What is it About Ducks...

[WatereesWatson]

I like whistling wings. I like seeing birds alive or in my hand. I like watching dogs bomb headfirst into 45 degree water with a passion that humans just cannot match. I like standing in flooded beaver ponds as the swamp wakes up. I like the sound of the first shot of a shotgun against the previously quiet backdrop of the morning air. I like the smell of that burnt powder hanging over my head in a small cloud on a really cold morning. I like fine shotguns, a lot. The list is long and constantly growing. I haven't nearly as many birds as most people on this site, but the memories I have of a few good days in the swamps is what makes me want to do it over and over again.
I also love shorthairs slamming onto point, big bucks slipping across oak flats and turkeys gobbling before daylight. And don't ask me to rank them, because its all fantastic.

[Catdaddy]

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/Bmu...ibextid=V2iOCx

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

[Calibogue]

The unknown......sometimes, you just never know what will drop in the hole!

[trash2]

3.5” bb’s and river gunning

[Calibogue]

3.5” bb’s and river gunning

Old school...

[FULLCHOKE]

Young dogs.
Old guns.
Old Jackets.
Not getting wet.

11233761-9910-4261-9264-580DE2E4F130.jpg

[Catdaddy]

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/Dcp...ibextid=V2iOCx

Sent from my motorola edge plus 5G UW (2022) using Tapatalk

[cajunwannabe]

...that resonates so deeply within your soul? More so than other animals and/or pursuits? I'm hoping for some good feedback, considering the nature of this site. Thanks in advance for your contributions.

Duck hunting has been a passion of mine since killing my first mallard that committed to the decoys when I was 9. That was 48 years ago. My dad was my mentor, he and my uncles were tough as nails, ran 12 and 14 foot boats with 6 and 9 hp motors, they broke ice, braved snowstorms and filled burlap sacks with mallards, redheads, canvasbacks, goldeneyes, bluebills, broadbills, buffleheads. I've never discriminated when it comes to killing or not killing a particular duck species, that's just how I was raised. On many boat rides to and from our blind I was told to hold onto a sack of decoys just in case we didn't make it in the strong Northwestern snow storms that would blow in from Lake Michigan. I've been passionate and even obsessed about ducks ever since.

The duck hunting memories I've made with my sons over the last 25 years are far different than the ones I had with my dad. My boys started duck hunting on SC beaver swamps, local lake hunts that turned into added 12 hour drives to duck camp for a week or two of duck hunting and fishing. (got in at 3 a.m. yesterday morning with my youngest from our 3rd trip to camp) Watching greys, pintail, wigeon and teal work our decoys from a pirogue hidden in the marsh is a sight like no other. It's simple and, sadly, so much has replaced the simplicity of duck hunting but as long as God keeps creating ducks and I'm drawing breath, I'll be praying to see them hit my decoys and killing them.

My dad, Graham Point on Crooked Lake, Conway Michigan. I'm guessing 1950's or 60's.