Hey Guys,

Just wanted to make you aware of something that may benefit all of us if we can do it in a positive way. I spoke w/ an officer by the name of Dean at McFaddin today regarding the new restriction limiting outboards to 25hp going into effect fall of 2011. I was able to voice my opinion that I believe that this regulation does not take into consideration the actual size of the craft being powered by a motor. I gave the example of my set up w/ a 30hp tiller on a 1756 Xcell and explained that my rig at full speed would be comparitively close to that of a 1442 w/ a 25hp motor. Officer Dean was very understanding and said that he agreed w/ the comparison. I asked if there were any public forums scheduled for the public to debate this issue. He said that the problem w/ this regulation is that "the public debate on this issue was actually held several years ago and is just now going into effect". Officer Dean said that he appreciated our conversation and especially appreciated not being yelled at on the phone regarding this issue. He went on to give me his boss' direct number (Tim Cooper 409-267-3337) and said he believed that if enough of us expressed our disapproval (in a diplomatic fassion) regarding the HP restriction, that it is very possible that this issue could be reopened for furter debate. I would urge all of you that oppose the 25hp restriction , to call Officer Dean at McFaddin NWR (409-540-0499) and Officer Tim Cooper at Anahauc NWR (409-267-3337) and voice your opinions. Remember to present your case DIPLOMATICLY. More flies w/ honey than vinegar.

I would also like to know your thoughts regarding an online petition regarding this issue.

What state is dis in reference to?

What exaclty is the restriction??

thats why i just kill my ducks on the state land. all those rules on federal NWR's are bullshit. yall just wait, it wont be long and everything will be canoe or walk in only for the federal land.

next thing is dat we'll be restricted by our "carbon footprint" and be forced to use trolling motors only

yeah but IF it comes to that, i can almost guarantee it that the men who are willing to paddle there's asses off in a canoe will shoot more ducks. i think all the motors we got runnin round the public hunting areas scouting/hunting run alot of birds out.

I wonder if the restriction goes for San Bernard, Brazoria, and Big Boggy NWR in Brazoria and Matagorda Counties?????? I just bought a MB 35 and got rid of a GD 18 LT. I might need to call down here and see what the feds have to say about that. Thanks for the info.

Seein as this is a "Federal" refuge and not a "state" wma, once it get's started at McFadden, it waon't be long before it's nationwide. Thing is, the 25 hp restriction has always been there, it's just not enforced, and hasn't been in years. The move towards MMs has sparked them to start enforcing the rule. Thing is, if I can't run a MM over 25hp, then Joe Blow can't run his 40 Merc either. Which is what the dispute has been about. I don't really have a dog in this fight, because I never really hunted on the refuge until this past teal season, but fair's fair and right's right. We're already booted out, this issue is more about the outboards than the MMs. I can understand the guys who just bought new 40's in the past 2 or 3 yrs fightin this, but for those of us runnin a MM, we all knew we couldn't use it on the refuge if we bought bigger than a 25hp. That's why the 23's a sellin so good right now.

Now, for the record, I could, and did, tear alot of shi+ up with my Suki. Probly more so than I do with my MB. If we are all responsible, use all of these motors as they were intended, and know our limitations, there's no need for these restrictions. Problem is, not all of us are responsible enought to do this. Hell, I still get a wild hair sometimes and decide to jump shi+ just to see if I can.

It's like that inLA. Some of The NWR i hunt are way more restricted than others. Lake Ophelia is one. There are certain areas that you can't hunt but the month of November , you can only paddle or use a troll motor, but the ducks love it so 10 cents in one hand a dime in the other. I have an extra rig just for hunting those spots bc a mile down the trail you can launch at another portion of the Refuge and it's 25 hp or less. I see it spilling over into certain portions of WLMs here in comming years.

Stop buying hunting lic. and federal duck stamps!!! We pay for the lands and then they want to tell us how we can use them. It's kinda a "Don't bite the hand that feeds you!" deal. If you all had to the balls to sit out a season you could get some folks to listen!!

years ago you didn't have to sign in and pic your spot at the GW station everyone just put ur boat in and the first one to a spot got it.I was told this as being one of the reasons plus sup. destruction of the marsh.now days you sign in and there are better marked ditches to run plus GPS.pepole,boats/motors,electronics are all better/ safer now days and I think as a hole today's hunters are better stewards of the land.there should be something our senators/congressmen could help with

i remember the days of racing through the marsh,now its alot more organized..and cuts down on boating accidents,and if someone doesnt show up for check in they have a general idea of what area to go look for you in..

QuackKiller has a good point but still a lot of the rules they put out are BS. I personally like the old fashioned first come first serve rule. Plus all these electronic and G.P.S's are nice but they don't teach us how to get out of the woods if chit gets deep. Yeah a lot of yall can but hell what happens if that thing goes dead. Yeah i got one but i never use it. The most i do is use it to get speeds. Besides that i don't, that way i learn the land and if i ever get stuck i can get out by the old fashioned way of knowing north and south. That's just the way i was raised you know. A lot of my stands in the woods aren't marked. Yeah we have a lease but we have a piece of state property land locked with another lease and the only half a** trail you have is the pipeline and its so over grown you have to know where its at. My duck hole is 400 + yards from the pipeline, plus another 1.5 miles from the nearest road from the pipeline and i usually hunt alone back there cuz everyone at the camp always complains how dangerous it is back there and i've been hunting alone back there since i was 11. Blane at the camp showed me how to get there once and that was it i was on my own. Thats just my .02 on the gps things. Its nice BUT what are you gonna do if the batteries die??

all they want is not to have to deal with duck hunters..Jim dont care bout the hunters..when was the last time they did somethin to benefit the hunters

Amen. be glad when we are able to get a new bioligist down here he doesnt beleave in burning the marsh or just about anything that would take HIS effort. a bunch of us have even said we would help do what ever they would need help doing.

Wow, this thing's gone way off topic.
For the most part, Hunter's right. I criticize him too, but Jim does more than we give him credit for. True, his speeches get monotonous, but he does what he does because he really does care. I watched him break down and cry when he was talkin to us on the Tues mornin after the accident. He's just been runnin the place for so long, everybody focuses on the places where he's gotten lax. True, there are things that need to be done that he sometimes doesn't let the guys do, but we don't know the whole story as to why. As far as who takes over when he retires, I'd be surprised if Tucker or Andrew take charge, and I'd be extremely disappointed in the whole system if Randy took over. Not sayin anything bad about Randy, but he's only been with TPWD for 2 yrs now and out of college for about the same. He's a good guy, but seniority should come into play. I'd imagine either Mike or Bill would take over, but they'll probly bring in somebody from another unit to take over. If everybody wants to improve the place, start pickin up after yourself and the guys that were there before you. Our marsh is gettin full of trash again because of the guys who think they should just be able to do as they please and trash everything up. It's our responsibilty to be good stewards and take care of what we have, not the biologists. They have enough to worry about without cleanin up behind us.

Ok, gettin off my soap box now.

I thought this topic was about Mcfaddin and their horsepower regulations, talk about getting off topic!