In the 1960’s duck hunting here in Michigan had some simple rules even I could under stand.

You needed a migratory water fowl license, A 3 shot plug in a pump or semi auto shot gun. You were allowed so many male birds and so many females and some you were not to shoot at all like If I remember right the wood ducks.

North off St. Johns Mich back then the Maple river went under M 27, there was also a large parking lot for wild life viewing and many would put a duck boat in there and go up or down river to hunt. Up river there was west, the DNR paid farmers plant crops in the spring and allowed them to grow all summer then the DNR would flood the crops in the fall.

We how ever took Wilson road off 27 a couple miles and parked at a farm across the road from the river. We wore cheat waders and walked abreast up river hunting thru the flooded crops and wood lots. Jumped a lot of mallards canvas backs and other good eating ducks.

This was my first time duck hunting this way and enjoyed it a lot. Went to step over what I thought was a sunken log, Log moved fast and about upset me. Turned out it was a huge gar pike, a lot hung out there as there was a slaughter house on the river where they dumped inwards.

As said I enjoyed this type of hunting a lot. When we had our limit of ducks we took them back to the cars put them on ice then would go and hunt the crop fields for pheasants and rabbits.
Those were good days of hunting before so much land got posted and rules got changed to a points system.
With the points system you could drive several miles to hunt go out and shoot one bird a hen Mallard and you were finished for the day.

Those new rules didn’t take effect till 1971 though.

I was learning a lot of new ways of hunting off the farm and with Rick his brother in laws and friends. Reloading my own hunting ammo, was nothing to spend a Saturday shooting informal trap and using up 400 rounds.


Al

That's why they called them-----THE GOOD OLD DAYS !!!

Hip

Exactly! And gone for good!

1976-ish. Pop and I and a friend built this ( I really didn't do much). 12' John boat. Launched out of Reynolds channel? south shore of Long Island.

As a kid on a ranch in West texas near the Big Bend we would get in an innertube, have a big jar of shotgun shells tied to the tub, a vest with pockets and a shotgun, float from 5 to 10 miles stay close to the shore reeds, and duck would flush out from under outcuts and reeds and we'd shoot and retreve them. put them on a fish holder like you would a trout or catfish, We shot a lot of ducks that way, sometimes walk back to the truck and shoot blues..then a big cookout at the ranch...Oh it was the Rio Grande river..

Did the same with jugs and catfishing, follow the jugs (about a 100) down the river in tubes and a boat.. Easy way to come up with a 100 lbs of fish in a short day.