Duck hunters vrs other hunters

[teul2]

Man, the duck stuff I hold dear.
Ithaca 37 feather Weight was the first 12ga I ever hunted with. I remember that hunt like it was yesterday. We satup on a single tree in the middle of a flooded field. I put a 3in shell in it and jammed it in the first hour and spent the next half hour, the best half hour, cutting it out and breaking down the gun.
I have a woody band on my key chain that was killed by a dear close friend and some one I considered to be a second father. It was the first band I ever saw killed. I remember that hunt on Chotard and running up the ramp to camp to call it in.
I have my dad's calls, my first call, a box of pictures, and a plethora of other stuff i wouldn't take anything for.
I don't know what I'd do if all that stuff in my man room burned.

[jdbuckshot]

Not sure I would give duck hunters sole possesion of keeping traditions and personal hunting possesions above other hunters. No doubt there are a lot of things handed down from generation to generation among waterfowl family, but turkey people....I mean real turkey guys probably hold on to tradition and possesions as well as any. I have duck hunted at home, by that I mean on our home place all of my life, just as those before me did. Certain spots, some calls, some guns, some hunts all hold special thoughts, but it is not something you really have to think of because it is so much integrated into your life that it is what it is. I think Novacaine said it best, probably some of the things I do not have any more would be cherished, first real duck call, first decoys that were "mine". On the other hand, some turkey hunts, call, spots, etc have as much tradition and feeling as those same waterfowl assets. I am glad I have such to hand down and people to enjoy "now" with.

I'm with Swag on this one. I'm a traditional turkey hunter, would fight you over the lynch fool proof my pops gave me when i was 13, got the old browning a-5 with the 30" full barrle leaning aginst my desk right now. I'm really just a simple hunter who likes to get close to critters.

I'm a bow hunter at heart, and all things considered i hold the traditional 25yards and in concept as the essecense of hunting, no matter if i have a recurve, or my benelli.

[brake man]

My Dad's old A-5, Granddad's old hand-carved turkey call, and quite a few other important items are dear to me. However, they don't hold a candle to these treasured duck hunting "items:"

My two boys (and my daughter who is between them and who wants to go hunt this season)


My brother and Dad with me a on a hunt several years ago

[champcaller]

this thread really got me thinking...

another item that i will eventually pass down is my mud river duffle bag. ive gotten my sisters to sew patches on there for me i've acquired over the past few years. i plan on filling the whole bag up, and hopefully give it on to my son when he goes off to college.

it has quickly become a very sentimental item..

[jacksbuddy]

Also my most prized band is the only one I did not kill. It's a 16 year old Canada band givin to me from a old duck hunter that was like my local grandfather so to speak. He and his wife were close friends with my grand parents as well as his sons were fraternity brothers and duck hunting partners of my dads.
As a kid anytime I would go to his house I'd always ask to see the band and hear the story. One day in college over a break I stopped in to vist and see how they were doing. As usual I asked to see it and hear the tale. His wife spoke up "give to Ty before something happens to it or you". With the band I have the original certificate. Four years later I was a paul bearer in his wife's funeral. One year he followed. But now atleast a part of him still gets to chase the fowl he so loved too.

Thats touching, I dont care who you are... Sorry for the loss but thats awesome that you continue to carry a small piece of him with you ever hunt.

Ditto, great story.

Agreed, thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

[novacaine]

this thread really got me thinking...

another item that i will eventually pass down is my mud river duffle bag. ive gotten my sisters to sew patches on there for me i've acquired over the past few years. i plan on filling the whole bag up, and hopefully give it on to my son when he goes off to college.

it has quickly become a very sentimental item..

Thats a cool item, except for that goofy ass Ole Miss patch............thanks for the opportunity, i couldn't pass it up.

[pintail07]

Pictures, memories, and keepsakes from hunts, journal entries and guest books....all great stuff to look at from years back...besides that things that are extremely important to me is my 'Prairie Wings' first edition original print from Wingmead....has a lot of history behind it and is a cherished possession...I also have a Wingmead hat pin from the 40's that there were only 4 made....that is something I will keep close to me forever....also my grandfathers duck and goose calls are extremely important to me.....stories, memories, handshakes, friendships and straps of birds is what will always keep me going season after season

[chevy01234]

One of my prized possessions related to duck hunting is my duck strap. I've had it since I was 13 or 14. All the other stuff can be replaced, that strap is pretty special to me though.

[MSDuckmen]

Friendships

As I sat at deer camp this past weekend talking with the two men that have made more memories with me than most men have the opportunity to experience. We talked of old duck hunts and deer seasons past.

We duck hunted together from 1979 to 2002 and then started a Deer camp together and have continued with a whole new set of memories as well as new hunting partners and new friendships developing.
Life is challenge and truth be know family and friends are all that matters. True friendship is something that only a very few ever really get to know. Oh you have the people you call friends but real friends are the ones you can call at 2:00 am to come pull you out of a mud hole 200 miles up the road and they are there in short order. They love you regardless of your faults. They care as much about you as they do their selves.

Memories

That is the real value and the one thing that is worth saving. Journals and pictures help to bring those memories back. The smells that come from your tack room or the familiar views that take you back in time to a moment when, whatever happens.

An example is like every time I see steam rising it brings back the memory of a 4 degree morning in Delta National when steam was rising off a soaking wet hunting partner as the sun rose and the light beams cut through the mist like a knife. The smell of gun powder and the distant call of birds that seem to make you feel, as if you were in ancient times. The sudden appearance of a deer that just blows your mind on how if could get so close without you knowing it.
The simple fact that wild things in life have a much greater row to hoe for survival than most humans ever thought about. Those little moments in time that only you witnessed. That only you were given the opportunity to be a part of.

That is what should be cherished.

Material items come and go but no one can take those memories away.
My suggestions to all is to value those little moments in time with those that you love as they will end too soon.

[teul2]

Well put Dan.

[novacaine]

this thread really got me thinking...

another item that i will eventually pass down is my mud river duffle bag. ive gotten my sisters to sew patches on there for me i've acquired over the past few years. i plan on filling the whole bag up, and hopefully give it on to my son when he goes off to college.

it has quickly become a very sentimental item..

Thought i would semi-hijack this tread and offer up a good read to those not currently Nash Buckingham fans. I just finished Ole Miss by Nash and came across one story that is timely and on subject for those of you who plan to one day pass on cherished items to cherish children. The title of the story is Surrender to Youth.
Champcaller's duffle bag made me think of Nash's rucksack with all the "possibles" stowed inside.

[champcaller]

In a round about way that's how the bag came to be.


The fact it reminded you of Mr. Buckingham's is a huge compliment!

[gator]

novacaine, that's a good read. i can't remember now if it's apart of the story you mentioned or one all of itself, but i am pretty sure he wrote one called "a mountain man's possibles". i've got the entire set in a leather boud edition and am curious now.....will check it out tonight after work.

gator

[novacaine]

In a round about way that's how the bag came to be.


The fact it reminded you of Mr. Buckingham's is a huge compliment!

Except for that silly ass Ole Miss patch

Gator,
I just finish Tattered Coat and Ole Miss, although i have read bits and pieces of his stories over the years i am still fascinated with his writing. He could verb something up so well it makes Ramsey look like Neds First Reader.

[chs36]

my lanyard is my excalibur. I don't know what I would do if I lost what is on there..

The bands aren't just jewelry, but stories of birds and the hunt they were taken on; from muddy bean field crawls, a blue wing banded in sask. 2 weeks prior, a frozen fish pond mallard band, a great friends band that couldn't have come at a better time, a wood duck band that was Cash's 11th bird and the buddy that let me win the coin toss... All stories that I will cherish forever.


My calls have define who I am as a waterfowler and the legacy I want to leave behind as a true killer.

every call I have is irreplaceable and pricless for
different reasons... Hand cut mvps that I blew in worlds, a blessed daisy cutter from butch's safe, cut down olts that take me back to duck huntings roots, and a personalized new call that shows my
efforts are paying off.


Also, my dog Cash. The Lord blessed me with a better retriever than I could ask for and is truly my best hunting buddy. I can't stand to think about the day I lose him.
my filson jacket and pants have gotten better looking after each season from stories breaking in the wax cotton cloth. I hope to my grandkids can wear that jacket..


All these things are just part of what keeps my driving force going year after year.

cherish him dude. i done been there and lost one. they can not be replaced.