[retnuhreed]

Alright........ I've been duck hunting about..... 0 times.:biggrin: Tell me what is it about duck hunting you love so much. I'm just curious to know. :wink:

 

[BUCKSHOT_106]

I like getting out on the water early hunting with my friends and having a good time. Making loud noise and shooting into the air also fall under my interests catagory :biggrin:

 

[duckman1]

you seriously do not understand until you go.

 

[10pointman]

its more about having a good time than killing ducks.Sometimes you miss more than you hit.Its no fun going by yourself.

 

[adchunts]

The very first time I had a duck cup into the dekes, I was hooked.

Just like the first time a gobbler strutted into view..............

and the first time I flushed a covey of quail..................

and the first time a pheasant burst out from under my feet.........

and the first time I saw a deer from my stand.................

and the first time I caught a big bass...................

........I think I have an addictive-type personality.........I guess it's a good thing I don't gamble...............:smack:

It doesn't bother me a bit to go out at 2:00 am in the rain to make a long boat ride and set out dekes hours before daylight. If I had this much dedication to a vocation, I'd be a millionaire by now................:wink:

 

[browning_gold_12]

some people have to be "shown", not just told......


where else can ya see stuff like this???

my five year old, (at the time), Ryno, waiting for the morning "squealer" flight...

fellow member bps12, waiting for shooting hours. one of the best pics i have ever taken in my life...

the last minute of shooting hours, Jan 07, on soarkrebel's lease...

mallards taken with my late papaws Ithaca pump.

a good morning, with good friends......

any clearer now????

its about family, and friends. its about laying on the bank of a slough off the Mighty Saline, just up from Mt. Elba in the pre-dawn darkness. looking up through the Cypress and Oak timber at the shooting stars streaking through the inky sky. not hardly a word is spoken, (which is hard for me as those who know me can attest), except for the "squealers" and the hoot owls, until my buddy d2 breaks the silence with his ever philisophical tone, and says, "This is my favorite time of the day".

its about leaving camden at 2am to try and get a hole at Felsenthal, getting there before 5am, being the first boat in horseshoe lake, putting out the dekes, only to find out that the ducks dont use horseshoe when the water level is at 68 feet, except for one "water-chicken", (coot), that Voss skillet shot. but on the other hand, he and ltrosson saw more ducks than they had ever seen in their lives, and i blew on my call til my teeth hurt trying to coax them down. we all would have went back the very next day if we coulda.

its about seeing a-bolt, carry his son, on his back, through the deep water going into "Mallardville", the second year we hunted, cause the kid didnt have any waders. now he is one of the duck huntinest fools i know.

i could go on and on, but hopefully you are getting it by now. got any buddies that duck hunt? if ya dont, bps12 and i will take you next year. we will get ya started right. a good ol' fashioned "woodie swattin'!!

BG12

 

[retnuhreed]

Well said sir..... you could have just posted those pics and it would have been enough. Those were awesome! Im all about good times, friends, and memories. Thank ya

 

[retnuhreed]

The very first time I had a duck cup into the dekes, I was hooked.

Just like the first time a gobbler strutted into view..............

and the first time I flushed a covey of quail..................

and the first time a pheasant burst out from under my feet.........

and the first time I saw a deer from my stand.................

and the first time I caught a big bass...................

........I think I have an addictive-type personality.........I guess it's a good thing I don't gamble...............:smack:

It doesn't bother me a bit to go out at 2:00 am in the rain to make a long boat ride and set out dekes hours before daylight. If I had this much dedication to a vocation, I'd be a millionaire by now................:wink:

Thank you, I see now the passion when compared to all the others you listed.

 

[ltrosson]

The fireman said it all. I have deer hunted all my life. This was the first year I really got to duck hunt, and to Browning gold 12 I appreciate the time you gave me. The deer stand is a place of quiet, sitting for hours, waiting for the buck of a lifetime, or your childs first doe. These are good memories. But duck hunting is a class all of it's own. I have seen sun rises from different locations, met some good people and made memories with good friends while standing in flooded timber. You hunt with friends beside you, you laugh when they miss that shot, you help them when they need help, and you laugh at Voss about his wife's teeth. Duck hunting has to be next to heaven.

 

[retnuhreed]

i could go on and on, but hopefully you are getting it by now. got any buddies that duck hunt? if ya dont, bps12 and i will take you next year. we will get ya started right. a good ol' fashioned "woodie swattin'!!

BG12

Thank ya for the offer, I might just take ya up on it!

 

[Dogs & Ducks]

If you ever find yourself standing in green timber in knee deep water with a slight chill in the air, just before shooting hours, and you're standing in "THE SPOT", the ducks start raining down through the limbs and hitting the water right next to you, the sound that their wings make as they float by your head, IF you ever do, YOU'RE HOOKED!!! :exactly:

 

[MallardMaster]

Hey retnuhreed.......You've been told.......you've been warned. Expect to be "bit" if ya go; there ain't nothin like it. BG12 said it (and showed it) bout good as it can be said.

You can watch Whistling Wings & Duck Commander movies till yer eyes are bloodshot, but ya can't truly know what it's like till ya go. You've got right at 10 months to get ready.

 

[BUCKSHOT_106]

Duck Hunting is leaving Bradford at 10:00 pm going to Bouyo De View in Amagon just to get a hole. having put in and had decoys set out by 12:00 and listening to the others cussing us boating by at 1:30 am. This kind of dedication is what makes a trip where you get rained on from 2:30 am to 8:30 am make you want to go again.

but don't get in to big of a hurry or you'll end up like this (truck off in field we seen going out that morning)

 

[soarkrebel]

the last minute of shooting hours, Jan 07, on soarkrebel's lease...

BG12

Hey your just south of my pasture ...........Ain't the forbidden zone a great place BG12:thumb:

 

[Arkie_3_fan]

I haven't duck hunted in a few years now because I've gotten into taking the dogs out and going squirrel hunting instead.
But when I was hunting, my buddies and I had a motto that should help describe one of the reasons we hunted: "If it flies it dies... maybe." :thumb:
One of my favorite duck hunting memories was wading in to scout at cut-off creek one afternoon and ending up with 100's of ducks swimming all around us. I was just before catching one with my bare hands. The next day we whacked them pretty good (would probably have limited out if my buddy hadn't been goofing off away from the hole when the biggest group came in). The day after that was the last day of the split and we showed up at the same spot and there was only one other truck there (my how times have changed). The two guys in the truck invited us to go with them and we decided to take them up on the offer. After an hour of walking and busting ice we came to a food plot with open water. We didn't even have to call to the ducks that morning. They came in like being drawn to a magnet, even with us wading around in the plot picking up victims.
5 limits in less than 15 minutes is what duck hunting is all about. :thumb:

 

[quacksmacker]

It's hard to pinpoint any one particular thing, but I will try to narrow it down a little. I love goin out with my friends. Meeting up at the ramp at 4am, getting the boat ready, headin out across the water when the steam is coming up off of it. The classic debate on where we should set up, finally agreeing on a spot. Setting up the decoys while the blind is being put up. Climbing back in the boat and then checking "the book" on when shooting time begins while getting the guns ready. Having the all important first cup of coffee poured while enjoying the first hints of daylight break over the horizon and thinking "Man! To think there are folks still in bed. WOW!!!beautiful!" Then, hearing the whistle of wings as a pair of Gadwalls come screaming by just over the decoys followed by the first shots and splashdown of the morning. Watching birds work and finally commit to the calling/decoy spread that you've been wondering whether or not you set up right or not. Having birds in the boat. Talking trash back and forth over birds shot/missed and general bs that ensues. Breaking out the camp stove and the smell of breakfast cooking in the blind when the action slows. And at the end of the day, "the pics for posterity" and the anticipation of doing it all over again. Oh, if you have a good little "sweet spot" tucked away somewhere....it can be just as enjoyable by yourself. You just need to be a little more careful. JMHO.

Okay, couldn't narrow it down very well. :biggrin: Hope this helps.

 

[snydedawg]

I doubt I can ever add anything that hasn't been eloquently elaborated on already, but I just love to be out in the woods and water!!

I like wet, moldy, muddy, quaggy places!
I like to pit myself against the animals I am hunting.
I like to call and work the birds in as close as I can get them.
I like to hide and blend and try to disappear from the eyes of dozens or hundreds of ducks or geese overhead.
I like the look in my dog's eyes when she comes back with with a duck in her mouth.
Taking time to spend with friends and family and having nothing else I have to do that day.
Breakfast!!!!
Those days when nothing seems to go right and then all at once.... there they are, right over the dekes!!
Watching my daughters pluck feathers.
Laughing like a "loonie" when the sky opens up and the splashing raindrops send water "bouncing" back up in your face and there is no where to go to get away from it.
Gettin' ready and making plans.....

Dude, I can't describe it; there is just a magic about it. For those sixty days of the year, it's like the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup and Daytona every single day!!!!

 

[catdaddylong]

I will try to make this as short as possible. Duck hunting is a world apart from most hunting as you are hunting in water. Flooded timber is worlds apart from the same timber when it's not flooded. There is a mystique in finding your hole in flooded timber in total darkness with only your head light and a compass as your guide. I hunt with a lab and she is more than a pet. She is my partner and the bond between hunter and retriever is a special one. Not only does she retrieve downed and wounded ducks, she also helps spots them. Hunt with a dog long enough and when they are looking at the sky you better check it out before it's too late. Then there is the magic of ducks weaving in and out of the limbs trying to light just outside your dekes and the whooshing sound they make when they fly over you as you try to work them down with your call. Duck calling is an art learned by mistakes. You learn when to call and more important when not to. You learn what calls to use for the situation. There is nothing like lighting down 50 or 60 mallards all around you in the timber. Granted that is hard to do in this day and time on public hunting areas but it can be done. What has been said about friends and family does not need to be repeated here but duck hunting is a social sport. It is like golf. It can be done alone but it is so much more fun with friends. It is a tough sport because you are hunting in frigid weather, rain, snow and fog. You arise early in the AM and arrive at your spot a half hour or so before legal shooting time. This means getting up at 3 AM to start hunting at 6:45 AM is not uncommon. Duck hunting involves a lot more gear than other kinds of hunting. Besides the gun and shells you use, you will need waders, lots of warm clothing, hand warmers, duck call, lanyard for call and a good sense of humor. How many people do you know who get up at 3 AM to go stand in ice water hoping to kill a duck ? If you hunt long enough you are going to trip and fall in, rip a hole in your waders, get lost, bang up your boat and motor if you use them, and get your truck stuck even if it's a 4x4. It's high adventure for sure and once you kill that first green head and it's head flops back over it's back and tumbles down through the timber to smack the water with a few kicks of it's legs belly up, you will be hooked like the rest of us. You will then know what we all feel when duck season rolls around. It's better than Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and all of the other hunting seasons opening days rolled into one. It is special.

 

[retnuhreed]

Thanks

Hey guys...... Im gonna tell ya what, I appreciate the words and pictures that ya'll are sharing. I want to have the good times that go on with friends and family on a hunt, I'm all about a good time. I dont mind a good breakfast and a hot cup of coffee either.:biggrin: I'm gonna have to go next year and see what its all about, from what ya'll say, it'll be worth it. Thanks

 

[bps12]

Where else in the world can you see a sunrise like this....

When you pull up from huntin and the first thing you hear from your 2 year old is "daddy wanna see ducks"

Those long mornings sitting in the boat waiting on daylight with good friends. It is just hard to explain, it just gets in your blood. As many people have stated already, waterfowlers are special people. I like it when you get back from huntin and your buddies wife is chewin you out because you are the sorry s.o.b. that got him started in the crap. But man I just like killin ducks.