UpperTully
Well-Known Member
Let's talk about trusting the "fine wildlife professionals"I sure am sorry you don't agree with the fine wildlife professionals who put their reccomendations in play to benefit (in their opinion) current and future sportsman in our state. Maybe voice your opinion to them to get the answers you are seeking and let them know how they have it wrong instead of some arrogant member who trusts their judgment?
Here in West Tenn those fine wildlife professionals has
Done absolutely nothing in the past 20 years in regards to the Asian Carp problem. We once had a excellent fishery on the Mississippi River that has been ruined. I remember catching bass in the Mississippi River chutes and oxbows just like you would catch them on the best lakes and rivers in Middle and East Tenn. Those days are long gone. TWRAs response to the Asian Carp for us was placing signs at government boat ramps about transporting baitfish. TWRA didn't respond to the Asian carp until recent years when they were discovered coming into Middle Tenn.
We have one of the mother flocks of turkeys that played a vital roll in the turkey restoration in the state. Currently that flock is nothing what it used to be. They blame the decline on flooding but maintained the same management approach for those struggling flocks as the top producing counties in the state. Our birds were over trapped for years and shipped all over Tennessee and as far as Texas. One WMA manger would perform control burns when birds were nesting. It wasn't until a few years ago those "fine wildlife professionals" started to adjust the season and bag limits.
Despite what TWRA leads you believe with everything in West Tenn formally being Unit L. There was thousands of square miles of West Tennessee ground that naturally contained low density deer populations. Those areas should have stayed Unit A with the direction to protect does but because those trusting wildlife professionals have a habit of mismanagement in West Tennessee, they put those counties as Unit L. The pounding commenced, then the CWD zone regulations hit a couple years later. Those low density areas are being decimated to nothing.
Don't get me start on duck hunting our WMA's here. Thousands of acres have been lost or is locked down to draw hunts. Sloughs I once walked in and hunted, are now off limits because of a few draw holes a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away.
I've been hunting and fishing public land in SW and West Tenn since 1994. I've seen a lot of public ground access taken away. In the past 10 years, I can't think of one positive thing TWRA has done for us in SW or West Tenn but contribute to the overall decline in quality of the outdoor experience.
There are videos on TWRA's Youtube channel covering season setting at Commission meetings that contain presentations made by Region 1 top biologist Jim Hamlington suggest changes based off hear say and then admit he will do his research later. It's mind blowing such foolery is even approved to say the least.
Many of us voice our opinion but it falls on deaf ears. The duck blind situation is an excellent example of that.
I'm genuinely concerned what my kids are going to do in 5-10 years though. The best decisions aren't being made by those trusted wildlife professionals for that generation right now.
I guess it's easy to sit in Chattanooga trusting those fine wildlife professionals and drink that "kill them all" Kool-Aid though, it doesn't really affect you like it does many of us. You have a great population of turkeys in your region, your deer population isn't being heavily marketed online to be decimated and the fishing is great!
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