Planting for duck?

[Sleepy]

Im confused now:

"a hunter may hunt migratory game birds including waterfowl, coots and cranes: • on or over standing crops,standing flooded
crops and flooded harvested crops;"

"a hunter may not • hunt waterfowl or cranes over manipulated planted millet in the first year after planting;"

BUT TPWD defines manipulation as "The alteration of natural vegetation or agricultural crops, including but not limited to mowing, shredding, discing, rolling, chopping, trampling, flattening, burning and herbicide treatments."


So, can anyone translate? Seems like it is legal as long as i dont manipulate it after planting.

This is all correct, youre fine Sip. I find it strange that they tell you, you can not manipulate the millet until after the first year...millet is an annual....you have to replant it every year

[TexMax]

Would i be caught under the manipulation clause since i would be disking up natural vegetation in order to plant?

No. You can manipulate natural vegetation

[Sippy]

So now that i am legal, when should i plant japanese millet in Eastland county and how much per acre? Also, how deep should i flood it after the millet establishes?

[Bonesplitter]

Snake kill the flat and flood it about 8-10" deep. If you have many ducks they will find it. You wouldn't have to plant it most likely. But Japanese or brown top millet works great.

[NelsonV]

Just dump a ton of corn on the ground and in the water and say oops

[back-woods-boy]

We use smartweed for the most part but we have done some millet, flooded a milo field among other crops. We hunt a ton of rice as well, year before last we had two of our guides ticketed for baiting. The farmer let a field go and it had soured standing in water and needless to say the teal were all in that field. These two guys drove the across the field looking for the pit blind in the levee. The game warden was quick to cite and inform them that they had manipulated crop. They explained they were just looking for the blind not trying to make a hole to hunt. He didn't care. As far as federals go I would rather deal with ours any day, he will tell you I'm a hunter not a cop I enforce the law but I'm not gonna be rude if I don't have a reason. So just plant what you want flood it and don't knock it over or shred it or disc unless you make an honest effort to harvest it.

[Death from Above]

My understanding is you can hunt the miller. Just not the first year you plant it. For us the hogs tore it all up by the second season.

I will look for the link with info I found on it for you Sip. It may take a day or so.

[ihuntlikeagirl]

I get a wild hair every now and then, and one just came to mind.

We own a little under 70 acres in Eastland county. There are 2 ponds on it that we see ducks fly off of occasionally. I have an area (low land) that i can flood.

What would be a good choice to attract ducks into the area? When would i need to plant (i can irrigate it) and when should i flood it?

ORRRR we could get them there and keep them as pets...just another thought

[Sippy]

My understanding is you can hunt the miller. Just not the first year you plant it. For us the hogs tore it all up by the second season.

I will look for the link with info I found on it for you Sip. It may take a day or so.

It said in the regs you couldnt hunt manipulated millet until the second year

ORRRR we could get them there and keep them as pets...just another thought

[Jaspro]

We use smartweed for the most part but we have done some millet, flooded a milo field among other crops. We hunt a ton of rice as well, year before last we had two of our guides ticketed for baiting. The farmer let a field go and it had soured standing in water and needless to say the teal were all in that field. These two guys drove the across the field looking for the pit blind in the levee. The game warden was quick to cite and inform them that they had manipulated crop. They explained they were just looking for the blind not trying to make a hole to hunt. He didn't care. As far as federals go I would rather deal with ours any day, he will tell you I'm a hunter not a cop I enforce the law but I'm not gonna be rude if I don't have a reason. So just plant what you want flood it and don't knock it over or shred it or disc unless you make an honest effort to harvest it.

Here is why:

a hunter maY hunt migratory game birds
including waterfowl, coots and cranes:
• on or over standing crops, standing flooded
crops and flooded harvested crops;
• at any time over natural vegetation that
has been manipulated. natural vegetation does not include planted millet.
However, planted millet that grows on its
own in subsequent years after the planting is considered natural vegetation;
• on or over a normal soil stabilization
practice;
• on or over lands or areas where seeds or
grains have been scattered solely as a
result of a normal agricultural practice,
exCePT waterfowl and cranes may not be
hunted where grain or other feed has been
distributed or scattered as the result of:
• pre-harvest manipulation of an
agricutural crop; or
• livestock feeding;
• over crops or natural vegetation where
grain has been inadvertently scattered
as a result of entering or leaving a
hunting area, placing decoys or
retrieving downed birds;
• using natural vegetation or crops to
conceal a blind, provided that if crops are
used to conceal a blind, no grain or other
feed is exposed, deposited, distributed or
scattered in the process.

[Langston32]

A buddy and myself played it by the books a few years back and planted some Japanese millet and it came up great the first year. Now this is where we might have messed up but we were under the impression that it will come back the second year and it didn't. When we noticed that it wasn't coming back up we didn't plant again because we figured we would have to start the process all over. Is our way of thinking way off

[Langston32]

Wow sorry OP I just read my post I really wasn't trying to hijack

[outlaw38]

Ducks Unlimited will build your ponds and plant them, all you have to do is make the call. They built me 2 40 acre lowland areas 4 years ago. Didn't cost me a dime. Good program they have going.

[Brazos Hunter]

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259626&highlight=Duck+attractant+pond

[Chad]

Thanks, Brazos Hunter!