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The impoundment at C.F. Phelps.

11K views 66 replies 21 participants last post by  fleeMAN44 
#1 ·
Went cruising around the area and decided to check out this neglected area of Phelps. All three blinds are bare, no brushing or concealment. Overgrown brush in the front of the middle blind. The area is just about bone dry. How can this be with the level of rains that we have had?

Last year, the response I received from IF&G was the river was too low so they did not want to pump from it. Okay, so what about this year?

If they would at least make an effort to fill the impoundment, heck I would go out and clear and brush the blinds.
 
#2 ·
how bout that dawg , where did the new pump go and the maintenance on the pond. not pointing finger just asking question. dgif is not maintaining the WMA,s like they should . the fields in pettigrew are turning to overgrown brush. havent been to chick wma in 5 yrs but im sure that has gone to pot too.
 
#3 ·
Phelps is a real nice area and it is a shame it is neglected. I spend a lot of time out there training my dog. My wife and I are always picking up other people's trash, water bottles, fish-bait cups, etc. Down at the pond, I pick up discarded fish line and beer cans. I always try to leave it better than we found it. Last week, two oriental women were filling wooden shipping crates full of chestnuts off the tree-line right there by the manager's residence. ***?

I would be more than willing to help out with the impoundment and blinds, but need some sort of direction. For many, the WMA and Quantico Marine Corps Base are the only game in town. Not crying, just wondering where the license, duck stamp and other fees go.
 
#7 ·
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/volunteer/ ... rtunities/
This is what DGIF has for our public WMAs , what a joke . Volunteer work is never going to improve anything . IMO they need to bring back the CCC program or something much like it as a state thing .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps
Take that impoundment at C.F. Phelps , the dang thing at one time would hold water , but over time it went bad and DGIF was more into a safaris in Africa then putting a finger into a dike and today it's hopeless. If they had a tax incentive in place some construction company would lone out some equipment they have not on a job being use . A work force program that pays a little something would bring in some out of work construction workers that want to learn how to operate equipment in hopes of finding a new job and before long that place will be holding water and birds .

:thumbsup: LD :clapping:
 
#8 ·
To answer yyour question is the pumps are at Phelps and are available to them to use at their judgement. As for the blinds we were asked to wait until after blackpowder season so as not to impede on the bP hunters. The blinds will be brushed by Nov. 1. As for the water levels please stop looking for a lake. Get off the berm and walk down in the impoundment area. You will find water. As for additional pumping contact VDGIF or the Friends of Phelps. Being extremely short handed at work and on a 3 day on call rotation I cannot get to spend the time as I have done before pumping water. Will try to have some of my guys put some water in before the season. Now if some of you want to help send me a pm and we will get the work done. later, dawg :welcome:
 
#10 ·
just for reference sake here, are you volunteering your time at phelps dawg. why isnt dgif taking responsibility for this place. it seems all the wmas are falliing by the wayside. heck the big sign at pettigrew is covered in vines and the paperwork on it is faded. not faulting you dawg , your time out there is important but as a hunting community that pays for these places, why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.
 
#11 ·
adustydawg said:
To answer yyour question is the pumps are at Phelps and are available to them to use at their judgement. As for the blinds we were asked to wait until after blackpowder season so as not to impede on the bP hunters. The blinds will be brushed by Nov. 1. As for the water levels please stop looking for a lake.
Early muzzleloader doesn't even start until November 5, and goes through November 18. Late muzzleloader goes into January. So something is very "off' with your given dates.

And if there's no water, why bother anyways?
 
#13 ·
imaduckin up north said:
why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.
Are you?
If not why not?.................I do all the time, to the point that they hate to see me coming now. Not saying it doesn't still fall on deaf ears but some things have eventually been addressed, some I am still griping about...ie": number of swan permits we get compared to NC
 
#15 ·
Ok, correction, archery season. And yes my org does alot of voluntyeer work at Phelps. Why bother you ask. Very simple. There are many folks that depend on current VDGIF properties for hunting. The public land hunters may not have the finances for a lease. As many of you know times are tight and money is short. As part of what my org does is give back to the public. We do these projects for the benefit of the public. Just like our youth, womens and youth hunts that we pit on thereis no charge whatsoever. Now if some of yyou, imaduckin and 16gaParker are so interested in helping I will be back from vacation on 10-21, 2011. I am willing to meet you on Sat or Sunday. Will have my pump and some members with me to brush the blinds and pump some water. Look forward to seeing you and anyone else that wants to help at the parking lot at the turnoff for the range at o700 ready to work. If you have a saw, ax, loppers, and /or a waterpump bring it along. Ol dawg might find a grill and some chow while the water is filling up the lower end of the impoundment. Nothin wrong with a little chillin and grillin. And the skins game will be on WJFK so we can listen in. Plan to be there till dark. Now is your chance to step up and do something worthwhile.
As for the other WMAs I can't speak on them. Maybe some other orgs will want to take on the task. Any takers? :huh:
 
#16 ·
imaduckin up north said:
just for reference sake here, are you volunteering your time at phelps dawg. why isnt dgif taking responsibility for this place. it seems all the wmas are falliing by the wayside. heck the big sign at pettigrew is covered in vines and the paperwork on it is faded. not faulting you dawg , your time out there is important but as a hunting community that pays for these places, why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.
So you drove past the sign and didn't consider the 3.5 minutes it would take to pull a few vines down?

....." oh boy, boy, come here and clean up this table boy. My friend just puked all over it. "
 
#17 ·
VaTailfeathers said:
imaduckin up north said:
just for reference sake here, are you volunteering your time at phelps dawg. why isnt dgif taking responsibility for this place. it seems all the wmas are falliing by the wayside. heck the big sign at pettigrew is covered in vines and the paperwork on it is faded. not faulting you dawg , your time out there is important but as a hunting community that pays for these places, why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.
So you drove past the sign and didn't consider the 3.5 minutes it would take to pull a few vines down?

....." oh boy, boy, come here and clean up this table boy. My friend just puked all over it. "
If he had he could have been ticketed for disturbing native vegitation.
 
#18 ·
I don't think he would have gotten a ticket for pulling vines off that faded sign. In fact if some of you got together and spent a day working on the WMAs for the betterment of all things would look and be much better. Top of VA have you got what it takes to do alittle manual labor or is the keystrokes all you got? :beer:
 
#19 ·
Sure VT and while im at it ill print off some new dgif bulletins off my cell phone and take my trusty old bush hog out of my truck and reclaim the overgrown dove fields.
 
#20 ·
adustydawg said:
I don't think he would have gotten a ticket for pulling vines off that faded sign. In fact if some of you got together and spent a day working on the WMAs for the betterment of all things would look and be much better. Top of VA have you got what it takes to do alittle manual labor or is the keystrokes all you got? :beer:
Easy Chief-
Trying to breath a little levity into this conversation. You guys do a fine job out at Phelps and I'm sure it will be in tip top shape come the November season. I have my own projects scheduled out over the next few weeks so I will not be helping you guys out. Thanks for the calling out though. :thumbsup:
 
#21 ·
Now for you folks like imaduckin that has knowledge of bushhogs and farm equipment ther is a volunteer workforce program available for you to use some off time to helpout. A little hoggin might be just what those dove fields need. Just a nice afternoon driving around on a John Deere helping out your sport. Sounds like a plan to me. Looking forward to seeing some of you out there with the workforce!! :thumbsup: :hammer:
 
#22 ·
[quote="imaduckin up north"...... why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.[/quote]

Because everyone is pushing and supporting Sunday Hunting. Sure lets add another hunt day for birds in a state that has very little habitat to support birds and hold them around. If the same effort was put into to habitat management that has been put into Sunday Hunting there might be more support for that movement.
 
#23 ·
3 chessies said:
[quote="imaduckin up north"...... why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.
Because everyone is pushing and supporting Sunday Hunting. Sure lets add another hunt day for birds in a state that has very little habitat to support birds and hold them around. If the same effort was put into to habitat management that has been put into Sunday Hunting there might be more support for that movement.[/quote]

A place like Phelps can support what, a half dozen duck hunters a couple days a week? At best, under perfect conditions. Sunday hunting opens opportunities for every hunter in the state, hence the difference in effort and numbers.

Besides, why isn't there water there year-'round? Seems kind of silly to just make a puddle during the open season and forget about that place the rest of the year. You're not imprinting birds to visit, and you're not growing food when a place is simply left to dry out 9+ months a year. Seems silly to put any effort at all into this stuff if it's going to be done poorly to start with.

/not complaining, because I'll never visit the place and sure as heck don't want to hunt there, just pointing out how silly the whole situation seems
 
#24 ·
3 chessies said:
[quote="imaduckin up north"...... why arent we raising hell with dgif to maintain them.
Because everyone is pushing and supporting Sunday Hunting. Sure lets add another hunt day for birds in a state that has very little habitat to support birds and hold them around. If the same effort was put into to habitat management that has been put into Sunday Hunting there might be more support for that movement.[/quote]
Oh lordy, here we go
 
#26 ·
adustydawg:

Appreciate the invite and I do want to contribute. Unfortunately, that is the weekend that I head up to Maine. Tell you what I will do though,I will swing out that way this weekend and clean up the trash out of the blinds, and clear the growth out of the weelchair lane to the middle blind.
 
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