The bayou lafourche duck hunting scene is looking more like 'the tradition of duck hunting around bayou lafourche that no longer exists'. You just assume go find out where the ducks want to go and start going there. Anything else is a big waste of time. Good luck.

Did y'all forget that waterfowl are an international resource regulated by treaty and federal law? So if you want to make changes to influence the distribution of wintering ducks, your vote would have to include all hunters.

So make your case to them. Help me make the case at the Flyway that fewer ducks coming to SE Louisiana is an issue that all hunters/managers should act to change.

Whatever hunters north of us are doing doesn't seem to be hurting the duck population given the Bpop estimates of the last 25 years. The landscape is certainly different now than it was 1,000 years ago. How do you suggest adjusting for that? And why would hunters in other parts of the flyway be concerned about 'attracting more ducks to SE LA' when our coastal wetland habitat is disappearing, invasive aquatics have rendered once productive habitat useless, and climate as well as land-use changes are causing waterfowl to winter further north in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as North America? They probably would be more interested in providing 'alternative habitat' to compensate for what is, and likely will continue to be lost in SE LA than sending more into those conditions.

It is a difficult case to make.

The operative word is habitat. The habitat in SE La is now degraded by saltwater intrusion. A 'feed permit' will not change that. Puddle ducks prefer freshwater marshes. We hunt in a fresh marsh. We do not feed. We also have plenty of ducks(most years). I had a rice-field blind for years. It did not equate to limits everyday. Land conditions change and it is just a fact of life. I can understand SE La hunters frustration, but The Migratory Bird Treaty can not be changed by a vote of La hunters. Arkansas now has much better speck hunting than S La. This is in large measure due to the fact that sugar cane is replacing rice in many areas of S La, as rice production increases north of La. If I want to catch specks and reds, I have to go to SE La. If you want to hunt waterfowl, you may have to hunt where the habitat is better.

I agree to change the law would be next to impossible, and yes I am a little frustrated, more in the fact that I can go on youtube pull up a video of a guy plowing a field and making a statement 'By the time the season starts this whole field will be plum stock full of groceries all the good stuff ducks like'. How can that not be considered baiting. I dont think just because I go and throw bait in a pond that I will be guaranteed ducks, and planting and flooding a field doesn't guarantee ducks either, but it can improve your chances or the guys up north wouldnt be doing it.

I guess the only way to change the landscape is to prevent hunters from flooding any crops unless it is needed in the harvesting process. Do not allow them to put devices that keep water from freezing, or let them do it, I have no issues with it but add a little charge for hunting over that setup and give us a lil feed permit. If you dont need the feed dont buy it. Take the revenue made and invest it in conservation and rebuilding marshes, roads, schools, etc.

Now with all that said I saw the most ducks I have ever seen this weekend flying over our south louisiana marshes it was so cool to see those numbers and using no feed was able to get 2 ducks on satuday(bad shooting) sunday 10 birds with 2 ppl. Again bad shooting. We didnt have a large number of birds come to our pond(most ducks were high just passing by) but I was satisfied with what we saw. WLf and other agencies do their part to protect the population to keep the number of birds healthy i saw that this weekend for sure. I am on the fence with the feed permit at times. Its a debate I feel like I win and loose over and overagain. I feel like i have a valid point and someone else comes with a reason it would be a bad idea, but I still like to see what others think about the subject.

Happy hunting to all. Hope this season brings all of you great hunting.