Haven't heard this one mentioned yet but I have been in bass boats traveling at a high rate of speed when we have come around a point or a bunch of reeds and gone through or nearly through a hunter's spread of decoys.....not knowing they were there beforehand and having traveled that path at other times. This has happened twice over the years.

Sometimes it is hard to tell decoys from real especially if you are moving at a pretty good clip. Don't know it is decoys until they don't scatter.

Felt bad about it but hardly any way to prevent it.

I agree. Just because they have a gun doesn't mean they can take your rights away.

I duck hunt in the fall and fish. This last Sunday, a speed boat buzzed the lake several times and kept some geese from coming in. Was I mad? No, part of the game.

I duck hunt a LOT. And, I hate to say this, most duck hunters are jerk-baits. Not to just fisherman, but other duck hunters. Sorry if I offend anyone, but it is true. I run into a bunch of "winners" this last weekend. They felt that being I sat on the shore...and they had a boat with decoys...they had more rights than me. And they come back with the comment "we have three hunters with three guns...you are only one". What the heck does that mean?

A wise man once told me "Son, it is not realy you that I worry about, it's the other guy. I've tought you to make wise decisions and I trust you to make them. I have also tought you to put yourself in the best situations possible. I dont know how the other guy was raised or the way he will react given the situation. The other guy can get you killed."

It was one of those fatherly speaches that can be and often was summed up as "Make wise decisions."

I've also heard and stick to "You can go fishing with anybody, but only go hunting with someone you know and trust."

The way I look at it, if you are in the act of hunting, I am generaly going to give you as much space as possible.

could slow down, wouldn't that resolve that problem?

With a high speed boat, you shouldn't be flying around points anyway...especially if you see wildlife (even if they can fly).

What happens if someone was swimming there or in a canoe or something?

Or, a deer or log floating in the water?

Are you kidding me?!! Maybe SLOW DOWN just a bit? Are you implying you will purposely run thru a raft of ducks? Wow some people...I can't believe I just read this.

Decoys are going to be set up within 35 yards of shore most of the time. If you are flying around points that close to shore, you are just asking for an accident to take place. Like other people have said, what if a guy in a canoe is around the point or a kid swimming? Also, your wake is dangerous to the other people who maybe hunting in that area and it will damage the shoreline vegetation. I think you are driving too fast near shore to be safe if you cannot stop or turn your boat before running down a flock of ducks or decoys.

By the way, if I were going to say which lake would I be sure to skip for fishing during the duck season, it would be Pelican. That lake gets more duck hunting pressure than any other lake in the metro.

Only made it to page 3, but here're my thoughts. Duck hunters>Fishermen in duck season. As posted, it's shorter, the game's easier to spook, and they have a smaller window/chance of getting what they're going for. If someone shot at me I'd call the cops and stay on their a$$ until someone got there, I don't care who you are, I'd make sure they went to jail. As far as the guy who shot the water between the boats, while in Firearm Safety they said that water is unstable as far as richochetes and that stuff, I thought that was pretty funny, and if I was in your position, I'd probably do something similiar. Although I'm probably around the age you were anyway, lol. By the way, I love fishing more than anything in life, and I'm going duck hunting for the first time this weekend, so I'm not a biased hunter.

Two things in response - one - I was a passenger both times and - two - these decoys were all of 35 yds from any shore and more - just because a rule says something does not mean it was followed.

I want to know if you caught any fish? on pelican?

Fishing was slow. Anyone see any birds?

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to start anything. Wasn't a political question.

Correct me if I'm wrong: Hunters have to hide in a blind and set decoys to get the birds to come in. I have to believe if I'm in a shiny aluminum boat standing and throwing bucktails, no ducks will come near. In that case, if I'm in sight of hunters, I'm too close. I never want anyone go get skunked (fishing or hunting) so if I'm effecting the hunting, let me know. The boat loads easy. There are dozens of other lakes within 15 miles of Pelican.

The shotgun crack was kind of a joke. If I'm in a bar and start hitting on the biggest guy's wife, I deserve to get hit. If I pull up within 10 feet of another boat and start throwing spoons at his boat, I deserve to catch a spoon in my forehead. If I start throwing spoons through the decoys, I deserve to catch a couple pellets. If someone puts themselves in a bad situation, they have no one to blame. "You have to be tough if you're going to be stupid."

Catching a couple of pellets, if intentional would probably constitute attempted manslaughter at the least. Other than the threat of death or great bodily harm, it is never "ok" to threaten someone much less pepper someone with a gun. NEVER.

If unintentional the shooter needs to go back for safety training at minimum at maximum needs his shotgun wrapped around a tree. There's just no playing with firearms.

Treat them the same as you would have others treat you... Golden rule still works. I woulndt come within casting distance of another boat fishing or like them casting into my boat. The same holds true for hunters, dont come within shooting distance of their set ups...if your have to ask if your to close...you are.

Had that happen to me last year in the morning tossing for pike at a slew. Was 20 yards from a group of hunters I didn't even know where over there. The only thing seperating us was about a 20 ft. high mound. Fishing there with not a care in the world til the ducks flew overhead. I nearly had a heart attack! I ended up bailing outta there without them even knowing I was there, (I'm thinking.) We've got a much bigger window for fishing, as well as a lot more places. I agree with most, respect the hunters.

I agree with giving duck hunters space but they must also realize if they are fishing a lake there will be boats around. I ran into this issue Sunday morning opening weekend. I fish Goose lake near Stark a lot in the fall and in the past have found it is popular with the duck hunters. Not knowing exactly ware the hunters were I started off fishing a mid lake hump for first light but found no fish on it. My problem was all my tried and true spots had hunters on them. I didnt want to wreck someones hunting but I also wanted to catch some walleyes. I finally ended up fishing about 125 yards from a group of hunters. I decided that I had just as much right to fish as they did to hunt. I cought some nice eyes and they still seamed to get shooting. As far as some fishermen getting rained on by shot I think that is poor judgement by the hunters. All they need to do is let the ducks go a little right or left before the shoot and the problem is solved. A little bit of common sense on both sides would be good.