500 Straight Limits

[BigBrother]

I have found myself wishing a merganser would float into the decoys so I could kill a 7th bird.

I have also let "inferior" ducks pitch, land, and fly away without even thinking about touching the safety, often without any birds on the strap yet.

When shooting with others, I will sometimes let a shot pass me by so the other fella can shoot.

Depends on my mood, and my objective for the day.

[drwilly]

I watched some guys on the coast the other day shoot bootlip after bootlip after bootlip. All the while, bigducks were dying to get to where they were blowing the world away. Those guys left their blind as happy as lottery winners, with a string of ducks a cat wouldn't eat. They could not have cared less what that strap might have looked like. Have you ample pity left for them, too?

Ignorance is bliss.

[Slaya]

No where in that article was there the implication that there was anything but fair chase of wild birds. There's a lot of reading between the lines and assumptions not based on facts.

Shooting Tamies is, imo, an extension of the numbers game for those that take part, and are no longer willing to do the work and settle for what happens. In that instance, they shooters want to ensure they'll kill ducks. If it comes to that or nothing, I'm simply out.

One important thing to note, is the hunters' willingness to leave the blind one shy, only to find a cripple they thought was lost, which continued their streak. They'd chalked it up as over, and the implication was that they were okay with that.

I disagree with them not "getting it", simply because they had a better situation that afforded them the opportunity to do this (not going to happen on public SC waters), the ability to take the time neccessary, the wherewithal to get up and go, the ability to shoot consistently well enough, etc., etc.

GMAC said it simply "Of course you go out to kill a limit. That's what keeps you coming back."

All that said, I'd probably get bored with it long before 500 limits, but that's just me. I like the challenge of trying. I'd have moved on to hunt another area or something.

[duckduckdog]

One important thing to note, is the hunters' willingness to leave the blind one shy, only to find a cripple they thought was lost, which continued their streak. They'd chalked it up as over, and the implication was that they were okay with that.

I was beginning to think that I imagined that was there.

[2thDoc]

i cant read all this drivvle but isnt it interesting that there is a story about "500 limits"? is it not making a point of keeping score and saying "I killed 500 limits"? its not like they are telling stories about the hunt or the chase or the sunrise. it seems to me they wanted to keep score and i have opinions about that. right or wrong, i dont like the thought of someone trying to get to a certain number of limits to prove something. i never said they were doing something illegal.

[Rubberhead*]

I watched some guys on the coast the other day shoot bootlip after bootlip after bootlip. All the while, bigducks were dying to get to where they were blowing the world away. Those guys left their blind as happy as lottery winners, with a string of ducks a cat wouldn't eat. They could not have cared less what that strap might have looked like. Have you ample pity left for them, too?

Sorry, I missed this.

As long as they eat them, I'm fine. Matter of fact, your story put a smile on my face. From the road, it looks identical to the guys walking out with their 500th limit. But, somehow, it's different. Those who find a deeply personal satisfaction versus those who need embroidered caps and newpaper articles.

[dixiedeerslaya]

all that said, i'd probably get bored with it long before 500 limits, but that's just me. I like the challenge of trying. I'd have moved on to hunt another area or something.

i thought that too... But then i read where they had 72 different ponds... So i guess you could atleast move around to a different pond for a change in scenery...

[Rubberhead*]

My dad raised me to be a hunter and fisherman, but he wasn't (still isn't) a duck hunter. So I learned on my own or from the magazines I could find. I used to love going to Friendly Barber Shop in Moncks Corner to look through the magazines for new articles on Duck Hunting. I hated when there were empty chairs because I wouldn't have time to browse through all the magazines.

Somewhere along the line I found this photo of Nash Buckingham:



I don't know if I read it or imagined it, but he was happy with much less than a limit. He did it his way. That photo did more than any other single event to set my expectations for myself.

[trentsmith]

I say anything about Mallards? I see your point that a duck is a duck and I also see your point that quality is in the eye of the beholder. To me a quality duck is something that you can serve on the dinner table without having to marinade, wrap in bacon, over season etc...
If I could shoot 6 teal everyday I would. In my mind quality of ducks is directly proportional to taste, other factors include beauty/ease of decoying/killing, relative rarity etc...

My point is how often did these guys shoot ruddy ducks or spoonies to fill their limit just so they could pat them selves on the back for shooting 6 ducks. I guess if that is what they find meaningful about duck hunting so be it...just doesn't make sense to me. For hunters that obviously spend a lot of time in the blind I would think that their are greater rewards than a limit. Some of my favorite hunts have resulted in only partial limits or not even pulling the trigger.

What's wrong with marinading duck meat?? Do you not season/marinade 99% of the meat that you cook anyway? If your favorite hunts are the ones where you didn't even pull the trigger then you sir aren't a duck hunter, you're a bird watcher.

[BOGSTER]

Rubberheads aren't real. They're a made up quantity used to explain those occasions when we get skunked or fall short of a limit.

This may be the only statement you've made on this board that I have to disagree with completely.
I have proof, and any time you wish to see it, all you have to do is ask.

What's wrong with marinading duck meat?? Do you not season/marinade 99% of the meat that you cook anyway? If your favorite hunts are the ones where you didn't even pull the trigger then you sir aren't a duck hunter, you're a bird watcher.

You have completely missed the point duckcrazed was trying to get across.

[duckcrazed]

What's wrong with marinading duck meat?? Do you not season/marinade 99% of the meat that you cook anyway? If your favorite hunts are the ones where you didn't even pull the trigger then you sir aren't a duck hunter, your a bird watcher.

Nope, I don't marinade teal, woodies, wigeon, pintail, canvasback, gadwall, marinade most of the other ones. I sure as hell don't marinade 99% of the meat I cook...in fact I kind of like the way meat tastes.

A particular hunt that comes to mind is when we had over 1,000 Canada geese decoy in to a 1/4 acre pond. 6 of us sat in a pit blind watching. The farmer, my dads life long friend doesn't like shooting into big groups of geese. He doesn't want to educate birds and have them avoid his farm. Consequently 90% of the time we hunt there it's a limit. This particular morning all of the small flights avoided the field. The first group to decoy in was 300+ birds we let them land and ran them out. 10 minutes later another group of 300+ landed. ran them out and once again another large group, this time 400+ birds decoyed in. At no point did anyone consider shooting into them. We ended the day without anyone pulling the trigger, but the memory of that hunt will last a lifetime. Sure I would have preferred to kill our limit of geese as well, but seeing that many birds decoy so well and land so close would trump any memories of birds harvested.

[Rubberhead*]

This may be the only statement you've made on this board that I have to disagree with completely.
I have proof, and any time you wish to see it, all you have to do is ask.

I would send you a PM but it's worth everybody seeing.

Bog,
I was being sarcastic. I just made a decision about five years ago to never blame a "rubberhead" for messing up a hunt, at least not in writing.

[BOGSTER]

I would send you a PM but it's worth everybody seeing.

Bog,
I was being sarcastic. I just made a decision about five years ago to never blame a "rubberhead" for messing up a hunt, at least not in writing.

Haha.

Ok, good.
I was beginning to worry.

[trentsmith]

Nope, I don't marinade teal, woodies, wigeon, pintail, canvasback, gadwall, marinade most of the other ones. I sure as hell don't marinade 99% of the meat I cook...in fact I kind of like the way meat tastes.

A particular hunt that comes to mind is when we had over 1,000 Canada geese decoy in to a 1/4 acre pond. 6 of us sat in a pit blind watching. The farmer, my dads life long friend doesn't like shooting into big groups of geese. He doesn't want to educate birds and have them avoid his farm. Consequently 90% of the time we hunt there it's a limit. This particular morning all of the small flights avoided the field. The first group to decoy in was 300+ birds we let them land and ran them out. 10 minutes later another group of 300+ landed. ran them out and once again another large group, this time 400+ birds decoyed in. At no point did anyone consider shooting into them. We ended the day without anyone pulling the trigger, but the memory of that hunt will last a lifetime. Sure I would have preferred to kill our limit of geese as well, but seeing that many birds decoy so well and land so close would trump any memories of birds harvested.

I see your point now. I was just trying to point out that there is nothing wrong with shooting ducks that aren't considered to be the best eating ducks, some people DO like to eat them.

[Phone Man]

i didn't read through all of this, but from what i think rubberhead means is that if your whole intent of hunting is the kill, then you've missed the point. The fun to me is the setting out the deeks just right, the conversations waiting on sunrise, laughing at your buddy falling in the water. Watching the birds drop down to your call or divers taking a second look at your hand painted deeks is what does it for me. Once they commit, the hunt is over, then its shooting. I think its great that they did this thing, i bet they had alot of fun doing it. Bet they shot a lot of mergs! I understand what you meant rubberhead* cuz i feel the same way and so do several of my hunting partners.

[MorningWoood]

This thread ain't shit without pics!

[BigBrother]

quan·ti·fy

verb \-ˌfī\
quan·ti·fiedquan·ti·fy·ing
Definition of QUANTIFY

transitive verb
1
a (1) : to limit by a quantifier (2) : to bind by prefixing a quantifier b : to make explicit the logical quantity of

2
: to determine, express, or measure the quantity of

Quantification.

It seems to be the thesis of the argument, regardless of theme.

Just me, and I came to the party late, we all need to quantify what we do. If not our harvest, the cash in the wallet, or the types of folk we associate with. It legitimizes our rationalizations.

RH, by no means am I knocking you, however, to say you dont quantify, you are not being honest with yourself. Your quantification/validation appears to come from how you measure yourself by measuring others.

I think it is cool as hell, that you can put the gun down after killing a black...but that is an intangible. It is what floats your boat, and makes your hunt a success. Those unbelievably awesome photographs you take of some quality birds are great...but are they another quantification? Are they your embroidered hat? Your magazine article?

Again, by no means would I knock another man's hunt, (unless he doesnt measure up to my expectations of a quality hunt), nor would I knock another man's quantifier.

[BRR]

Somewhere along the line I found this photo of Nash Buckingham:



I don't know if I read it or imagined it, but he was happy with much less than a limit. He did it his way. That photo did more than any other single event to set my expectations for myself.[/QUOTE]



Not sure if you read any of Nash Buckingham's books but if you had you would also know that he started hunting ducks when there was no limit. everyone in his clubhouse killed somewhere around 1100 ducks combined one morning. after that they self imposed a limit of 50 ducks per hunter per day. even after that he saw the populations decline and mentioned species being killed out of the flyway, guilt is a powerful thing, He honorably did a lot for conservation. so that there would be ducks for future generations.

It was usually about the limit. however, Nash Buckingham was a true gentleman hunter.

P.S. Nash Buckingham was most famous for ability to kill ducks cleanly at long range with his his side by side shotgun called "BO WHOOP." There is nothing he enjoyed more than a good long or High shot with his 3 inch 1 3/8 ounce copper plated LEAD 4's.


DIFFERENT PEOPLE ENJOY DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF HUNTING. THEY MIGHT NOT BE MISSING WHAT YOU ENJOY BUT COULD REALLY CARELESS ABOUT THE ASPECT YOU ENJOY.


AT NO POINT IN THIS POST HAVE I EXPRESSED MY OWN OPINION.

[fowlshot]

theyve killed about x5 the amount of times ive ever been hunting.

[JABIII]

How is the water in deep end of the pool, BigBrother? Well said, Sir.