Baie McLauren - WARNING - Hunters 'o plenty!!!

Post by **almontefisher** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:17 am

I hunt but not for duck as I do not find that duck are to fun to clean but anyway here is my take on this. Hunters in Ontario should be very well trained in hunting safely and I would hope no hunter is shooting at the water or even along the horizon of the water. Now the shots are startling at times but again they should be shooting up in the air, away from people, homes cars etc...If you see a group of decoys that you trolled into in the dark..just let the hunters know you are there by giving a quick shout and slowly go on fishing. The few times I have hunted duck I waited for some guys to troll past before going back to the hunt. It should be a win win for all as the hunters should respect the fishermen as well.

Post by **cprince** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:31 am

cprince wrote:
It's not like the ducks can read.

No, but you can.

Hope this helps:

http://www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/publications ... /index.asp

http://www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/english/publ ... /index.asp
DropShot'r

Yikes... opened a sore point in here I suppose. All I am saying is it would sure make sense to warn people about their presence. This is exactly why I put this post up. I do not hunt at this time. But when you have fishing seasons that run up against hunting seasons, we all need to look out for each other.

A good way to do that would be to let people know that you are there. Both hunter and fisher.

You have to admit, there needs to be a better way to warn people of their presence than looking at a calendar, or floating fake ducks (Which I might add are VERY convincing at 6am).

DropShot'r, I do not know if you have fished the sewer before, but there are houses and backyards that boarder it on one side and a couple on the other. I could not imagine any hunters actually being in that part of the bay. I have been fishing there for only about 10 years, and while I have heard the distant gunshots at this time of year, I have NEVER seen any hunters setup in that part of the bay.

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers (no pun intended) by this post. But the fact remains that this is the time of year where we will be out at the same time as our hunter friends. Lets just be as respectful of each other as we can and stay safe.

Part of that respect would be to make sure that people know you are there.

To do my part, I will travel with a fog horn on my boat.

Just kidding!

Happy hunting.

Post by **Bass Addict** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:31 am

I don't think were labeling all duck hunters .......

Its the guys who are duck hunting '' in '' McLaurin Bay the playground for
kayakers ,boaters, bassfishing guys

Post by **TMH** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:55 am

Well here's your warning.. Be carefull on the rideau this coming saturday Sept 27th!

Post by **TMH** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:57 am

I was on the Rideau River on Friday. Herd some shooting here and there, just glassed the shorelines and duck blinds before I moved in. No big deal....to me.

I hope not since the season wasnt open last friday. !!

Post by **orrsey** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:01 am

Interesting and timely thread! I can understand both sides of the coin as I love and participate in both past times. I am relatively new to the ottawa area and generally used to hunting the back lakes and swamps north of the kingston area. Now doing some hunting here in the ottawa area its much different. The river is so busy with boat traffic that in most hunting trips you are going to see others out enjoying the morning or evening. I think it true that we have to share the water. Lets face it the marshy areas is where we are going to find good fishing and good hunting. As a fisherman I have to remember that the hunter is VERY limited in where he can hunt....generally they are very limited as to where the city and MNR will let them discharge a firearm. They can't pick up and move because someone likes that spot for fishing. As a fisherman I know that a shot gun shot won't travel that far generally duck range is max maybe 40 yards....your safer than you think 200yards and you should be fine. Shot gun shot does not skip on water like a rifle will. I have found that fisherman dont really bother waterfowl all that much, they see it all the time. Last night I was out fishing and 14 geese landed 50 yards away to roost. Many times sitting in the blind I have been baggin for a fisherman to come and stir up a bunch of ducks that have landed and settled in way out, just needed someone to go through and lift them

. So its easier than you think to work together.
As for posting:
I can see the benefit in it but I would personally not post at the launch as to where I was. First of all there are a lot of people out there that hate hunting, especially in ottawa. I don't need one of them coming out and interfering with my hunt as they tell me what they think about my past time. Trust me it happens my buddy had a lady keep harrasing his blind by bringing out a sterio and playing classical music and slamming a paddle on the water in her attempt to keep out the ducks. Secondly if I have put hours into a blind in building and feeding it I dont want everyone and their dog hunting it...yes its going to happen and thats fine but I dont want it to the point where there are so many people using it that I can't even get in it anymore.

if you end up floating into a hunters spread by mistake most guys arent going to care, just give them a wave and move down a bit....happens all the time.

In my opinion hunters and fisherman aren't that different, there are many groups of people out there that would love to take both past times away from us in their attempt to protect all wildlife. Its easy to work together and we shouldnt give them any material to use through our bickering.

orrsey

Post by **cprince** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:49 am

Very well said orrsey. I suppose I should also take it upon my self to educate and inform my self about safe fishing practices around hunters. It might even be smart to mention some safety tips in that boating exam about boating around hunters.

Again, I don't want it to appear that I am intolerant towards hunters. I love a good partridge or rabbit myself! Just the ones in the suburbs!

Post by **FishingIsHealing** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 7:28 pm

This sounds dangerous........

I can't believe people can hunt along the Ottawa river......

I guess it's not a populated area? I've never been there....but in Ontario you can't shoot near homes.....or fisherman....

Isn't there a swamp somewhere else they can hunt? instead of along the a river which is a huge fishery.....

Maybe there aren't alot of swamps in that part of Quebec, but I know here where I live, it's pretty swampy and you can drive 10 minutes away from my house and end up in aplace that is mostly swamp for a good 30 mins of driving....

Post by **cprince** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:18 pm

FishingIsHealing wrote:This sounds dangerous........

I can't believe people can hunt along the Ottawa river......

I guess it's not a populated area? I've never been there....but in Ontario you can't shoot near homes.....or fisherman....

Isn't there a swamp somewhere else they can hunt? instead of along the a river which is a huge fishery.....

Maybe there aren't alot of swamps in that part of Quebec, but I know here where I live, it's pretty swampy and you can drive 10 minutes away from my house and end up in aplace that is mostly swamp for a good 30 mins of driving....

LOL! Some might say that there is nothing but swamp land in Quebec! (I am allowed to say that, I lived in Quebec all my life!)

There is plenty of swamp/duck habitat in Quebec. But not that many so convenient I suppose.

I would be surprised if the guys who's blind I stumbled upon were doing anything illegal... but I have never seen anyone hunting there before... certainly further down river...

It is just important that we all share the land (like the Guess Who song!) and stay safe doing it. Plaisance would be more my speed if I were them, but I found out years ago that a quick way to be intolerant of others is expecting the same from others as you would expect from your self. (It would be nice... but not realistic!)

Post by **orrsey** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 9:16 pm

guys, if the city doesn't have any restrictions on discharging a weapon and its not a waterfowl sanctuary (MNR) permits hunting, then a hunter has just a much right as a fisherman. Its not as hard to share the water as people think. I get the sense that if someone likes to fish in an area a hunter should not be there??? Keep in mind most duck hunters wont hunt ver long into the season, it wont last long.

FishingIsHealing:
"Isn't there a swamp somewhere else they can hunt? instead of along the a river which is a huge fishery..... "

Its not as easy as you think to find a place to hunt. Much of our land is private, and yes the Ottawa river is populated making it hard to find a place to hunt. yes the river is a huge fishery......you may not know its world famous for waterfowl hunting.

I'll say it again PETA and whatever groups there is out there what nothing more than the diversion of hunters /fisherman....gun hunters/bowhunters etc. It makes there job easier in getting rid of the outdoors man of ever form.

orrsey

Post by **DropShotr** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:38 am

TMH wrote:I was on the Rideau River on Friday. Herd some shooting here and there, just glassed the shorelines and duck blinds before I moved in. No big deal....to me.

I hope not since the season wasnt open last friday. !!

I herd shooting probably from 2 different groups on Friday and herd shooting the next day on Charleston as well.
It was shotguns that I herd.......but I never herd that destinctive "whomp" of shotgun over water. All but one was too far away to locate. One group I triangulated into some trees at a point where the river makes a wide sharp turn. Given the area I would conclude that they were waterfowlers. I haven't hunted waterfowl in a few years and am not up with or follow the regulations.

I just know that with the end of September comes waterfowl season. Duck blinds for the most part are easy to see....it is also easy to see when one has had some fresh greenery added to it in preperation of duck season. Most blinds get "freshened up" with less than a week to go.

Some of the people in here act like duck hunting just got invented this year!!
Grow up just a bit and learn to share, then maybe we could have photo essay on.................mushrooms found in duck blinds.

DropShot'r

Post by **Andy_L** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:43 am

hey guys....this is a very interesting discussion....but you have to keep it civil please. I have to edit out some posts that actually have some good info because you're slinging insults back and forth. Don't waste a good informative post like that...please

Post by **valley_boy** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:01 am

Hey DrpShotr,
I was fishing for trout in a back lake on the week end near Pembroke and there were tons of guys hunting partridge so I can only assume they are open, not a hunter myself. That may be what you were hearing as well.

Post by **slabjerker** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:36 am

Yeah chum,

You erased a long post by me!!

There was no swearing in it...what do you think you are doing, and who do you think you are?? That took me 20 min to type out.

You are a joke.

Post by **Jimmy_1** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:37 am

I fish and hunt. This is my $0.02 worth.

I am out in my blind and am setting up before sunset.
If you are out there fishing before me, I'll move away.
I'll always check to see if boats are in the area before shooting.

The key word here is sharing.

If I am there first it is no different than if my boat were there first and I am fishing.

Simply put the hunter or the angler should respect who is there first. Regardless of if it is a favorite spot etc.

Trolling my deke's or being obstinate with me is just plain rude.
I'll gladly move on if your there first. Just please give me the same courtesy!

Now to the A-hole's fishing the Bassin for Bucks tourney...You saw me calling for distress and ignored it. That is a federal offence.
Have fun when the OPP get you!