Duck Hunters

By Steve Smith

Every other day or so somebody stops me on the street to ask, "Smitty exactly what is a duck hunter?" Naturally, this has made me stop and think –something of a miracle- and I think I've come up with a few answers. Some of these, the guilty may not like; others, we'll have to acknowledge.

A duck hunter is a guy who is often besieged with problems. Problems like dogs that retrieve dead ducks, dead geese, dead carp, dead cattails, dead decoy anchors, and your buddy's dead lunch. Problems like wives who think in terms of wallpaper and carpeting instead of pump guns and duck boats. (My wife has even tried to sell some of my duck hunting stuff at a garage sale on the flimsy excuse that the kids needed school shoes. Ha!)

Problems like motors that always manage to break down about the time a gale blows in, capable of sending shivers down the spine of a Great Lakes freighter's skipper. Problems like trying to lead a downwind teal far enough to connect and still keep the bird in sight over your off shoulder.

To understand these problems, we've got to understand ourselves. This can be tough. How do we or and or anyone else understand a person who had fun in a sneakbox boat on Lake Huron on a day that would have snuffed the Queen Mary?

We know, because we've been there. We've had calls freeze up, dropped our last shell overboard as the mallards were decoying, and had the boat tip over on us a time or two. We've made shots, you and I that were damn lies, and missed some that were so easy that we wanted to turn the gun on ourselves.

Knowing all of this, see if this doesn't sound like some folks we both know and love: A duck hunter can't remember his wife's birthday, but can tell you to the minute the time his Lab was born.

He doesn't notice his wife's new hair style or dress, but he can tell from two miles off in half light if that little flock is mostly mallards or sprigs.

Sometimes, we even get upset. Duck hunters find it easy to hate bulldozers, subdivisions, clear skies and no wind, dry Springs, on the Canada potholes, pump guns that jam, cold coffee, squeaky oar locks, motors that won't start, sky shooters, loose anchor ropes, dogs that fetch decoys instead of ducks, forgetting their lunches, and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

Usually, however, duck hunters are lovers. We love Labs named Queen and Tar and Midnight, wide-eyed boys on their first hunt, getting up at 3 a.m., old parkas and hip boots, the sound of the port slamming shut on an automatic, duck calls that actually sound like a duck (sort of), a few geese now and again, quarter-mile retrieves, sunrise singles, gales that curl your lip, the smell of a wet dog, slightly numb feet, naps between flights while the new guy keeps watch, buddies to mark the passing of years by counting the opening days, pals who say "great shot" and they're talking about you, wives who know how to cook steak and eggs at four in the morning, remembering your thermos, full chokes, a good lie, 28 inch barrels, watching the weaklings head for shore when the temperature nudges 25 below, a teenage daughter who actually likes to clean guns, and the sight of you buddy's face in the flicker of a match as he lights his pipe just before dawn.

So, what is a duck hunter? He is a combination of naturalist and ornithologist, a nature lover in the finest sense because he understands. He is a man inclined toward a fistfight at the mention of "diking and draining". He loves the birds he hunts, and he loves his sport. He is Daniel Boone, a U.S. Senator, Rachel Carson, an infantry soldier, anti-nuke protestor, amateur sailor, and card –carrying lunatic. He walks a little faster and stands a little taller each autumn. He spends way too much money to get way too cold, way too wet and sometimes way too lost to shoot way too few ducks.

He's us!

Nice!

My thanks for one of the most amusing -and thoughtful - pieces on any aspect of Hunting that I have read in a long while. You should consider writing a book -along the lines of Aldo Leopold's " A Sand County Almanac".

Thanks, you got me psyched for next season... Think I'll repair the fiberglass on the sneakbox transom today.

Thanks... Rob

I managed an afternoon of shooting Egyptian, Spur Wing and Knob bills last month in Zimbabwe. June will find me hunting ducks and geese in RSA along the Eastern Cape. With any luck I'll make Argentina next year. If ducks are in your blood...well, all of you understand. Good hunting, LDK

Ah, just the man I wanted to hear from! Question, please: what options are available to have birds shipped back to the US in raw form, if any? I'd think it was a no-no, but ask anyway. I've seen a few taxidermied birds from Africa, and TTTT, they looked like hell. What about salted 'skins'? Any info appreciated.

KG

I hunt ducks at least 3 days a week and i love it,after hunting a lot of game with every type of weapon duck hunting is my favorite.Juan

quote:

Originally posted by juanpozzi:
I hunt ducks at least 3 days a week and i love it,after hunting a lot of game with every type of weapon duck hunting is my favorite.Juan

I could not agree more with your statement unless you put geese first on the list. I think I had rather fool the grand old "Branta canadensis" than probably anything on earth. When they catch the wind, cup the wings and give you that last final look before dropping on into the spread, my heart still comes up into my throat. I took my first Canada just before my eighth birthday and I still love these birds, after more than fifty years of hunting them.
We are blessed - some say cursed - with a large population of resident birds here in Georgia and they are a challenge to hunt. Also have some very large birds, my son has taken one that went 16 pounds. That is a lot of goose!

I love hunting geese too in la patagonia with my son and my lab AFRICA there are some photos in this forun of my geese hunts.Juan

quote:

Ah, just the man I wanted to hear from! Question, please: what options are available to have birds shipped back to the US in raw form, if any? I'd think it was a no-no, but ask anyway. I've seen a few taxidermied birds from Africa, and TTTT, they looked like hell. What about salted 'skins'? Any info appreciated.

Sorry I didn't see your post sooner KG. Bird skins from Africa and Europe can be skinned & salted like capes and shipped with your other trophies. Make sure they are in season at the time of your hunt and included on your list of game for the USF&W to inspect. Skilled Taxidermists will know how to mount them. South American birds can sometimes be frozen and brought back on the airlines, but check with your outfitter first. Some may be put in quarantine (frozen), kept for 30-90 days before releasing to your approved Taxidermist (licensed to import). Good hunting, LDK

You have not hunted ducks until you hunt in Argentina with Juan Pozzi and Alberto Foerster.
They keep coming, and coming.......

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
You have not hunted ducks until you hunt in Argentina with Juan Pozzi and Alberto Foerster.
They keep coming, and coming.......

I've heard that Argentina is a waterfowler's paradise indeed. Mind sharing which flavors you shot there?

TIA,

KG

I hope to hunt with Juan in the near future. I'm sure it will be everything I've heard. LDK

I haven't seriously hunted ducks for 20 years. But there is absolutely nothing like the feeling of the sun finally warming your freezing body after a succesful morning "in the marsh"

thanks for reminding me

The chef

The famous author and tiger hunter of long ago, Edison Marshall, always talked of hunting ducks !!! I'm sure he considered it magical .. I wouldn't argue at all ...

I can still remember my first Duck( a big Drake Mallard)like it was yesterday. I watched him float down like a fallen leaf and have been hooked ever since. I love the Goose hunting too and have crawled for 2 hours at a time to get up on the feeding flocks of snows.

Hawkeye47