Gutwrenching!

Al Hansen

Well-known member
With about 9 weeks to go until our teal season begins, I, for one start planning for that exciting time to hunt. Not too far from our home is a special spot that is only good if it rains. When that happens a lot of the time the irrigation ditch in this area will be opened so that if impending rains come, the ditch won't flood over its banks. Normally with the monsoon season just winding down the timing is perfect----if you love to hunt teal.

Here is what it looked like last year just before the season opened.

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Well, about 4 days ago, Bev and I jumped in the Mule and drove over to this hunting spot. All I could do is wince. What I saw made me sick to my stomach. The BLM decided to channelize the water coming from the irrigation system so that it would flow directly to the Rio. They had to level the entire area, then dig the channel. It will be a while (years) before this one has teal again. Someone once said that "Liquid Gold" was Oil. I disagree. Liquid Gold is Water down here. 2 reasons why the BLM did this: A. the silvery minnow is on the endangered specie list and if they can funnel water into the Rio in any manner, they are helping that cause B. We, New Mexico, have a signed treaty with Texas and Mexico to get them so much water each year via the Rio Grande----In someone's ultimate wisdom they thought they were making an impact by doing this.

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The Rio Grande looks like this right now so I guess I just might have to rethink about the teal season.

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Sorry to hear and see what's going on down there that's to bad. I am sure that more wildlife is affected than just ducks. Not sure about other parts of country but western NY is pretty dry also. The lawn is about 25percent brown now. Where typically it's all green this time of year. Diverting the water to save an endangered species makes sense.. But to divert water to other states for mans needs, sometimes makes man his own worse enemy. I hope the people who receive their water from the Rio are not watering their lawns with it.. Good luck to you with your tiel season..
 
Sorry to hear and see what's going on down there that's to bad. I am sure that more wildlife is affected than just ducks. Not sure about other parts of country but western NY is pretty dry also. The lawn is about 25percent brown now. Where typically it's all green this time of year. Diverting the water to save an endangered species makes sense.. But to divert water to other states for mans needs, sometimes makes man his own worse enemy. I hope the people who receive their water from the Rio are not watering their lawns with it.. Good luck to you with your tiel season..

Hi Chris,
I agree with you on this. I have watched the BOR make a channel out of the Rio Grande just to move the water faster----so it wouldn't evaporate so quickly! Gets scary when "man" begins to think like that. I have watched the huge crawlers come into a pristine area where there was a pond/marsh created by a small spring. In one exaggerated move a 4 foot trench was cut out so that all the water flowed into the Rio. What was once a haven for birds, animals, and fish quickly became another part of the desert dust bowl---never to be productive again.
There is one thing for certain down here. My biologist friend told me this and it is true---no two years are the same. It is always different and normally drastically so.
Al
 
Hey Doug,
Down here water is king---if there is any of it. All I can do is have another plan available if Plan A goes down the tubes, like this one did. We'll see.
Al



Al that sucks!
There goes another wetland habitat.
 
Al,

Sorry for your loss. Good spots are hard to come by. When the government gets involved, it usually doesn't turn out well. I think Will Rogers said it best when he said "Thank God we don't get all the government we pay for". Just my two cents worth.

Dave
 
That's hard to see Al. We lost a very good secret spot in the West Desert of Utah a few years ago when an irrigation ditch was diverted. Almost overnight a spot that my father in law and his friends have hunted for 50 years was gone, with not much we could do about it. At least the ducks will adapt and find a new spot, hopefully in your neck of the woods too. I would have loved to see the Rio Grande in it's natural state.
 
Sorry to hear and see what's going on down there that's to bad. I am sure that more wildlife is affected than just ducks. Not sure about other parts of country but western NY is pretty dry also. The lawn is about 25percent brown now. Where typically it's all green this time of year. Diverting the water to save an endangered species makes sense.. But to divert water to other states for mans needs, sometimes makes man his own worse enemy. I hope the people who receive their water from the Rio are not watering their lawns with it.. Good luck to you with your tiel season..

Thanks, Chris. With more and more land being used by man for living purposes and new land being brought under cultivation, the water situation is something to be reckoned with here in the desert southwest.
When teal season arrives, I'll have to play that one day at a time. We'll see.
Al
 
Al that sucks!
There goes another wetland habitat.

You are right, Doug, but down here no one views this as a wetland because if they never diverted this water, there never would be a wetland. Only duck hunters like us and conservationists would see that.
By the way, the water evaporates so quickly that by the last day of teal season last year there was only a couple of inches of water left. However with the wild millet in the area, it made for quite the buffet for the teal.
Al
 
Al,

Sorry for your loss. Good spots are hard to come by. When the government gets involved, it usually doesn't turn out well. I think Will Rogers said it best when he said "Thank God we don't get all the government we pay for". Just my two cents worth.

Dave

Thanks, Dave. You are so right. I have to admit that I do love Will Rogers' quotes. I think about that from time to time especially when traveling through OKC's airport.
Al
 
That's hard to see Al. We lost a very good secret spot in the West Desert of Utah a few years ago when an irrigation ditch was diverted. Almost overnight a spot that my father in law and his friends have hunted for 50 years was gone, with not much we could do about it. At least the ducks will adapt and find a new spot, hopefully in your neck of the woods too. I would have loved to see the Rio Grande in it's natural state.

So sorry to hear that, Cody. Just think how many times we could multiply this thoughout North America!

In the old days (about 9 years ago), I used to get to the Rio Grande like this. Had quite a few spots to get to "cross country". However, as age began to creep in, I found out that it wasn't quite the same as it once used to be.

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Here is the Rio where you can see the man made channel. The Rio was not flowing much when I took this shot.

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That is really sad, Al. We'e been in darn near drought conditions around here and all the reseroirs around look to be at or below winter pool. The birds will be ganged up on the little available water unless we start getting significant, regular rain.
 
That stinks to set that.

Those are some nice setups you got there. The fourwheeler and Mule. How do you like the Mule with the convertable back seat/bed?
 
That is really sad, Al. We'e been in darn near drought conditions around here and all the reseroirs around look to be at or below winter pool. The birds will be ganged up on the little available water unless we start getting significant, regular rain.

Well, DeWayne, I sure hope you guys get some of that much needed rain in Texas. It is a significant drought that we are experiencing for sure.
Al
 
That stinks to set that.

Those are some nice setups you got there. The fourwheeler and Mule. How do you like the Mule with the convertable back seat/bed?

To answer your question, David, I really like the Mule because most of the time I use it for work. I cut and haul firewood. It will haul a 1/2 cord of dry wood easily. The 2nd seat is really slick the way they have it configured. If you like speed, get a different brand because this one goes about 25 mph wide open. I checked my miles and the hour gauge and found out that I average a touch more than 4 mph on 300 hours of use. It also doesn't have the clearance on the underside like other models do. All depends on what you want it for.
Bev and I like to take rides up into the mountains and it does just fine.
Al
 
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