Guys and Dani,
Last month I posted an essay contest on the subject, “Why I Love Duck Hunting.” The winner would receive my puddle and diver rig in exchange for a contribution of $300 to Duckboats.net. James Overland, a member of our forum from New York State, won the essay contest. In addition to James’ $300 donation, I will match that with an additional $300 donation to our forum. This past Saturday, James drove down to North Carolina and picked up my rig. I think he had a grin on his face all the way back to New York. It was terrific meeting a guy who is still relatively new to our sport.
Here is James’ essay. Due to its length I had to post it in two parts.
Blessings to you all. Lord have mercy! May God watch over Carl, Dani and all other folks we know and love as another monster storm takes aim for Florida.
Larry Eckart
On Waterfowling
My Passion for the Pursuit
James Overland
My relationship with waterfowling began the way most great couplings do these days – on the Internet.
No, I was not looking for matches on Tindr or Hinge, or whatever the popular dating app was at the time. Instead, a post by a fellow named Bruce caught my eye on the local hunting forum, HudsonValleySportsman.com. At the time I was a very avid bowhunter and turkey hunter. Hunting was my primary passion, and I knew that waterfowling was something I wanted to try, I just didn’t know how to go about it.
Living in the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York, the Hudson River is the major local body of water. I knew folks waterfowled on it, but it is a big, wide river and is tidal to boot. Waterfowling involves blinds, boats, waders, decoys, calls, and a tremendous amount of knowledge. I had exactly none of these things. Bruce’s post on Hudson Valley Sportsman stated that he was an older, avid waterfowler. He was looking for a gunning partner and had all the necessary gear as well as local knowledge.
It took me a few days to build up the courage to message Bruce. I knew I was far from the ideal partner. I had never waterfowled, was a neophyte with a shotgun, and brought nothing to the table other than enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. I finally messaged Bruce and was entirely honest with him. I told him I was a younger guy and interested in getting into waterfowling but had no experience or gear.
Bruce replied and we exchanged a few more correspondences on the forum before moving our conversation to email. I learned that Bruce had suffered a few mild heart attacks recently and no longer felt that it would be responsible to venture out on the Hudson in winter alone or undertake the very physical setting of decoys in the Hudson River mud. He was open to letting me get my feet wet, so to speak. I promised that I would do all of the work, always arrive early, would pitch in for boat fuel, and could be counted on in a pinch if things went South.
Our relationship progressed and we exchanged phone numbers and set a date. Indeed, this fledgling hunting partnership followed a great many of the same constructs of a Match.com love story. Bruce coached me through purchasing a duck stamp, registering with HIP, putting a plug in my gun, and procuring non-toxic shot. We met up in the afternoon at a boat launch and headed up the river for a mile or so, to a predetermined spot. Bruce thankfully had two sets of everything – two layout blinds, two sets of waders – everything he and I would need. We set our blinds on a point, and he instructed me in decoy setup. With great enthusiasm I trudged through the mud and the water to set out longlines and singles, unsure even of what species some of the decoys were.
Our hunt lasted several hours and produced exactly zero ducks. Not even a single duck sighting at a distance. It was warm and sunny and decidedly not miserable. At the end Bruce asked me what I thought. Despite not even catching sight of a duck on the wing, my enthusiasm was not dampened in the slightest. I loved this.
We went out on the Hudson many more times together, launching at 0-dark-thirty and heading to Bruce’s predetermined spots where we would lay in our (his) layout blinds, awaiting dawn and the hoped-for sounds of wings beating against the still air. It took several hunts before I connected on my first bird. That particular morning was special. It was overcast and low-light when a duck buzzed our decoys. I pulled the trigger and dropped it, right as Bruce yelled out “Merganser!” He had instructed me that we do not shoot mergansers as they are not fit to eat, and we don’t shoot what we don’t intend to consume. As luck would have it, good or bad, my shot dropped the merganser out of the air, stone dead. I retrieved the hen and took several pictures with my first duck. This was the only bird of the day, and you’d better believe that when I got home I cooked up that merganser. While it fell far short of being good, it was my obligation to eat it, and I followed through.
My first season was spent hunting entirely with Bruce. The next year I had quite a bit of free time and managed to scrape together enough to purchase a set of six decoys. Bruce loaned me his extra waders and in addition to hunting with Bruce I would go out on my own, trudging down the banks of the Hudson River in the dark a little over a mile to a large bay where the water was at a suitable depth such that I could retrieve anything I was lucky enough to harvest.
I put in morning after morning, eventually getting results. I missed almost everything I shot at with my 12ga Mossberg pump-action turkey gun. I had no calls and wore my deer hunting camo. Slowly, slowly things started coming together and I would bring home a bird or two here and there. Every time Bruce invited me, we would go out in his boat, eventually shooting a few bufflehead and mallards, as well as an exciting first goose.
(Continued in Part 2) https://duckboats.net/community/threads/decoy-rig-contest-winner-part-2.355041/
Last month I posted an essay contest on the subject, “Why I Love Duck Hunting.” The winner would receive my puddle and diver rig in exchange for a contribution of $300 to Duckboats.net. James Overland, a member of our forum from New York State, won the essay contest. In addition to James’ $300 donation, I will match that with an additional $300 donation to our forum. This past Saturday, James drove down to North Carolina and picked up my rig. I think he had a grin on his face all the way back to New York. It was terrific meeting a guy who is still relatively new to our sport.
Here is James’ essay. Due to its length I had to post it in two parts.
Blessings to you all. Lord have mercy! May God watch over Carl, Dani and all other folks we know and love as another monster storm takes aim for Florida.
Larry Eckart
On Waterfowling
My Passion for the Pursuit
James Overland
My relationship with waterfowling began the way most great couplings do these days – on the Internet.
No, I was not looking for matches on Tindr or Hinge, or whatever the popular dating app was at the time. Instead, a post by a fellow named Bruce caught my eye on the local hunting forum, HudsonValleySportsman.com. At the time I was a very avid bowhunter and turkey hunter. Hunting was my primary passion, and I knew that waterfowling was something I wanted to try, I just didn’t know how to go about it.
Living in the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York, the Hudson River is the major local body of water. I knew folks waterfowled on it, but it is a big, wide river and is tidal to boot. Waterfowling involves blinds, boats, waders, decoys, calls, and a tremendous amount of knowledge. I had exactly none of these things. Bruce’s post on Hudson Valley Sportsman stated that he was an older, avid waterfowler. He was looking for a gunning partner and had all the necessary gear as well as local knowledge.
It took me a few days to build up the courage to message Bruce. I knew I was far from the ideal partner. I had never waterfowled, was a neophyte with a shotgun, and brought nothing to the table other than enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. I finally messaged Bruce and was entirely honest with him. I told him I was a younger guy and interested in getting into waterfowling but had no experience or gear.
Bruce replied and we exchanged a few more correspondences on the forum before moving our conversation to email. I learned that Bruce had suffered a few mild heart attacks recently and no longer felt that it would be responsible to venture out on the Hudson in winter alone or undertake the very physical setting of decoys in the Hudson River mud. He was open to letting me get my feet wet, so to speak. I promised that I would do all of the work, always arrive early, would pitch in for boat fuel, and could be counted on in a pinch if things went South.
Our relationship progressed and we exchanged phone numbers and set a date. Indeed, this fledgling hunting partnership followed a great many of the same constructs of a Match.com love story. Bruce coached me through purchasing a duck stamp, registering with HIP, putting a plug in my gun, and procuring non-toxic shot. We met up in the afternoon at a boat launch and headed up the river for a mile or so, to a predetermined spot. Bruce thankfully had two sets of everything – two layout blinds, two sets of waders – everything he and I would need. We set our blinds on a point, and he instructed me in decoy setup. With great enthusiasm I trudged through the mud and the water to set out longlines and singles, unsure even of what species some of the decoys were.
Our hunt lasted several hours and produced exactly zero ducks. Not even a single duck sighting at a distance. It was warm and sunny and decidedly not miserable. At the end Bruce asked me what I thought. Despite not even catching sight of a duck on the wing, my enthusiasm was not dampened in the slightest. I loved this.
We went out on the Hudson many more times together, launching at 0-dark-thirty and heading to Bruce’s predetermined spots where we would lay in our (his) layout blinds, awaiting dawn and the hoped-for sounds of wings beating against the still air. It took several hunts before I connected on my first bird. That particular morning was special. It was overcast and low-light when a duck buzzed our decoys. I pulled the trigger and dropped it, right as Bruce yelled out “Merganser!” He had instructed me that we do not shoot mergansers as they are not fit to eat, and we don’t shoot what we don’t intend to consume. As luck would have it, good or bad, my shot dropped the merganser out of the air, stone dead. I retrieved the hen and took several pictures with my first duck. This was the only bird of the day, and you’d better believe that when I got home I cooked up that merganser. While it fell far short of being good, it was my obligation to eat it, and I followed through.
My first season was spent hunting entirely with Bruce. The next year I had quite a bit of free time and managed to scrape together enough to purchase a set of six decoys. Bruce loaned me his extra waders and in addition to hunting with Bruce I would go out on my own, trudging down the banks of the Hudson River in the dark a little over a mile to a large bay where the water was at a suitable depth such that I could retrieve anything I was lucky enough to harvest.
I put in morning after morning, eventually getting results. I missed almost everything I shot at with my 12ga Mossberg pump-action turkey gun. I had no calls and wore my deer hunting camo. Slowly, slowly things started coming together and I would bring home a bird or two here and there. Every time Bruce invited me, we would go out in his boat, eventually shooting a few bufflehead and mallards, as well as an exciting first goose.
(Continued in Part 2) https://duckboats.net/community/threads/decoy-rig-contest-winner-part-2.355041/
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