bluegrass

[quack]

anybody know if bluegrass is closed to fishing since waterfowl season is open

[Moveon]

I'm not sure if they close it down for early water fowl hunters. Early water fowl hunting season is pretty short. Not many water fowl are going to use Bluegrasses Pits with all the different people moving around that area doing various activities. Fishing being just one reason why the waterfowl won't be there. Anyone walking a dog or playing fetch with a dog would scare water fowl away from that area. People out fishing along the bank would also scare the ducks and geese off. Anyone out walking around hunting rabbits or other game are going to scare the water fowl away too.

Coyote hunting as well as Fox hunting season is also in season now and those hunters hunt not only at night but during the daylight hours as well.

People just using a Kayak and paddling around and not fishing will scare off the water fowl.

Water fowl hunting stops at noon each day anyway. But ducks need peace and quiet on bodies of water before they use it as a staging area. Resident ducks may choose other bodies of water to rest on.

A few weeks ago I saw some dove hunters hunting in the Water Fowl Resting Area (Loon Pit) and the game warden was out checking on them. They were hunting just to the West of the South end of Loon Pit. They parked their vehicle in the parking lot for Loon Pit and walked out into that field. The field has recently had the corn harvested and the birds were coming into feed maybe. They have motion type decoys with flapping wings driven by some type of motor devices. I could see the sunlight reflecting of the moving wings on the decoys from the Gravel Road just to the West of that area. They may have been in trouble or not. I would think that hunting water fowl in the waterfowl resting area would be a big no no. But hunting doves or other critters in that area may also disturb the resting waterfowl that are near buy.

I do know that when late water fowl hunting gets hear some time in November that all the bodies of water on Bluegrass is off limits to fishing. There are signs at some of the pit's saying so. I'm not sure what they do with some of the small pits. But I would think (hope) that the larger bodies of water are shut down to fishing so that the water fowl hunters will have a opportunity to shoot some ducks and geese this winter. After all they only get to ply their trade for a few months during the cold winter months. The fishermen get to fish most all the time out there.

I would think that the IDNR wants to manage the area for multi use for various hunting and fishing sports. Anyone that hunts or fishes and buys equipment related to those two sports pays a add on tax ( it's built into the price of sporting goods) and that tax goes back to the Federal Government. Some of that money comes back to the State of IN to be used by IDNR for various things. So the hunters and fishermen help to pay to buy places like Bluegrass. These taxes are used as provided by the Pittman Robertson Act and the Dingle Johnson act which were pass by the US Congress and signed into law many years ago. These taxes are given back to the States based on how many fishing and hunting licenses they sell. Or so I've been told. The more hunters in each state the more the state gets back from the Federal Government. Buying a Federal Duck Stamps helps pay for the purchase of places like Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Area.