# Altamaha Teal Scouting



## ICU2012 (Sep 11, 2014)

Hey ladies and gents, it's finally that time of year again! time to pull the waders out, dust off the shotgun, rig some teal decoys and fire up the thermacell! I know a lot of ya'll have been waiting for this weekend along with me for a long time. So imagine my sadness when I scouted today on the Duck Capital of Georgia, Altamaha WMA.....

2 of the 3 walk-in areas are dry and grown up, be a good place to shoot hogs and water moccasins. The 1 walk in area with water looks pretty, but I didn't see any ducks coming or going this morning while I was there.  (to be fair I wasn't there at sunrise, probably around 7:15)  there were lots of marsh birds and ospreys flying around, which I'm sure will end poorly for them on saturday. the other 2 walk in areas look like they were drained last year and forgot about. 

After checking the walk in areas I made the boat ride to the ever popular rhetts island. below are a few pics I took while I attempted to ride around. from what I can tell, it looks like dnr drained the pond, burned it and forgot to put water back on for a few months. the grass is so thick, huge holes that we've hunted for years are gone and now choked full of shoulder tall grass. It's thick enough to where I bet the guys with mud motors will have a hard time getting around as well. I stuck to the canals and still had to stop every hundred yards and pull grass off the foot of my motor. Wish I could tell ya'll the other ponds looked good, but I never made it all the way around the first one to find out. if pond 2 or 3 does have open water, you can bet it'll be engulfed in eager pass shooters with full chokes and bb's come saturday. 

I'm attempting to find the email for dnr's head waterfowl biologist Mr. Balkcom. I contacted him once last year, but can't find the emails now.(probably accidentally deleted them). last year we discussed ways to reduce crowding on these public land hunts. obviously the ideas fell on deaf ears when more than half the area is unhuntable opening day of teal. I would encourage anyone else that comes down here to hunt to also contact someone in dnr and express concern for the area. i'm sure they have a very good reason as to why the walk in areas haven't been mowed or burned or flooded. and why pond 1 is so thick it's not huntable. These areas that don't have ducks are going to force hunters closer to each other and cause more problems than we already have down here. I will honestly say that there's a better chance that i'll be in a deer stand or dove field saturday. to everyone else, stay safe and bring extra thermacell refills!


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## Felton (Sep 11, 2014)

We saw you this morning. We put in just before you. It was crazy thick over there and no birds.


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## arkie1 (Sep 11, 2014)

Have only seen 3 birds in the last week on the river.  Two weeks ago was seeing several flocks consistently. That's the way it works down here though.


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## GSURugger (Sep 11, 2014)

Didn't the whole island burn back middle of summer?


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## GSURugger (Sep 11, 2014)

I'll quit playing. Overcrowding shouldn't be an issue because literally the whole place looks like that.  It burned back in the middle of summer.


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## andyparm (Sep 12, 2014)

A scouting post without any details??!! You gave us the spot now we need the numbers!


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## king killer delete (Sep 12, 2014)

If you go stay in the river. No I have not scouted  but atleast you will not kill yourself for nothing. I am gona feed my deer


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## homey (Sep 12, 2014)

GSURugger said:


> Didn't the whole island burn back middle of summer?



No!


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## killerv (Sep 12, 2014)

Greg's info

Work Phone: (478) 825-6354
Email: Greg.Balkcom@dnr.state.ga.us


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## GSURugger (Sep 12, 2014)

homey said:


> No!



This must be fake then.


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## The Fever (Sep 12, 2014)

GSURugger said:


> This must be fake then.



Yep. Yuppie world was freaking out.


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## ICU2012 (Sep 12, 2014)

From what I was told, they burned the whole dang island and nearly burnt down the camping area at pond 3 too. I'm no biologist but I would think they should have put water back on it within a few weeks to keep it from growing up like it has. Thanks killerv for Greg's contact info. He seemed like a nice enough guy, think he took me for some dumb redneck when I suggested they open butler island up as a walkin area for teal. He said they couldn't flood the island because it wouldn't allow the natural food for the ducks to grow.....even tho right now there's water on parts of it and more ducks there then anywhere else. I happened to hunt in a blind down from him last year on the quota. We killed 1 greenwing, him and a buddy killed 1 wood duck I believe. Must be so much natural food in there that the ducks spend all night eating then leave all day and rest on the river..... I really hope some of y'all take some time and send him an email. There's extremely limited public land waterfowl areas in the state, and when they aren't maintained it does nobody any good


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## king killer delete (Sep 13, 2014)

cyber scouts


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## ICU2012 (Sep 13, 2014)

Who's a cyber scout? Obviously I went and scouted, and I was sharing my experience so maybe people would band together and contact those who control out hunting areas. The coast got busy last year, and lack of hunting area inland is going to push more people to the salt again this year. Dnr says they want input from hunters, I for one am goin to make sure they get some


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## king killer delete (Sep 13, 2014)

It was joke and you are the scout. I guess you didn't hunt today. I would hunt the river , my boat is to big to cross the dike. There are plenty places to kill teal in that river. Everybody has gone to that spot for years. You can go up around boys estate and find them in years past.  last year I pulled up next to the dike and got several flights. But I do think any body hunts the river that much anymore.


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## king killer delete (Sep 13, 2014)

ICU2012 said:


> Who's a cyber scout? Obviously I went and scouted, and I was sharing my experience so maybe people would band together and contact those who control out hunting areas. The coast got busy last year, and lack of hunting area inland is going to push more people to the salt again this year. Dnr says they want input from hunters, I for one am goin to make sure they get some



Money is the problem. I have said it for years we could have 10 coastal refuges to hunt. Why do you think I have gone to the big water. Now a days everbody wants to duck hunt. For what ever reason. The states to our direct north from NC up the line are making big money so it is in the interest of those local hunter to keep the birds from coming to us and they do. I remember when Rhetts had fixed blinds in the hunting are that local folks built and claimed. You can not make out like the place is a big secret. Every Walmart has got a hunting reg book at the sporting goods counter. But as far DNR and that place good luck I heard the same thing in 1978 and it aint changed except fo a bunch more hunters. Perfect example if they cared the place would be full of water right now. All they got to do is pull a couple of gates on high tide and you would have water.  Good luck


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## Mikehunt (Sep 13, 2014)

I will start off by saying that I am not familiar with the Altamaha or the natural vegetation that grows there. Could the reasoning behind not flooding during teal season be that doing so could destroy the food source for wintering ducks? Just a thought.


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## Smiley (Sep 13, 2014)

Mikehunt said:


> I will start off by saying that I am not familiar with the Altamaha or the natural vegetation that grows there. Could the reasoning behind not flooding during teal season be that doing so could destroy the food source for wintering ducks? Just a thought.



That would be a pretty good reason to wait.


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## king killer delete (Sep 13, 2014)

You think that. Then why has been flooded most every other year. It never has hurt in the past. Maybe so. It has not been that way in the past. I would think you would want it flooded from now until the end of the season so that you could hold more birds.  I admit I do not hunt the place as much as I once did but I did hunt it several times last year and the first time I hunted the place was 1978. I do have a history with place and most times it has been flooded except when the dike blew out some years ago. You guys might be right but it aint gona help the guys wanting to teal hunt this year and every day you are not able to hunt ducks is a day you never get it back what ever the reason is.


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## andyparm (Sep 15, 2014)

Killer is right on the money issue. Lack of state and federal funds are probably the biggest reason we do not see proper management of the coastal waterfowl impounds. The Altamaha WMA has always been a topic of debate on this forum. It is Georgia's best duck hunting option and could be one of the best in the SE if it were handled a little better. Some of the issues stem from lack of money and some are just season to season mismanagement. A few years back Butler was burned and then flooded very close to the start of the season. There was no food for them that year to stay. Things like that deter birds during that season and it takes time for those birds to start coming back. I've always said planting the refuges would be a great start to pulling more birds into the area. The Butler Refuge as well as the refuge area in Champney would be good test areas to see how well planting worked. Flood a few weeks before the season starts and if all the birds in the area were going there and staying then the DNR could drain it for the second split. 

Also, I agree with the OP that Butler or atleast sections of Butler should be open during early teal. If it does effect the numbers for the regular season then no way, but if it doesn't....all I'm saying is the numbers are pretty poor during regular season. Might as well have good habitat for the few teal that sneak down early.


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## wray912 (Sep 15, 2014)

i think its more of a mismanagement deal with that place than a money issue...they burned it in the summer waited to long to flood it so the place is a disaster...didnt see any mottled openin day and my guess to the reasoning of that is the time they burned it lined up with nesting season so they probably burn all the eggs and and chicks up and possibly some molting birds(brilliant idea) dont know the guys that manage it but i could guess you could give them a million $$ and it still wouldnt get done right


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## mattuga (Sep 16, 2014)

wray912 said:


> i think its more of a mismanagement deal with that place than a money issue...they burned it in the summer waited to long to flood it so the place is a disaster...didnt see any mottled openin day and my guess to the reasoning of that is the time they burned it lined up with nesting season so they probably burn all the eggs and and chicks up and possibly some molting birds(brilliant idea) dont know the guys that manage it but i could guess you could give them a million $$ and it still wouldnt get done right



Yup


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