20 Balsam Trail, RR 1
Port Rowan, Ontario
Canada, N0E 1M0
December 10, 2008
Re: Long Point Waterfowl Unit
Dear Mr. J. Malcolm:
I am writing to you regarding some suggestions to improve the Long Point Waterfowl Unit and the hunting experience at the unit.
I started waterfowl hunting at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit in 1978 ... Blind 42 ... bagging 1 drake pintail on my first day ... I was hooked!
My second waterfowl hunting trip was to Presqu'ile Provincial Park (which had a controlled waterfowl hunt) about a week later ... Blind 17 ... bagging a goose ... now I was really hooked!
At the time, I was living in Mississauga and so traveling southwest to the Long Point Waterfowl Unit or east to Presqu'ile Provincial Park required a 2 1/4 hour drive for me either way.
From 1978 to 1986 I alternated my waterfowl hunting between the Long Point Waterfowl Unit and Presqu'ile Provincial Park although I did check out several other waterfowl hunting locations. None of these other locations compared to these two favourite spots.
However in 1987 I started to limit my waterfowl hunting only to Presqu'ile Provincial Park for the following reasons:
1) Other than for Saturdays ... the controlled waterfowl hunt at Presqu'ile Provincial Park had changed to a "self serve" system eliminating the need for waterfowl hunters to wait in line for the park attendant to arrive and register them. We would simply arrive at the park the night before (overnight camping was permitted) or in the early morning ... register our names, vehicle licence plate numbers and our blind choices in a book located at the waterfowl office ... deposit our small game licences and daily blind fees (envelopes provided) into a locked "drop box" and then head out to the blinds. Before leaving we would return to the waterfowl office to record our ducks, present our migratory bird permits and recover our small game licences. This was fast, effecient and cost saving as the park attendant came in at 0900 hours rather than at 0500 hours. The controlled waterfowl hunt eventually became totally "self serve" except for opening day without any problems.
2) The controlled waterfowl hunt at Presqu'ile Provincial Park had no reservations ... it was a "first come first serve" system. I have heard a few complaints about the reservation system at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit and some waterfowl hunters no longer hunt the waterfowl unit due to the reservation system. I can understand having a few reservations for Saturdays early in the season but during the week everyone who comes to the Long Point Waterfowl Unit can get a blind. I do not think that there is a real need for the reservation system ... we do not have it on opening day so why bother during the rest of the season ... especially during the week!
3) The office at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit would open at 0400 hours (to accommodate a larger group of waterfowl hunters) which provided an opportunity to register everyone with sufficient time left over for us to get out to the blinds prior to "shooting time". However ... the office would open at 0500 hours later in the season which made it difficult for some of us to get out to the blinds prior to "shooting time" ... especially considering that we "lost" an hour with the time change at the end of October.
4) There was a better chance of getting a "good" blind at Presqu'ile Provincial Park than at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit due to fewer hunters ... especially during the week.
I moved to Port Rowan in October of 2004 and I resumed waterfowl hunting at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit in November of that year. However ... the office at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit would now open at 0500 hours initially and at 0600 hours later in the season compounding the problem described in (3) above. Furthermore ... there would now be eight (8) reservations per day rather than the previous five (5) reservations per day.
Consequently ... I am requesting that the following suggestions be considered for the 2009 waterfowl season:
1) A "self serve" system be initiated at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit as described above for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
2) The current reservation system at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit be terminated for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
3) The current "line up" system at the Long point Waterfowl Unit be continued for Saturdays with the office opening at 0400 hours initially and at 0500 hours later in the season.
4) The current reservation system at the Long Point Waterfowl Unit be continued for Saturdays with a limit of five (5) reservations per day.
Please note that these suggestions would not apply to the Goose Blinds that are currently on a separate reservation system.
Finally ... I would like to address the issue of the garbage ... including spent hulls ... being left at the blind sites. I do not mind routinely picking up several spent hulls in and around a blind that may have been previously missed by hunters. However ... I was very disappointed by the amount of garbage that I encountered at several blind sites this past season ... broken chair, candy bar wrappers, coffee cup, flash light, gloves, juice containers, pop cans, rope, styrofoam cup and water bottles. Then there were the spent hulls ... not just 10, 20, 30 or 40 but 75, 88, 95 and 244 at separate blind sites.
There was a similar problem at Presqu'ile Provincial Park several years ago and we corrected it by simply having hunters check out their garbage upon their return to the waterfowl office. There was also a notice posted that garbage ... including spent hulls ... were subject to a $100.00 fine per item left behind at a blind site. Perhaps we could initiate a Memorandum of Understanding that every hunter would sign upon registration for their first hunt of the season. By signing this Memorandum of Understanding all hunters would acknowledge that spent hulls are considered garbage and that they agree to remove all visible garbage (not just their garbage) from the blind site prior to leaving.
I trust that I have not offended anyone but I thought that these suggestions would improve the quality of the hunting experience for everyone.
Sincerely,
J. Katchin, D.V.M.