News

Duck hunters can apply now for blinds at city lakes

Friday, August 06, 2010

Duck hunters should apply now to have a chance to hunt this fall at Buckhorn Lake or Wiggins Mill. The citys Recreation Department will hold a drawing in September for 55 blinds locations throughout the two city lakes. The hunters selected in that drawing will hold the rights to those locations this year and potentially up to five years although they can choose to share each location with up to four other hunters. Only permitted hunters at permitted locations will be allowed to hunt ducks at the lakes. Also, staring this fall, duck hunting will be allowed only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, not six days a week. (North Carolina doesnt allow hunting of any type of Sundays.) Duck hunting hours will remain from two hours before sunrise to one hour after sunset. These are much-needed changes from how the city has regulated duck hunting, said Parks Superintendent Dale Edmonds. Its really become a safety issue, Edmonds said Friday. Buckhorn Lake has become a popular hunting spot for sportsman from across the area. Many permits during recent duck seasons had been claimed early by hunters from Wake, Johnston, Edgecombe and other counties, crowding out the Wilson County hunters. Also, the city only issued 60 permits, but each of those hunters could bring unlimited numbers of guests. A typical Saturday could have more than 100 people angling for room to hunt. Having blinds locations controls where people hunt, plus it will make it easier for emergency services to respond in case of an emergency. EMS will have the blinds locations mapped via GPS, Edmonds said. The application to enter the drawing costs five dollars for city residents, $10 per county resident. Those selected will then pay a fee for the season rights ($25 per city resident, $50 per county resident, for every hunter using the blinds). Hunters who are drawn for a blind location will have the opportunity to renew those rights for up to five years. After five years, all locations will be entered in a new drawing. Applications are now available at the Recreation Department in the Charles W. Pittman Operations Center, 1800 Herring Avenue, and on the citys website, WilsonNC.org. The deadline for submission is 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, which is when the drawing will be. For more information, call Dale Edmonds at 252-399-2273 or Travis Sherrod, 399-2265.