Did anyone that attended the Laguna Atascosa Refuge hunt this year put any suggestions in the suggestion box?
Last year I put a couple of suggestions in the box. One was that the season should be longer and the second was that they allow the tripods to be set up during the scouting.
To my surprise at the beginning of the year 2 of the personnel from the refuge went to our archery club meeting and wanted to hear from us. I live in the Rio Grande Valley which is where the refuge is and they were actually pretty interested to hear from us, they were there because of the lack of interest/input from the hunters. It was at this meeting where we talked with them and made several suggestions. Again, according to them they were amazed at how few suggestions they did get compared to the # of hunters on the refuge hunt. Anyway they pulled out the suggestions and asked what we thought. At first no one wanted to say anything and me not be one to be quiet or shy about asking questions "why not make the season for archery longer"? and they said they would consider it and that is when one of the guys put in his .02¢ and said or make it two seperate hunts. Hence the 2 week hunt that is now going to happen. (They almost went for making a month long).
When it came to my other suggestion about allowing us to put up our stands before the hunt they said they would also consider it. This did not happen according to the rules and regulations for this years hunt.
On Nov. of this year our club we had our annual Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner and one of the guest speakers we had was the manager of the L.A. N.W.R. After his speech I approached him and asked him about allowing the hunters to put their tripods in before the hunt instead of on opening day. His reply was No. it is not fair to hunters from out town (of the area)it gives the local hunters an advantage. I spoke to him for about 45 minutes just trying to convince the guy and he was pretty adamant about not doing it, he went as far as saying that it would have to be in a few years after he retires. Then I asked him if he bowhunts he said no, do any of your employees bowhunt he said that he wasn't sure but he wasn't aware of any. Then I challenged him in a polite way and offered my equipment to use it just to walk in with a bow, arrows and a tripod for just one hundred yards on a nice even paved road and it didn't have to be at night neither. He then thought for a moment and said well we might have to make some kind of consideration and see what can be done (I am paraphrasing). After giving him a break I went and finished dinner with my family and @ the end of dinner another member and friend of mine was talking to the manager about the same subject. My friend suggested to allow the hunters to put their tripods in the day before opening day. That suggestion he liked a little better.
Sorry this is so long winded but if you didn't make a suggestion it may not be to late, if your going to attend the second hunt of the refuge please make the suggestion if you think it would benefit your hunt. You could also e-mail him at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, I am sorry but I don't have his e-mail address but I will try and get it and post it.
Thanks for your time,
Rchr
Last year I put a couple of suggestions in the box. One was that the season should be longer and the second was that they allow the tripods to be set up during the scouting.
To my surprise at the beginning of the year 2 of the personnel from the refuge went to our archery club meeting and wanted to hear from us. I live in the Rio Grande Valley which is where the refuge is and they were actually pretty interested to hear from us, they were there because of the lack of interest/input from the hunters. It was at this meeting where we talked with them and made several suggestions. Again, according to them they were amazed at how few suggestions they did get compared to the # of hunters on the refuge hunt. Anyway they pulled out the suggestions and asked what we thought. At first no one wanted to say anything and me not be one to be quiet or shy about asking questions "why not make the season for archery longer"? and they said they would consider it and that is when one of the guys put in his .02¢ and said or make it two seperate hunts. Hence the 2 week hunt that is now going to happen. (They almost went for making a month long).
When it came to my other suggestion about allowing us to put up our stands before the hunt they said they would also consider it. This did not happen according to the rules and regulations for this years hunt.
On Nov. of this year our club we had our annual Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner and one of the guest speakers we had was the manager of the L.A. N.W.R. After his speech I approached him and asked him about allowing the hunters to put their tripods in before the hunt instead of on opening day. His reply was No. it is not fair to hunters from out town (of the area)it gives the local hunters an advantage. I spoke to him for about 45 minutes just trying to convince the guy and he was pretty adamant about not doing it, he went as far as saying that it would have to be in a few years after he retires. Then I asked him if he bowhunts he said no, do any of your employees bowhunt he said that he wasn't sure but he wasn't aware of any. Then I challenged him in a polite way and offered my equipment to use it just to walk in with a bow, arrows and a tripod for just one hundred yards on a nice even paved road and it didn't have to be at night neither. He then thought for a moment and said well we might have to make some kind of consideration and see what can be done (I am paraphrasing). After giving him a break I went and finished dinner with my family and @ the end of dinner another member and friend of mine was talking to the manager about the same subject. My friend suggested to allow the hunters to put their tripods in the day before opening day. That suggestion he liked a little better.
Sorry this is so long winded but if you didn't make a suggestion it may not be to late, if your going to attend the second hunt of the refuge please make the suggestion if you think it would benefit your hunt. You could also e-mail him at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, I am sorry but I don't have his e-mail address but I will try and get it and post it.
Thanks for your time,
Rchr
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