# It seems to only get worse and worse



## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

It just amazes me some day's just how desperate or ???? people are to kill a duck. This is not a Utah WMA but I found it interesting and I believe it's just the typical story now in every WMA across the nation.

Down here in the desert where I hunt for part of the season, I have gotten to know the staff of the WMA quite well so I get to see the numbers of hunters, ducks taken and species taken. Well this last Sunday I hunted the WMA and had a pretty good morning taking my 7 bird limit fairly quick as the blind I picked ended up having a few birds working it. What really got me excited was the amount of shooting happening all over the WMA. I figured we must of got a push of new birds in with all the banging that was going on. I figured there must of been 500+ rounds fired before I finally decided I better head home around 10 to earn some brownie points with the wife.

Fast forward to yesterday when I run out to pick up a reservation for next week and my friend shows me the numbers for the day. There were 69 hunters total on the WMA and...........................a whopping 68 birds killed for the day. How in the hell do 69 hunters fire that many shots and only kill 68 birds????? I figure two things are probably what happened, one could be that it was newbie day (which there were a ton on them) and they were shooting like crap or 2, any bird in sight no matter how far it was, was shot at or I guess number 3, it was a combination of both 1 and 2.

I guess what really gets me is, how have we got to this point where we have no respect for the game we hunt and the people we hunt around. I have only been up on the GSL wet lands a few times and I have witnessed this first hand to a small point up there but I am guessing with some of the stories I read on here it sounds like its just an everyday thing.

Well as to my day and bag. 7 ducks shot with 13 shells fired from a little Remington Wingmaster 28 gauge firing 5/8 oz of steel 4 shot and my first pinner of the season with hopes of many more and better to follow.



And how the those ducks looked tonight;-)


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

You mean to tell me that a WMA that has a draw system has the same issues as a non draw WMA? It just can't be true! Everyone knows that a blind draw system would solve all the problems.:shock: 

Nice shooting HH!8) We are starting to see ice up here, so you should start seeing more birds down your way.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

hamernhonkers said:


> How in the hell do 69 hunters fire that many shots and only kill 68 birds?????


Well, if they're as bad of a shot as I am with a shotgun, I can see that. :mrgreen:

Looks like you had a great time. Nice bag of ducks!


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## richard rouleau (Apr 12, 2008)

nice there glad see a pinner start to show up


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

nice shoot! I have no clue, people just like shooting at stuff, unfortunately that "stuff" is a living creature and most don't look at it that way.... A bird flies past a group of 4 hunters at 50 plus yards and 12 of the fastest shots later you see the bird wounded and sail off out into the middle of nowhere and the next thing you hear are guys laughing like idiots and they reload to do it again for the next bird. Pretty common scene.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

If there were 500 shots fired, and 68 ducks killed, that works out to ~7.4 shots per duck. I'm not sure what everyone was shooting at, but I often can't do much better than that if I'm shooting at teal. Of course, I'm typically knee-deep in mud and/or freezing to death instead of hunting out of a cozy blind in the nice warm sun. ;-)


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## cootlover (Sep 26, 2015)

Man if I shot 7.4 shots per duck I wouldn't tell anyone :shock:


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## SCtransplant (Jul 31, 2015)

Thank you duck dynasty


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

That 28 is neato! Are you shooting factory load or reloads out of it?


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

CPAjeff said:


> That 28 is neato! Are you shooting factory load or reloads out of it?


I agree-the 870 is my all-time favorite gun (hence my name), one day when I'm rich I will have a Wingmaster in every gauge. Hammerin-didn't you hunt all last season with the 28? Were you shooting tungsten or ITX out of it? I remember it was a pretty cool feat that you pulled off. Personally I'd have a hard time feeling confident in myself with 5/8oz of shot-that is exactly half my normal 1 1/4 load out of a 12 gauge! I need a much bigger margin of error, but you seem to be doing great with it-you must be a heck of a wingshot! Good shooting, and it really seems like you can't escape idiots wherever you go-I don't understand why those guys just don't go shoot clays if they are that desperate to shoot at something.


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## cootlover (Sep 26, 2015)

Pump I don't no if you ever shot a 28 ga but I have never felt under gunned shooting clays with one I no its not a live bird but when I am crushing clays at 45-50 and some 70 yards I feel confident shooting ducks with hw 13 at 40 yards all day with my 28 ga .A few years back bro inlaw used #6 factory loads in 28ga and was puffing ducks at 30 yards but at the end of the day its who is behind the trigger.


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## EricH (May 3, 2014)

Common scene. I firmly believe that if I had a dog I could collect a limit every Saturday without firing a shot.


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## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> Nice shooting HH!8) We are starting to see ice up here, so you should start seeing more birds down your way.


I'll defiantly take them. Just do me a favor and keep all those green headed park ducks up there though, once they show up the rocket launchers seem to really come out in full force:shock:


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## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

CPAjeff said:


> That 28 is neato! Are you shooting factory load or reloads out of it?


I am shooting nothing but reloads, steel for ducks and HW shot for geese. As much as I hate EMI (hevi shot) they now offer a factory loading of 5/8 oz of steel 4 shot for anyone who may want to try a 28 for ducks with out having to reload for it. I have never tired them but if pushing listed speed they should be plenty for killing any duck out to 30 yards with ease.


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## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

Pumpgunner said:


> I agree-the 870 is my all-time favorite gun (hence my name), one day when I'm rich I will have a Wingmaster in every gauge. Hammerin-didn't you hunt all last season with the 28? Were you shooting tungsten or ITX out of it? I remember it was a pretty cool feat that you pulled off. Personally I'd have a hard time feeling confident in myself with 5/8oz of shot-that is exactly half my normal 1 1/4 load out of a 12 gauge! I need a much bigger margin of error, but you seem to be doing great with it-you must be a heck of a wingshot! Good shooting, and it really seems like you can't escape idiots wherever you go-I don't understand why those guys just don't go shoot clays if they are that desperate to shoot at something.


Pump you are correct, I went start to finish last year with nothing but the 28. I used 95% steel for ducks and HW15 6 shot and HW13 4 shot for geese, my swan and a fall turkey.

I don't think I am that great of a wing shot, maybe a little better then average but far from great. I think it boiled down to me being more patient and letting the birds work in a lot closer then in years past. I can tell you I let a lot of birds fly that I would normally have taken with my 10 or 12. In the end though I actually improved slightly on my shell to bird ratio and had (if memory serves me correctly) more triples then I ever have had. I even finished the regular waterfowl season with a triple on geese.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Nice-3 birds and 3 bands-can't beat that!


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