Postby greenheadgrimreaper » Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:31 pm
Whether or not an individual is a waterfowler or not depends on the value they place on a mallard duck, especially a mallard duck that is killed in a place where few other species reside except a wood duck.
I know a fellow who is perfectly content with going and pass shooting a wood duck with the occasional mallard who succumbed to natural selection's theory of "only the strongest and smartest." He is a fine waterfowler in respect to his take on the sport. Some folks love to go and kill dozens of greenwing teal with the occasional mallard mixed and a pintail or two. They are fine waterfowlers.
But a fellow who hunts the timber or buck brush or flooded lakes that only "get out" a few times a year or areas where the majority of species that use the spot are wood ducks and mallards is, to me, a waterfowl hunter. Because he is hunting a timber limit, a mallard duck and wood ducks. I do enjoy the sight of gadwall as well though, but for purposes of purity, the mallard and wood duck are a southern waterfowler's birds of choice. In MY opinion. Doesn't mean it is right, but it what I think, and we are being asked what we think, I guess.
The only way to kill a mallard duck or gadwall is finished. There is no other way. If we would like to see ducks huntable again, we should press for a law that makes pass shooting on flocks of birds illegal. It is cheap, it wounds birds, it is unsightly, it is a sign of a novice and it is disrespectful to the waterfowl we hunt. Shooting a tom gobbler at 65 yards is not calling in a tom gobbler. It is cheating and degrading to the hunter and to the bird. Pass shooting waterfowl should be right up there with seining a man's pond, shooting his dog, screwing his wife,...hunting his duck hole. Pass shooting is for trashy folk who litter and set small kittens on fire. You are the joke of the marsh if you pass shoot. I put you right there with whale poop if you are a pass shooter. Which is why hunting areas that primarily winter wood ducks and mallards make pass shooting much harder to do. You are almost forced to finish the birds or at the very least near finish.
To me finishing a group of mallard ducks is the summit of success. It is to duck hunting what 180 class bucks are to deer hunting. I finished my biggest group of mallards ever this year, and the biggest group I have ever personally seen finished- of mallards. 60-70 birds at 25 yards is what keeps you up at night. To some on this board that may be chump change. To most, I doubt they have ever seen it. One thing I know they have not seen is 3 guys shoot into a flock of said size and not kill a bird. I bet they haven't seen a fellow throw up in his mouth either. I ain't going to discuss that anymore.
I come home with a lot fewer birds a lot of the times I go hunting because I refused to pass shoot even at low flying birds. Make no mistake: I kick myself in the ass for not pass shooting them a lot of the time. But my respect for a mallard duck is far and wide and when I put him in the decoys I know, I know I have bested him. All the gear (most homemade b/c- and only b/c- it is cheaper) and most importantly all the TIME (the true asset that a waterfowler possesses) comes to a culmination when a mallard duck's feet are down 20 yards out and 10 feet over the water.
I had a thread back in the summer about the farm bill. I was chastised and called paranoid for my feelings on the subject of the current state of the ppr. If you don't know what that is then you are not a waterfowler, meaning you are not up to date with ALL aspects of waterfowl.
All you have to do is read a little bit and this point will be clear to you: waterfowling, speaking in terms of migrations of any substantial size, will not be here in 20 years. It will not be here in 10 years, mark that down. Folks, the ppr has got cancer, and the doc says it's terminal. The ppr is the alpha and omega of everything else for thousands of miles south. No memories will be made, no gear will be purchased, no trips will be had, no dogs will be trained, no boats will be bought, no waterfowlers will be born- if the ppr issues are not addressed, NOW.
The problem with the state of duck hunting is that waterfowlers, whether they meet your definition of it or not, do not know- nor care- about the the plight of the ppr. A small minority knows just enough about it to make it clear to an individual that does know about it, that said individual doesn't know diddley jack $#!+ about it. It's embarrassing really- the ignorance that we conservationists have in regards to the issues that matter.
Someone said the "hardcore" guys won't leave b/c once they start they won't ever quit. That is true to a certain extent. They may occasionally go when the hunting is "right". I call them "fair-weather duck hunters". They are the lowest of the low in terms of waterfowling hierarchy, just above boom scouters and late arrivals (late arrivals are guaranteed to be assholes because they are desperate and by definition, lazy). But just look at the seasonal waning of duck hunters on a yearly basis. The rut has arrived, the grind has chewed up the majority of the early season'ers... the ramp is a much more pleasant place in January than it is in November/December, and the woods are much more pleasant in numbers of ducks as well.
Someone said a good duck hunter knows when the good times to go, are. That is so true. The grind will chew up many many duck hunters.
A smart waterfowler knows that.
I know a guy who went and bought boats, decoys, a few guns, hevi-metal, etc. He lost his mind in the pre-season because he does not understad the politics of duck season. He didn't hear what he wanted to hear when experienced waterfowlers didn't tel him that he would always have a spot. He somehow- just like so many other newcomers- equated getting-to-go as being directly proportional to the thousands and thousands of dollars that he has spent. He felt entitled to getting a spot in a blind because he had gear. He (maybe not anymore) like so many others thinks that duck hunting is a glorified dove hunt. Room is limitless and hiding is something along the lines of a bucket and a blue umbrella. That is simply not the case- as any waterfowler with a few years experience knows very well. He has been through one and a half duck seasons and I do not see him even realizing that opening day is t-minus 24 hours come the 2013-2014 season.
This will happen a thousand times over this year.
The main reason being that, just like a tom gobbler, a mallard duck will make a fool of a man. And anybody south of the Great Lakes with any experience who is a waterfowler first and foremost wants a mallard duck strap. A mallard duck is a different animal than it used to be and being on the x will not guarantee success these days. A mallard duck is wiley. What most duck hunters fail to realize is that, greenwings and gadwall and pintail and etc etc aside, day in and day out the majority of duck hunters entering the haunts of the mallard duck are doing good to scratch out a few. That is the simple reality of it. The come-and-go'ers, the "I go a few times a year crowd" thinks everyone is killing mallards except them, and so is the death of another hunter like the one described that I know. There will be another to fill his slot next year, as we all know. To what extreme he "gears up" is still up in the air, but he will be locked cocked and ready to rock, until the grind and constant ass whoopin's from the mallard duck chew him up a couple years. The mallard duck, coupled with man's ego of his alleged prowess and expertise over the beasts of the wild, will be death of him in the haunts of a mallard duck.
Good riddance.
Why, you say? Why...in this crazy crazy world...why Austin, would any conservationist in his right mind bid a triumphant farewell to a fellow leaving a sport as endangered as hunting? We should be encouraging any and every person to enter the sport because then they join the fight. I say no, no they do not join the fight. I say they are a liability, not an asset. Why? There is only one reason why, and it is the fault of society, it is OUR fault and it is the fault of said hunter. The reason I hope the door doesn't smack him on the way out is this:
Because the son of a bitch probably doesn't even know what ppr means- that's why.
