TarponChaser said:
And reading the information on ducks and baiting I find it interesting that you could plant a field with some kind of grain but never harvest or manipulate it and just flood the field and it would be consider OK for duck hunting.
I get why they have the laws but they seem somewhat arbitrary and nonsensical at times.
Yeah, it's a little odd. The assumption has always been that some big money duck clubs had some pull when the laws were written many years ago.
To make it even more interesting, you can manipulate it if it's natural regrowth of previously planted feed. But not if it's growing from seed you planted this year.
Here's one of my holes. Regrowth of barnyard grass down low and jap millet up high. All I did was remove the smartweed that took over last spring, then very slowly add water to it. The germination rate was crazy. Seemed like 100 sprouts in a 1" square. Once established- fertilize, keep it wet, and keep the pigs out and that's it. Only thing left is more water. No reason to manipulate it. The birds and weather will have it all beat down to open water by mid winter. You'd have to hire a work crew to get this much bait spread but oddly this is legal and a sack of feed isn't.