Getting screwed on brunswick

[stugatz]

Well I guess it was just a matter of time....the new 150m no shooting off the dyke zone on the Brunswick point, I have been hunting there since I was a kid with my dad in the late 70's and even then the dyke walkers and dog walkers and birdwatchers were pestering us hunters about hunting by the dykes. But yet delta council stood fast and didn't budge or gave in to those few idiots that complained.....but that was then and this is now.....even though there were never any incidents or major disturbances they crumbled .....where was bcwf speaking on our behalf or better yet why was it not made more public that they were thinking of doing such a move. All I can say is that if there was going to be a restriction why 150m.....maybe why not 100m. Seems like time and again we buckle under the wishes of a few idiots complainers that use the public dykes year round while we only use them for four months of the year....I say we ban dog walkers from letting their dogs loose to crap and pollute the place.....just my two cents

[BigD_83]

It's too bad the signs informing the mixed use population of the active hunting area wasn't enough...unfortunately, it also seems like respect only runs one direction sometimes

[MichelD]

Unfortunately there are idiot hunters out there too. I have witnessed guys shooting at swans, setting up ridiculously close to the dyke, etc. etc.

[fowl language]

at least two members of the bcwf sit on the delta hunting committee.at one point there had been so many complaints about hunting incidents that delta council wanted to close hunting outside the dyke. you can thank your fellow hunters for getting the forshore hunting moved out to 150 meters. if there was a way to police these incidents our selves this would go a long way to educate people hunting out there .

[stugatz]

at least two members of the bcwf sit on the delta hunting committee.at one point there had been so many complaints about hunting incidents that delta council wanted to close hunting outside the dyke. you can thank your fellow hunters for getting the forshore hunting moved out to 150 meters. if there was a way to police these incidents our selves this would go a long way to educate people hunting out there .
Agreed and many thanx.... only question is why now....this crap with walkers has been around for decades....I think we could have maybe set back to 100m with some of the high tides its next to impossible to hunt without getting in some trouble..... it becomes almost useless in certain days.....also how are they going to inforce the rule.....these walkers going to know if a guy is 100 or 120 or 150 meters

[stugatz]

And also what kind of incidences were the walkers complaining about anyways

[Marsh Hawk]

Unfortunately there is nothing going on as far as us hunters getting screwed. I'm the longest serving member of the committee that made this recommendation to council for this closure. I've been working to keep as much area open as possible for over 20 years now. We were asked to deal with this problem before council took action without our input. I fear that option even more. They would have swatted a fly with a sledge hammer. Unfortunately there are far more recreational users of the dykes than there are hunters. Rather than have council put in place a blanket closure outside the dykes, we recommended 150m which is a standard closure distance in the province. I realize that it has closed some area that people have hunted for years. We chose sacrificing some to keep some open. There have been too many issues with bozos doing dumb stuff in both Boundary Bay and the Brunswick. Hopefully this clears things up a bit.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Good post Marsh Hawk thanks for the concrete information and your efforts

[Glenny]

And also what kind of incidences were the walkers complaining about anyways

I believe the incidents were just people complaining. Nice, "people move out of the city and decide they need to change the rules. Much like when they shut down the Barnett rifle range and the 2 others after 1 woman was complaining about it.

[wideopenthrottle]

just like those moving close to an airport and then complaining about the noise

[Glenny]

And moving to Ladner and Tsawwassen and griping about the farm smells.

[Foxton Gundogs]

I believe the incidents were just people complaining. Nice, "people move out of the city and decide they need to change the rules. Much like when they shut down the Barnett rifle range and the 2 others after 1 woman was complaining about it.

Marsh Hawk not only sits on the committee but also lives in and hunts the very area. If he says "There have been too many issues with bozos doing dumb stuff in both Boundary Bay and the Brunswick." I think you can take that to the bank

[LupieHunter]

There's more to it then just complaints from walkers and bird watchers. People's property were being damaged as well from the shot pellets. If you want more details message Marsh Hawk.

[Glenny]

Marsh Hawk not only sits on the committee but also lives in and hunts the very area. If he says "There have been too many issues with bozos doing dumb stuff in both Boundary Bay and the Brunswick." I think you can take that to the bank

Oh noooo. I certainly dint mean to discount the great efforts by Marsh Hawk. I appreciate all he does. Thanks marsh Hawk. I think I meant to say that some or a lot of the incidents are people just complaining about it. I used to hunt out there and yes there are some real bone head moves by a few hunners. Not my kind of place for hunting and got plenty of dirty looks from people on the way out there.

[J-Man]

Brunswick was always really bad for at least one person every weekend hunting 10 yards off the dyke. Sometimes because of the high tide issues but mostly hunters just being dumb or lazy. I know 72nd most people I see are out 100yrds, but now at 150 that limits a lot of land where you can have a blind. No problem if you want to hunt in the sand and open ground. But there are only a few blinds that hit the 150 mark. At the other BB areas I hunt I'd have to range find my blinds now I guess, I think I'm 150 for most. But I see this putting more hunters in fewer areas which will drop complaints from Brunswick and most likely make the other areas get a bad wrap. I'm assuming 72nd will be the next target.

[caves16]

I walk my dogs out there along the dyke frequently. On nice weather days the place can be pretty busy with walkers. (not the Walking Dead kind)
I have seen a number of hunters out there, and never been bothered, but as a hunter it doesn't alarm me to see a person all in camp walking toward me with a long shot gun. City folk might pee their pants, and thus the calls to the muni.
Some of the hunters appear unskilled: I have witnessed dozens of shots, over and over at birds that are CLEARLY way TOO HIGH to hit. So bang! bang! bangbangbang! it goes for a long time and not a single bird falls.

I note the sheer volume of cars parked tell me there are a lot of recreational users from other parts of the LM that like to use our dyke. I even saw a Car2Go parked there one day! I thought those couldn't be driven past the Oak Street Bridge??!
City folk like the dyke. Many of them are not Delta residents as i have observed. These complaints are not coming from our local community or tax payers. But sadly, some of the complaints are. I have seen letters in our local paper complaining about the hunters and someone walking their dog found a large number of dead Canadas dumped in a pile.
I agree the hunters need to be smarter (some more than others!), but I still feel annoyed at all these weekend leisure people from Vancouver city with their groomed designer pooches gasping in horror at a couple guys in camo with guns and a filthy, wet lab shaking mud on the trail (the horror!).

[wideopenthrottle]

I walk my dogs out there along the dyke frequently. On nice weather days the place can be pretty busy with walkers. (not the Walking Dead kind)
I have seen a number of hunters out there, and never been bothered, but as a hunter it doesn't alarm me to see a person all in camp walking toward me with a long shot gun. City folk might pee their pants, and thus the calls to the muni.
Some of the hunters appear unskilled: I have witnessed dozens of shots, over and over at birds that are CLEARLY way TOO HIGH to hit. So bang! bang! bangbangbang! it goes for a long time and not a single bird falls.

I note the sheer volume of cars parked tell me there are a lot of recreational users from other parts of the LM that like to use our dyke. I even saw a Car2Go parked there one day! I thought those couldn't be driven past the Oak Street Bridge??!
City folk like the dyke. Many of them are not Delta residents as i have observed. These complaints are not coming from our local community or tax payers. But sadly, some of the complaints are. I have seen letters in our local paper complaining about the hunters and someone walking their dog found a large number of dead Canadas dumped in a pile.
I agree the hunters need to be smarter (some more than others!), but I still feel annoyed at all these weekend leisure people from Vancouver city with their groomed designer pooches gasping in horror at a couple guys in camo with guns and a filthy, wet lab shaking mud on the trail (the horror!).

I would bet those Canada geese were breasted

[northernbc]

good point on a pile of breasted geese, but a great point to make would be is that we need to be smarter . people who don't hunt will not realize this and it makes us look bad. clean up your areas and don,t offer any ammo for the anti,s

[wideopenthrottle]

good point on a pile of breasted geese, but a great point to make would be is that we need to be smarter . people who don't hunt will not realize this and it makes us look bad. clean up your areas and don,t offer any ammo for the anti,s
true very true

[FirePower]

I would bet those Canada geese were breasted

Which in it's self would be a problem Mr. Throttle as there needs to be at least a wing left attached for species identification.

[wideopenthrottle]

Which in it's self would be a problem Mr. Throttle as there needs to be at least a wing left attached for species identification.

um...not illegal if they were taken home, breasted out (which I have never been a big fan of) and then the carcasses ethically "returned" to where they were harvested...but yes I agree it is bad to dump carcasses where the public will see them irrespective of intent.

[FirePower]

um...not illegal if they were taken home, breasted out (which I have never been a big fan of) and then the carcasses ethically "returned" to where they were harvested...but yes I agree it is bad to dump carcasses where the public will see them irrespective of intent.

You are absolutely correct on all counts sir. I was speaking to the processing of birds on site which is also all to common.

[Marsh Hawk]

One of the largest sources of pressure that we had was a Delta city councillor. She uses the dykes every week to run and has seen far too many incidences of stupidity. We also had to do something in Boundary Bay as Houwelling Greenhouses was losing dozens of glass roof panels every hunting season. I found it hard to believe but Councillor Ian Paton who co-chairs the committee went and saw it with his own eyes. Steel shot pellets in the gutter system on the greenhouse roof that are falling hard enough to crack or otherwise damage the roof panels. This makes for a safety issue. We have always tried to make decisions like this based on conservation concerns or safety issues. I didn't like having to make this recommendation but would rather have input on a decision like this before council made a decision without our input.

[FirePower]

Thank you Mr. Hawk for the good information.

[deltawaterfowler]

I haven't been hunting long. This is my third season waterfowling in and around the public lands in the delta area. As a novice hunter there is certainly a lot to learn; but I take extreme care to follow the rules in place and more importantly leave a good impression on the casual passer by's and hunters alike. I pickup all my hulls, pack out what I pack in and even take away extra garbage whenever possible.

In boundary bay, with the rule change it certainly limits where we can go and I often look at other hunter's blind locations and question whether or not they are at the 150m mark. If I do see someone too close to shore and happen to get a chance to talk with them I always remind them of the new rule change.

As a dad wanting to get his kids into the sport as they get old enough, it's so important for us all to take charge and be stewards of the land. If we don't, no-one will and this heritage will be lost for our future generations, which would be an absolute crying shame.