Franklin County Commissioners are asking for state assistance to help control out of town duck hunters who are damaging grass beds and possibly taking more ducks than they are allowed.
Commissioner have sent a letter to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission asking for help in controlling a problem of out of county duck hunters who are damaging submerged grass beds with their boats.
While commissioners have not been able to verify the complaints themselves they have heard from multiple local hunters about out of county hunters who bring in boats with air-cooled engines which allow them to access much shallower water than other boats.
They call them “mud boats.”
When the water is very low, the boats cut through the grass flats, damaging the bottom.
Commissioner Smokey Parrish said the problem is especially bad in an area known as “Big Bay.”
He said he has also heard reports that some of the hunters use the boats to go to areas where FWC can't access and shoot more ducks than they are allowed, throwing the excess ducks into the marsh.
He added that some local hunters have even reported being shot at.
Commissioners agreed to send a letter to FWC detailing the concerns and asked for a quick response before someone gets hurt or killed.
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