DU Nuts?


Guest mn_archer

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Guest mn_archer

Any DU nuts out there? I just attended my first DU banquet and became a member. I bought a limited edition DU A303 Beretta 12ga. 1986 - never fired - only #64 but I don't know out of how many. It's a pretty shotgun. I wonder where I'll find more information about it. It's not so expensive that you "Couldn't" shoot it. But it's value would go down if a person did. It's tempting to use it. Or sell it. Or put it in a glass case. Ha! Guess I'll figure that out later

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Re: DU Nuts?

i think my username says it all, yes i am a nut when it comes to DU, i think half the things i own from clothes to coffee muggs are DU brand, but there are a lot of people out there that are DU cause they want the logo to be honest, but i have always been a DU member cause i stand up for what they do, wetland restoration, im always donating whenever i can to help restore a wetlands in this nation

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Re: DU Nuts?

Well , I guess I will be the one to bring this up , There is a growing backlash here in the south about DU . Yes, Du is improving breading grounds up north , but they come down here collect OUR money and improve the northern wettlands and buy up thousands of achers of land for sancuaries in the mid west and central states . Meen while the marshes and swamps here in lousiana and all along the south are drying up and erroding away !!! With a combination of week winters and all this so-called IMPROVED habitat we are seeing fewer and fewer ducks down here , wich buy the way USE to be the ducks NATURAL wintering grounds !!

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Re: DU Nuts?

correct me if im wrong cause im from illinois, the north you would say, i have not heard this, but i think the reason might be that up north here we are becoming more suburbanized every where you look, and i hate, so that would be my guess is that they are trying to create new wetlands because of the land we are losing to these new subdivsions

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Guest mn_archer

Re: DU Nuts?

That's interesting about them buying up land up here. I'll have to check into what they're actually up to. I became a member last night because that was covered in the Banquet fee. Had an enjoyable evening.

If you're not an NRA member please consider it. It's a little spendy but probably worth it if you own a gun. They're really the only ones who can lobby for right to keep them. You do not want to lose them.

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Re: DU Nuts?

In those cases it is cool with me , but a lot of the money is going to pay farmers and land oners to flood there standing crops , and creat more wintering ground in the central states , Dont get me rong , they are Tring to do good thing for the ducks , I think . and if I sound bitter I don't meen to , but it seems to a lot of people down here that they are using Alot of the money that is collected to create A hunting parridise further north each year and short stoping the ducks from getting down here , and keep blaiming the decline in numbers on preditores and nesting grounds !!

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Re: DU Nuts?

[ QUOTE ]

More Opinions !!!??

[/ QUOTE ]

Somewhat agree...

The perception is that the $$$ is raised in the south and spent in other states. Most notably in the breeding grounds. The MS flyway south of southern MO is neglected by DU. Years ago the majority of duck hunters were in the south because that is where the ducks were come hunting season. The southern duck hunter supported DU when they were a fledgling operation begging for any and every penny they could get. Once the grass roots movement went corporate, all focus went to raising more money to pay the DU employee and marketing campaigns than for the conservation cause.

Corruption and malfeaseance at the local and regional levels of DU have taken their toll as well. When DU was a major volunteer organization, it was much better.

Couple that with the core supporter of DU now being NOT hunters but "conservationists", the direction the organization changed.

Back to the topic at hand: why does anyone join a cause? To see tangible results. The South supported DU for years and years...where are the results? I don't know, but I can tell you this...the results are not where the $$$ is being raised.

DU might be for the ducks...but DW is for the duck hunter.

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Re: DU Nuts?

Thats all interesting. Now if you believe what you read: Their latest mag issue states that DU is either begining or ending a 580 acre coastal restoration project in La. They also note that there aren't any local chapters in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, or several other areas in the state.

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Re: DU Nuts?

How bad is the hunting in Louisiana? When I read these numbers in the Sunday paper here I have to wonder?

All of theese numbers are for the Mississippi Flyway which includes Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Data is from the USFWS "Waterfowl Harvest and Population Survey Data."

2005 Total Duck kill rankings:

#1 ARKANSAS with 1 million (1,000,000)ducks harvested

#2 LOUISIANA with 849.000

#3 Minnesota with 531,000

#4 Misouri with 448,000

2005 Mallard Harvest

#1 ARKANSAS 475,000

#2 Misouri 242,000

#3 Illinois 209,000

#4 Minnesota 170,000

2005 Bluebill harvest

#1 LOUISIANA 37,000

#2 Illinois 13,150

#3 Arkansas 12,941

#4 Minnesota 12, 934

2005 Wood Duck harvest:

#1 ARKANSAS 119,812

#2 LOUISIANA 109,500

#3 Minnesota 98,200

2005 Blue-winged teal harvest:

#1 LOUISIANA 92,126

#2 Minnesota 50,539

2005 average season bag per hunter:

#1 LOUISIANA 18.4

#2 MISSISSIPPI 16.7

#3 ARKANSAS 16.6

#4 Missouri 16.2

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#11 Minnesota 7.5

2005 Duck Stamp Sales:

#1 Minnesota 119,000

#2 LOUISIANA 77,000

#3 Michigan 63,000

#4 Wisconsin 54,000

In looking at those numbers: tell me again how bad the hunting is at the southern end of the flyway. Is it DU's fault that the Duck Hunting in Louisiana and Arkansas continues to be some of the best in the country?

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Re: DU Nuts?

clayman,

No doubt that when it's right, there is none better than duckhunting in the backwaters of the MS river...we DO have fantastic waterfowl hunting...on occasion. But it is nothing like it used to be. The big thing is the lack of consistency.

Back to the point of the thread; regardless of what the numbers say, the perception of DU in the south is now negative...and not likely to change anytime soon.

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  • 1 month later...

Re: DU Nuts?

I was a member a long time ago....but the BIG DU dinner here is always the week before deer season....and let me tell you by the time you get your ticket to the dinner and get raffel tickets there plus your drinks....you are looking at a 200 to 300 dollar night....I just can not aford that anymore.

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