The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries just came out with some new drastic rule changes that are not fake news, as one would think when you hear them. If you are a resident or one visiting and plan to dove hunt your going to have to get new shotgun shells from the ones you purchased on sale during the summer.
Today they slipped in without warning the new Dove Regulations for all Wildlife Management Areas and Leased Private Land by the State for Special Dove Hunts. (Usually large grain plantations). Talk about cut off your nose to Speight your face. The state charges $10 per gun on these leases per day. When the word gets around about the non toxic shot regulation there will be few hunters and less revenue in an already over spent organization.
I read the rules intently and noticed that after the Dove Season you can get your bird dog and hunt Bobwhite Quail and Woodcock with lead shot in the same fields you have to shoot steel shot for Doves. You can’t make this up folks. I really can only surmise one thing based on years of observation. It is all political.
We had “Red” in charge and all was well and growing as far as Hunting, then suddenly we have a new shade of “Blue.” They always strike in a small subtle way, in this case with an aggravating regulation. But it is the death to hunting by a thousand cuts, by the new political hires. I’m sure Texas is having a good laugh over this.
This is the aggravating part. I have my old Browning A-5 light twenty but the barrel is not rated for steel. I have a Remington 1100 12 ga with a steel rated barrel, its just fine but heavy. My Yildiz 410 double has a steel rated barrel but the shells are 3 times more expensive. Now take my dilemma and add this to say every third hunter in the field and this is just plain aggravating, not to mention rude for no warning.
As far as the rest of the changes I recommend reading the Regulation Book yourself, (so many don’t) and that goes for all states. I question everything when I smell a political bug in the ointment. The regulations are written and changed by color coded PhDs that of course are in the know as long as it jives with the present color in office…Pass it on.