Goose-
Wasn't aware of this stuff, what in the world is going on?

WHY weren't the "long time" blinds renewed last season, someone decided, (or thot) they were done huntin'? :huh:

 

 

I was under the impression that they were issuing new blinds on back bay as long as you were 500 yds etc.

 

 

You should contact the Virginia Waterfowler's Association (VAWFA). I think several members are on this board. They are the leading waterfowl organization in the state when it comes to these types of things. I'm sure they could straighten out the confusion. Good luck :thumbsup:

 

If you didnt buy your licence for back bay by August 15 then you lose it. It doesnt get reissued or licensed to anybody else. Wht they want to do up there is make the hole place a floater area. So when a blind dont get licensed that opens it up for the floaters.

 

If you didnt buy your licence for back bay by August 15 then you lose it. It doesnt get reissued or licensed to anybody else. Wht they want to do up there is make the hole place a floater area. So when a blind dont get licensed that opens it up for the floaters.

You think they are trying that approach out in Back Bay to see if it could carry to the rest of the state? Well....east of 95 that is.

 

 

What a twisted web we weave....when we try to take someones blind away. :no:

 

I heard from my family in back bay that what happened was that a bunch of out of town hunters complained about not being able to hunt back bay because it was locked up with blinds. they did not think about the princess anne float hunts I guess??

they knew some folks up at the virginia state capital that knew some other folks and then found out that they werent licensing the blinds right and were buying selling trading them too. once that hit the fan the va game division jumped in and made it so all hunters who had blinds up in back bay had to gps them we do in currituck. no more drifting blinds around to where you want them and also if you dont license them they go away period. none of the real good blinds will have that happen, but some of the no so good one have already gone away. I heard that 35 went away the first year. that's a lot of floater area in my opinion.

I don't care because my family is always going to license there blinds in back bay so when I hunt up there i got a place to go. i dont care about the sky busting fish duck shooting morons that cant tell the difference between a hooded merganzer and a blue peter unless they got a field guide from audubon in there hands.

 

Over our dead bodies...

Dave it's good. And who's bodies we speak of since your a man of magic?

 

 

Or maybe it was that evil guy DavidS that caused the problems. As we all know, he controls the VDGIF so this must be his doing.

DavidS...

Last time I dealt with devil at the crossroads I could play the guitar like the dickens.his name was d something

 

Or maybe it was that evil guy DavidS that caused the problems. As we all know, he controls the VDGIF so this must be his doing.

DavidS...

Last time I dealt with devil at the crossroads I could play the guitar like the dickens.his name was d something

Darn that :bow: DaveS

 

So what happens to the blinds when you want to pass it on to someone else in your family?

 

So what happens to the blinds when you want to pass it on to someone else in your family?

In order to "grow the sport" and be "fair" you must first offer the blind to any newby comehere first. Then anyone who is a duck dynasty wanabe pro-staffer. After that DGIF will determin if your blind could best be used for non-hunter eco-tourist recreational outdoor use (birdwatchers) because that is the next big growth area. Only after these priority users have passed on this blind will you, the lowly traditional hunter who has funded DGIF for decades, be allowed to re-license the blind.

Currently DGIF is considering how best to re-distribute the blinds in a "fair" way to the target priority groups. In the mean time, nobody gets a new blind license. Untill then don't die or retire from hunting or you will likely loose that blind forever.

 

 

Great another case of screwing things up to please a few that complain.

 

If you didnt buy your licence for back bay by August 15 then you lose it. It doesnt get reissued or licensed to anybody else. Wht they want to do up there is make the hole place a floater area. So when a blind dont get licensed that opens it up for the floaters.

You think they are trying that approach out in Back Bay to see if it could carry to the rest of the state? Well....east of 95 that is.

hmm interesting.

 

If you didnt buy your licence for back bay by August 15 then you lose it. It doesnt get reissued or licensed to anybody else. Wht they want to do up there is make the hole place a floater area. So when a blind dont get licensed that opens it up for the floaters.

You think they are trying that approach out in Back Bay to see if it could carry to the rest of the state? Well....east of 95 that is.

hmm interesting.

In the words of Joe Pesci

Interesting how? What, do we ammuse you? How do you find that interestinging? Do you think these blind laws are here to interest you!? "Interesting"? What, do youy want to put that on a barrel sticker? :biggrin:

 

Blind licenses in Virginia Beach became an issue for several reasons. A good many, if not the majority, of the blinds on Back Bay are offshore blinds not associated with the closest landowner. Although not the terminology used in that part of the world they are non-riparian blinds. "Ownership" of these blinds in some cases goes back generations. They were administered by the clerk of courts. The system was actually closer to what occurs in Currituck NC than in the rest of eastern VA.
The first issue that arose is that blinds were often bought, sold, willed etc. as if they were real estate when in fact they were located on public bottom. Although Virginia Law states you can't transfer a hunting license the bigger set of gripes was that people were essentially claiming these public spots as there own, effectively in perpetuity. The situation was aggravated because a substantial number of blinds for which licenses were sold were never (or at least not in modern memory) erected. People were holding on to the spots waiting for a return of the great duck numbers of the past. This aspect of the problem exists primarily because of a VDGIF regulation that limits the number of blind licenses that can be sold on Back Bay, effectively making public bottom/water blind sites a commodity.
The second issue occurred when the general assembly passed a bill better separating the licensing periods for riparian and non riparian landowners. This allowed the VDGIF to offer licenses on-line. Many viewed this as a tremendous convenience but it took control of Back Bay blind administration from the Virginia Beach clerk of courts. Back Bay then became like the rest of eastern VA (minus the eastern shore) in regards to how blinds are administered.
A third issue is that in the first year the VDGIF, right or wrong, offered any unsold licenses under the cap described above for sale. There were approximately 12. They were sold as non-riparian blinds and the purchasers could erect their blind in any legal spot (no closer than 500 yards from another, less than 8 feet of water, etc.) just like elsewhere east of I-95. Some of those blinds ended up in the "wheel house" of public hunting marshes thereby impacting float blind hunting opportunities. Some ended up in other contentious spots. As a result unsold blind licenses have not been available since. Not sure what direction that will go in the future.
Other things complicated the circumstances I describe including blinds that were improperly moved during the transition year(s) and weak regulations or laws that protect public hunting in that part of the world.

 

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Well put deadrise. Since the DGIF can't come up with a method to control blinds, no one who does not already have a current blind can get one of the available locations. They took away something with good intentions and had no idea of the can of worms they were opening. I am fine not having all 311 blinds on the bay. They ones I "own" are licensed, erected and ready to hunt.

So why do you complain so much about how things are done there?

 

Well put deadrise. Since the DGIF can't come up with a method to control blinds, no one who does not already have a current blind can get one of the available locations. They took away something with good intentions and had no idea of the can of worms they were opening. I am fine not having all 311 blinds on the bay. They ones I "own" are licensed, erected and ready to hunt.

So why do you complain so much about how things are done there?

Because many of us that actually hunt the bay told them that chaos would happen of they followed their plan (or lack of one) and they ignored us. We told them they should run it like Currituck and licence a spot that is recorded. Thier answwer "I wouldn't want to do much like Carolina does it" therefore we have no plan vs. a workable plan.

 

Another issue is that bay used to be entirely private until the Feds came in and took the lands for the refuges. I think even until 2011 the riparian rights on the bay extended 500 yards from the shore. That has since been changed to the tide mark except for riparian blinds licensed in 2011 or before.

The whole system is crap...vdgif coming in and saying to people they can't give the blinds to their sons even though the family has owned it since before the refuge was established. Instead, vdgif gets to award some random hunter the blind.