TRUE MEN DUCK HUNT!

This is a great article written by a Duck Junkie member, Terry Epping. I asked him to use it because it describes, very well, a Duck Junies passion for this sport. This is a must read!

TRUE MEN DUCK HUNT 03/30/10 True men duck hunt, why do I say this? Here are my reasons. Of all the hunters I have encountered over my years, none are more loyal and dedicated to the game that they hunt. Yes there are men who duck hunt that are not true to the sport, they only think of how many they kill and not why they are there, they are not true men A true man knows why he hunts waterfowl. For a true man, ducks are in his blood, they are his life, the very breath he breathes is for that of the duck. It is a part of his soul, his very reason for being. He will do all that he can to protect that which he loves. He will pass the tradition down to his kin or his neighbors and their kin. He will spend countless hours and days on end getting ready for a season that only lasts a few months. True men respect other hunters out in the field and at home, they don’t brag about how many they got or which gun is best or how many decoys they have. True men ask how your hunt went and praise you good fortune or show there regrets if not. They don’t care how big it was or how many times did you shoot. They care that you had fun and maybe learned something along the way. True men know the meaning of waterfowling. They know it’s history. They will give it a future. They know it is more than just having fun with friends, they know it is more than they can ever possibly explain. There is something about duck hunting that stirs my soul, from watching the sunrise on the Mississippi River, to watching my dog retrieve a Mallard drake. There is a feeling you get deep inside that never goes away. It tugs at your heart and imbeds in your mind. Some of the best days I’ve had duck hunting I never fired a shot, nor killed a bird, but I witnessed life coming full circle when my youngest brother, whom I taught to duck hunt called in a pair of Canada geese for my father who had taught me all I know of duck hunting. I was a hundred yards from them and watched in amazement as my baby brother called and worked the birds into the spread. My father pulled up his Browning A5 as he had done so many times before and crumpled one. It hit the ground within feet of them. I don’t remember if my brother got his, he has taken many since. A sense of pride came over me so strong I had to sit down, I was almost in tears listening to my brother praising my dads shot and seeing my dad standing there with a big grin on his face holding his goose. I realized then what my father had tried to teach me so many years before, That all men can hunt ducks, but only True Men Duck Hunt.

FOR A TRUE FRIEND

MY dad, My bro Mike, and Me

My bro Mike and Me, With my banded honker, Mike's honker, our bigfoots, and our Brownings

JUST DON'T TAKE...PUT SOME BACK

This article is somewhat of a follow up to my last blog. My last blog was related to building mallard nesting boxes and placing them in the wild.

This blog will be for what a person can do at his or her home, that is enjoyable for the entire family and is much more hands on. The above photos are what 8 hen mallards and 2 drakes can produce in a 5 day period. The 75 eggs shown are taken from the nesting boxes in my back yard. These of course, are from ducklings that I purchased at the local feed store that are called wild mallards. I have about a 90% success hatching ratio. I will be able to remove and incubate this amount of eggs about 4-5 times per hatching season. There are many different size incubators that can be purchased and many articles written on incubating that can be found all over the Internet. Mallards are the only migratory waterfowl that can be legally raised and the penalties can and will be quite severe for raising other migratory waterfowl species without the proper permits and licenses from state and federal agencies.

I believe it is illegal to set these ducks free into the wild, but mallards are not required to have any certain types of fencing requirements. My mallards have no top to there area and can come and go as they please. Just last year about 350 mallards flew away from my mallard area. Just do the math and look at the numbers, what those birds that grew to adulthood under my guidance will produce. I have been doing this for many years and would have to guess that 10,000 mallards total have escaped from my mallard areas every fall since I have started. Now, if half of those are hens, and half of those survive one breeding season each. I would like to think,I have put about 400,000 birds in to the air somewhere. If just a few of the people who read this blog do this. The end result would be unbelievable. Keep in mind, the ducklings you will have to raise for 1 year before they start laying.

Also!!!!!! NEVER remove a egg from the wild even if you think the nest is abandoned. IT IS ILLEGAL!!! Goodluck, this is the time of year to buy those ducklings to get ready for next year, so just don't talk and think about. DO IT !!!! It will be very fulfilling and a great way to get the youngsters off the games and teach them and yourself about what conservation REALLY means. Just imagine, looking up at a big migrating flock next fall and saying out loud to your significant other or child "those may be ours"
This is just another step to becoming a full fledged Duck Junkie.
Hope to hear you in the marsh,
Darryl Mathews
A.K.A. Duckpoop
Duck Junkies Pro staff
Arizona
928-242-3736

Hey all its been awhile since I have been able to get on I have had computer trouble and classes 7 days a week. I took a class to become a first responder with the fire department some of the stuff we learned in this class I think directly and indirectly relates to us hunters. For those of us who help their farmers in the fall and even though the summer please be careful with their equipment they are very nasty pieces of machinery. Try to also keep your dogs away from them also this equipment can and will shred you if something were to happen so please be careful out there. Have fun and stay safe

Brian Reynolds

Duck Junkies Pro-Staff

Delaware

April Contest

CLEAN HUNTING JOKES
* Post your entries on the Facebook Fan Page and make sure to indicate its your contest entry.
* Entries can also be submitted through Email. CLICK HERE
* This contest will run between April 1st and April 30th, 2010. After May 1st we will decide the top 3.
* First prize will win $40 credit in Junkie store or a sweatshirt. Second prize will be $25 credit in Junkie store or a Duck Junkies hat. Third prize will be $10 credit in Junkie store or your choice of a Junkie T-shirt or a decal.
* Submittal of jokes grants Duck Junkies the use/distribution of the quote(s).
* You can enter as many times as you wish.
* As usual, keep it clean (no profanity or sexually suggestive entries).
Good luck to all who enter!
(Check the home page for voting details in May!)

Keep them fit

They have had more than enough to rest and recuperate after a long waterfowl season. I am referring to your dog(s). Get them off the couch, out of the bed and back in shape. It is good to let them rest, but now is the time to make sure they don't fall too far behind. Take them on runs, long walks and swims. Keep them fit and they will never let you down. Use this time to work with them on retrieving, etc. 10-15 min sessions is all a well started dog needs to maintain his/her skills. A little bit of effort now, will go a long way this Fall.

Michigan Waterfowl (LP)

With the all the warm weather we have lost all the ice on our inland lakes. Since the ice left we have been able to get out and set many Mallard nesting tubes. All the Mallard nesting tubes were supplied to us by Delta Waterfowl. While we were out setting these nesting tubes this weekend we encountered massive numbers of Waterfowl. The birds are definitely on there way back north! I will have pictures of the Mallard nesting tubes and a report on the activity inside each nest next month. Hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather, I know I am, between the nesting projects and SteelHead fishing I don't think I have spent more then 24hrs at home. Take Care all, see ya in a month.

Snow goose update/ North Dakota

In the last couple weeks there has been a big push of snow geese(thousands) into North Dakota. The SE part of the state is a major flyway for the snow geese on their migration back north to breed. Find where there is a decent amount of sheet water from the snow melt and you will find the snows. The far SE part of the state has massive amounts of sheet water this year which is a double edged sword. It attracts the geese but makes the hunting very difficult. The geese are pretty much just moving from sheet water to sheet water, which consists of 1/4- 1 section of land completely flooded, and the harvested fields from last fall are very muddy. This in turn makes it very hard to get them to decoy into a field set-up. The number of juvenile snow geese seems to be down this spring, so we are mainly dealing with very smart older birds.

Also you have to be very careful when traveling the back roads looking for geese. The water run off has flooded out many bridges and culverts. Also the ditches are beyond full and a crash into one of them has already caused the death of one local woman I went to school with growing up. So just drive a little slower and keep your eyes open and on the roads.

The reports( a little farther west ) I have heard that were good have come from areas with a normal amount of sheet water in the fields. The best set-up I have found is to find a small to medium sized sheet water pothole in a cut corn field that the snows having been feeding in and set decoys from the edge of the water fanning out into the field. You will want to be within a mile or two of some of the main roost waters. Also add some flyer decoys to really seal the deal.

If you want to hunt snow geese in ND now is the time to get them as the temperatures are getting unseasonably warm already, and they won't sit around too long.

Hunting Accidents

Vacaville Turkey Hunter Killed By Friend

A Vacaville man is dead after a member of his hunting party mistook him for a turkey and shot him.

Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker says Larry Gene Pendley was hunting on the opening day of turkey season in the Paynes Creek area off Highway 36 with five friends. Pendley was on his hands and knees crawling through a bush when his friend, Stephen Henderson of Fremont, mistook him for a turkey and fired.

Pendley was in camouflage, the usual dress for turkey hunters.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Parker says Henderson and the other members of the hunting party have all been hunting turkeys for 30 years. Pendley had been hunting with them for 10 years.

***This just reinstates the fact that we as hunters need to always be aware of our surroundings. This is a really sad story of something that could have been easily prevented. This is not the first nor will it be the last accident to happen, but with that, we all need to take the time to educate and promote safe hunting activities. No matter how long you have hunted and how experienced you are, you can never be complacent

Letter from a Member:

At Duck Junkies, we believe our direction and content should be driven by our members. If you have something to add, a suggestion or just a question, we would love to hear from you! And if you don't mind, we just might publish it! Go to the Suggestion form now.

Here is what Jini had to say when she recently contacted us:

On your home page you acknowledge that you really serve more than just the needs of hunters. I think that's important. I haven't hunted in years, but I know how important hunters are to the management of all sorts of game. I'm an ecologist and wildlife and fisheries biologist. I know there's a ground swell afoot that wants to eliminate hunting. I think all hunting organizations owe it to themselves and the people they represent to include some room for 1. educating the public on why people hunt. 2. what the ancillary benefits are to the hunter and the population of wildlife being sought. And the incredible experience it is to watch the sky darkened with waterfowl or other game whether a hunter or not.

I've worked diligently in the last ten years to help preclude the loss of Suisun Marsh to the efforts of the water development agencies and water users, to use Suisun as "mitigation" for the impacts of "tweaking" water development projects by converting it to saltwater tidal marsh. This is basically a 100K + acres of brackish) wetlands. To address endangered species issues through the ESA Habitat Conservation Planning process. Unfortunately, taking care of only endangered, threatened and proposed species can be extremely damaging to other species. In this case, the long history of managing waterfowl populations and efforts to replace lost habitat stands against waterfowl enthusiasts. Waterfowl, with a few exceptions, have stayed off the ESA list because of money from hunters and other sport enthusiasts which have succeeded.

Also, since the sixties the number of women biologists and other outdoor related professions have burgeoned. Some hunt, some do not; but I think their presence, needs need to be acknowledged and met.
That's my soapbox for the day.

Jini Scammel_Tinling

March 2010 Featured Member

Gabe Dutenhoeffer Aberdeen, SD

My first hunt took place when I was around the age of 8 when my dad took me out the first time. Ever since that day Ive been hooked for life. Ill never forget that day it was one of the best days of my life. I think my old man thought of me as a labrador retriever LOL cause all I wanted to do was retrieve all the ducks that he either sailed or punished in the decoys. He purchased my first shot gun for me when I was 10 which was a single shot 20 gauge which I still have in my gun case today. Ive been a guide now for the past 8 years for one of our local resorts and I cant tell you enough how much I enjoy meeting new people every year who are passionate about this sport we call duck hunting. Just in the past year I have gotten a promotion and have became the Head Huntsman which takes away from some of the guiding aspects of it, but when I get the oppertunity here and there to get out, believe me I never pass it up. My favorite thing about waterfowl hunting would have to be the calling and the setting of the decoys. To know that I can out wit these little rascals gets me fired up everytime, nothing is better then seeing that duck or goose set and committed to your calling and spread. The favorite part about Duck Junkies is that they strive in themselves of not being selfish in anykind of way. To know someone that is passionate and committed in the conservation in our future of hunting is huge in my eyes. To give 10% of their earnings to charities or conservation organizations is great. Not only for us right now but for the next generations coming and nothing is greater then that. That gets a huge HIGH FIVE from me.

Featured members are selected each month based on their contributions to Duck Junkies content and growth. Featured members receive a FREE Duck Junkies T-shirt! Please submit your thoughts, ideas, articles, etc here! Be sure to include your contact information. All content submitted will be considered for publication on this site!

Videographer Wanted!

->We are looking for volunteers to film our Duck Junkies video segments through the summer and upcoming hunting season. We need a couple different people available for travel within the Midwest. Mostly weekends but also for 3 weeks during the duck and goose hunting season. We have a camera/supplies but if you prefer to use your own, let us know. All credits will obviously include the camera person and each camera person will be listed our website. Contact us if you are interested!