South Florida duck hunting
January 14th, 2006 by Administrator
STAs big boost to duck hunting - South Florida hasn’t really been known for its duck hunting, but that is changing, thanks to the South Florida Water Management District and its stormwater treatment areas.
The district built STAs to filter phosphorus out of agricultural runoff before the water enters the Everglades. The impoundments use vegetation such as hydrilla and cattails to clean up the water.
It has been a happy byproduct of the STAs that the hydrilla, which ducks like to eat, and the shallow water have attracted everything from puddle ducks, such as teal, pintails and widgeon, to divers such as ringnecks and canvasbacks.
The district and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission opened STA 5 to limited duck hunting by permit for the 2002-03 season. STA 1 West was opened last season and STA 3/4 was opened this season. STA 5 and 1 also are open for guided bird-watching tours.
The hunting has generally been excellent, with some of the STAs producing an average of four to five ducks per hunter, which is unheard of for a public waterfowl area. As a result, hunters have come from all over Florida, as well as other states, to enjoy the STAs.
In recognition of the district’s efforts, United Waterfowlers Florida President Newton Cook presented district Executive Director Carol Ann Wehle with a plaque at Wednesday’s district board meeting in West Palm Beach. UWF has worked closely with the district and the FWC to get public lands, in particular the STAs, opened to recreation.
Cook, who told the district board that “STA 5 is the No. 1 public waterfowling marsh in the USA and is nationally known,” also praised the district for the duck hunting opportunities on Lake Okeechobee as well as in the water conservation areas of the Everglades.
By Steve Waters