Question For Retired Hunters

[Eric Patterson]

To those of you that no longer hunt but still consider yourself a duck hunter (as you should) after years of participation, when did you know it was time to call it a career? What lead you to your decision? Was it health, loss of desire, frustration with the sport, poor success rate, loss of partners, loss of access, economic costs, etc. etc.? Did you ease out over time or just abruptly exit? Did you call your partners and announce your decision or just quietly quit making plans to be a part of things?

Thanks for your inputs.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

To those of you that no longer hunt but still consider yourself a duck hunter (as you should) after years of participation, when did you know it was time to call it a career?

Eric,
Not sure I entirely fit your criteria but will share my thoughts.
I would consider myself a "hobbyist" duck hunter at this point in my life (74 yrs old not as spry as I once was). I go when I feel like it. I may plan to hunt the next morning when I go to bed that night. Yet get up at 3am and decide I am no longer in the mood. AND I don't regret not going.

I did that scenario in fact just this morning.
Instead, (after being up from 3am to 5am) I got up for good at 7am. Bicycled one mile to my local library, shared coffee and fried egg/cheese sandwiches with the Wed/Thurs mornings breakfast club. Followed that up with a 20 mile ride on one of the local bike paths.

The only regret with not going duck hunting, is that my dog did not get to go duck hunting.

When I was younger, I was pretty hard core regardless of the weather, the success or lack of success. I'd be the very 1st one at the boat ramp. (still am most of the time) Come back to the ramp, with the decoys (and myself,) covered in a film of ice. I once had the local police call my home to ask my wife, If I made it home the previous day. They had observed my rig sitting in the parking lot in the wee hours of the morning, figured no one would have been crazy enough to actually launch in the weather that morning and concluded that I most likely never made it home the previous day.

Yep, my wife said, I was just crazy enough to go out in such circumstances.

I guess I have reached the point I have nothing to prove. I go when I feel inclined to go, don't feel bad about the investment sitting (unused) when I don't go. This was a gradual change but only over about a 2 to 3 year period. I have other hobbies which are in the same category. For a time period I pursued them relentlessly. Now they all share my time, as I am so inclined.

I think my biggest hobby now, is "freedom". It is wonderful to not feel an "obligation" to pursue any one thing. Not that there is anything wrong with the person who has only one hobby. What ever trips your trigger.

I don't think there will ever be a time when I call it "quits". As long as I have the storage space for the equipment and I am physically able to get out, there is the possibility I will go duck hunting.

On the other hand;
One of my previous hobbies was archery. I lived and breathed archery. Spending 4 hours a day, 4-5 days a week at the range and 3 weekends a month shooting tournaments. My wife pointed out, my girls were growing up without me. Cold turkey, I quit everything about archery tournaments and practice for tournaments, except for the hunting side of my archery. I bow hunted 4 different states, for deer every year. That continued up until the time I could no longer physically participate. I went several years not hunting with a bow. Then I adapted by taking up a crossbow. I adapted my hunting style and once again I am bowhunting locally, for deer and turkey.

Now days, I may go bow hunt, I may go ride a bike, I may go fishing, or I may go duck hunting, or I may just do some woodworking. I never am 100% sure what it is I am doing, until I walk out the door.

The other day my wife asked me, "what are you doing today?"
I replied, "this morning I don't think I will do anything. Around noon I'll fix some lunch and maybe take a nap. This afternoon, I'll finish what I started this morning."

Hope you enjoyed my rambling.

 

[Todd Duncan Tennyson]

I would say that I am retired, at least for now. Back in 2012, me and my wife started a restaurant in So Oregon. We lived up in Wa and had to move to do it. I had to sell the boat, and one of my dogs kicked off and the other one was a sr by then.

Did the restaurant for about 8 years and then folded about a year before the covid BS gutted the industry (thank god) and Moved to Thailand for a few years.

I came back to SO Or about 2 years back to care for my elderly mother without my wife and with no more dogs.
Now I finally have a Golden retriever, but he won't swim and I haven't got a boat anymore. So I guess it will just be upland birds and bunnies for us. Still cherish my memories of hunting the Lower Columbia river and running my various boats in the dark and sideways wind and rain. It was exhilarating and a lot more exciting than running a restaurant or living in Thailand.

 

[SJ Fairbank]

Eric,

Your post sounds ominous. I hope I never get to the point where I call it quits.

 

[Richard Lathrop]

Eric,

Your post sounds ominous. I hope I never get to the point where I call it quits.

SJ,

I am hoping Eric is canvasing to see if there are ways to keep sport alive or understand what happens.

Rick

 

[ScottCK]

I would say I have “transitioned” instead of retired. I still get excited about going the next day and don’t miss many hunts but I don’t have to shoot. We layout hunt most of the time and I just drive the big boat for my son and son in law. I try to explain to them that the shooting is not the important part to me and that I am 100% content to just be out there with them. I don’t think they fully understand but I wouldn’t expect them to in their 20s. When they are not available, I will still go on what I call “scouting trips” so I can watch the sun come up with a good cup of coffee. If a bird comes in, it has a 50/50 chance of not being shot at. I actually told my wife last week that I honestly think I enjoy the preseason getting ready to hunt (boat work, carving, building blinds) more than I do the actual hunting. For me the hunting is just dedicated time to spend with my best friends without the distractions of everyday life.

 

[Carl]

Does moving to Tampa count as "retiring"? It was pretty much cold turkey for me.
If I was back in Mobile, I'd jump right back in. Maybe even deeper.
But for now, I am content to live duck hunting vicariously through this community and enjoy the great fishing down here.
I was telling a colleague this morning, every fall down here, I think about getting a license and stamps, but with all the non-stop boating traffic and the limited species on Tampa Bay (pretty much just bluebills so far from what I see), its just hard to get motivated.

 

[Ed L.]

Hi Eric,

I think for duck hunting has retired me. Moving around the country put me in a solo hunter position for one thing. You do things different when you hunt solo. You don't hunt as hard, or go as far and certainly avoid opportunities to get hurt. Opportunities that require groups always place you as the odd man out.

Since moving home in the late 90s I had hoped to reunite with friends I hunted with in my younger years when I was eager to go hard, and far and push the limits when the nasty weather pushed the ducks into our area. Contacting those that are still alive, I found that none of them still chase ducks and that things have drastically changed in our flyway. In the first time since 2004 I have a blind site to hunt but the river is so low I can't get to the blind site to hunt. Then I have been out in the area a lot this bow season and since our season opened on Oct 18th I'll bet I haven't heard a case a shells fired. Certainly none in my immediate area.

Knowing Dani was going to stop on her way home from a trip to Minnesota I scouted hard for a week to locate some ducks hoping I could get her on some ducks she doesn't get in Florida. There just aren't any here. Places I planned to take her are dried up with no food to keep ducks in the area outside of crop fields.

My wife tells me I get more into getting ready than actually hunting. Oh I go but all I bring home anymore are pretty sunrise and sunset pictures. I haven't put a duck in the freezer in 2 years. Can't quit now though. I still have the equipment and desire although I'm more like Dave now. I may get up at 4:30 but more mornings seems like I can find excuses not to go. I woke up to late, or it's not cloudy enough and the sun will be to bright, or not enough wind to move decoys.

In 25 years with great success in the same general area even the deer don't seem to be here anymore. I'm the only one bow hunting the islands anymore. I didn't get a deer last year. So another year goes by and at 70 years old I wonder, can I still get a deer over the gunnel? Next weekend is deer firearm season. I'll give the coming week a rest from bow hunting and if I'm lucky I'll get the opportunity to see if I can still get a deer over the gunnel.

 

[tod osier]

Hard to retire when mornings look like this.

 

[don novicki]

After today' s hunt I question why I still do it as I'm really beat. Although I had great results, and even got a band (first one in 20 years), but the pick up and chasing after a wounded goose just about did me in. Last year I had major heart problems, diagnosed with CHF, and wound up with a new valve and a defibrillator/pacer. I missed almost all last season. But today I realized that my time afield might be coming to an end unless I can hook up with younger guys that can do most of the work. I'll be 72 in Feb, and it's really difficult to do a lot of heavy lifting/pulling or walking and since I prefer to hunt alone I may be SOL pretty soon. I made the death march to my swamp 6 times this season and if that was the only place I could hunt, I'd call it quits after this year. Every year it gets harder, but it's tough to say goodbye to something that you have done and love for the last 40+ years. Not sure what's ahead but more than likely I'll be back next season enjoying the days afield. I just can't quit.

 

[Carl]

Interesting reading all around, thanks for posting everyone!
Please keep the stories and experiences coming.

 

[William Reinicke]

Eric,
I am no where near retired and no idea when that day comes or why it will come. Its a funny game, and ive seen MANY hardcore hunters leave the game over time. Its funny, as ive been playing this game, in my area of the country, for 20ish years now. Ive seen some really good hunters just give it up. Where i live, its the driving and the long travel that gets to guys mostly. I often think that will be what makes me quit as it takes super long drives to get to birds. I have plenty of options, so if I dont feel like marching through knee deep mud, I can find other options in that same area. Its not the physical that gets to me, its the 1- 2 am alarms to beat the sunrise after a long drive that gets old over time. One of my best friends, an absolute caller and killer, just gave it up one day. It was very weird as I saw him as a mentor in so many ways, just told me he was done. This was 8ish years ago. The invite was always there for him, but he would rather sit at home and read the newspaper and drink coffee, and watch the success from a distance. He just lost the desire to be in the field. He had been at the game for 33 years at that point. Just this last weekend, when my buddy flew into town to get after it with us, he said he was coming. It was the first time he had touched his lips to a duck call in 9 years. He was always a helluva shot and a still shoots sporting clays, so he wasnt at all rusty. He still got the same fired up excitement when that first flight of mallard decoyed, and I think when he saw all my updated gear (I was a poor poor kid when he gave it up with not nearly the stuff I have now), he finally told me the other day, its still a bit warm for my liking but when you get back from that elk hunt, I think i would like to finish this season up with you. I thought maybe he only came this last weekend to spend some time with one of our buddies who moved away, but something sparked that fire again, and I really hope so, as he was one of the best times chasing fowl with.

But there have been some killers in my area that jus stop. I have literally no idea what makes them get to that point. The only thing I ever struggle with is that uber early alarm and that 3-5 hour drive in front of me to shoot my ducks and maybe geese. Ive already been guilty of just turning the alarm off and sleeping in, but the guilt that sets in after I do that once or twice, kills me still. Thats how I know Im still going to play this game. The day I do that, and I dont have that feeling of self guilt for not putting in the energy, is the day I worry I may never wake up to another alarm. With all my truck issues and not being able to tow a boat, when I wanted to, made me realize also, you dont know what you are missing when you dont have it. Im losing my mind this year not being able to run and gun when I wanted to. So again, it just emphasizes even more the want to be in the field still.

 

[William Reinicke]

Also, there are those every week gunners (myself now), and then there are those that were like me who figured out times of year and where to be based on water levels and temperature and they know when to be out. Ive played the game so long, i have a good idea on areas of this part of the country to be on what times of the year. Then I just pay attention to water levels and temperature and fine tune exact locations I like to be and 75% of the time, im not wrong and have great hunts. Nothing is ever 100%, and im the first to admit that but my success rate is pretty high. I do know some killers that just hunt certain times and certain locations when the stars align. They may only hunt 6-8 times a year, but thats what fowl hunting turned into for them. I wonder if over time thats what it will turn into for me as well. Knowing when it will be good and just getting in good hunts here and there vs going every week, multiple times and basing success on weekly results.

 

[Larry Eckart]

Guys (and Dani),

The change in my duck hunting investment came primarily through two moves. If I still lived in Michigan, I would duck hunt. I have not lived in Michigan for 15 years. Work moved me first to Hilton Head and then in retirement to North Carolina.

When I arrived in NC in 2019, knowing the historic places of NC duck lore, I expected to restart the passion. I sold my Boston Whaler and bought a 16’ used Lund. I traveled to upstate Michigan to reclaim a clamp on duck blind for the tin boat.

All for naught. Where I lived in southern Michigan wasn’t duck heaven compared to Nodak, but compared to public opportunities in NC, it was duck heaven.

When I tell guys here that the primary managed areas of Michigan like Harsen’s Island and Shiawassee Game Area have 5,000+ birds on a refuge next to the huntable area, they think I’m telling stories. When I tell them of hunting on Lake St. Clair, both the US side and Canadian side, they ask how many blinds are handed down from one generation to another, tying up most of the public water as in Currituck Sound and parts of Pamlico Sound. When I say, “none”, they wonder why I left.

Yes, I can jump shoot woodies here on some creeks and back water.

But I decided to pivot to deer hunting giving me much more freedom, privacy and great opportunity on the public lands here in NC.

I’m sad about pivoting from duck hunting. But I am very happy getting out in the woods during the week, rarely seeing another hunter, and usually harvesting a deer or two each year. And my once a year fly fishing trip to eastern TN is becoming two or three trips a year.

Sometimes you just have to adapt to the changes life throws at you and be grateful that you still have the physical health to enjoy the outdoors.

Larry


This is a pic from mid-Michigan the day before the recent snow. Mallards, pintails, wigeon, teal, bluebills swarmed in from the prairie ahead of the snow.

 

[William Reinicke]

Guys (and Dani),

The change in my duck hunting investment came primarily through two moves. If I still lived in Michigan, I would duck hunt. I have not lived in Michigan for 15 years. Work moved me first to Hilton Head and then in retirement to North Carolina.

When I arrived in NC in 2019, knowing the historic places of NC duck lore, I expected to restart the passion. I sold my Boston Whaler and bought a 16’ used Lund. I traveled to upstate Michigan to reclaim a clamp on duck blind for the tin boat.

All for naught. Where I lived in southern Michigan wasn’t duck heaven compared to Nodak, but compared to public opportunities in NC, it was duck heaven.

When I tell guys here that the primary managed areas of Michigan like Harsen’s Island and Shiawassee Game Area have 5,000+ birds on a refuge next to the huntable area, they think I’m telling stories. When I tell them of hunting on Lake St. Clair, both the US side and Canadian side, they ask how many blinds are handed down from one generation to another, tying up most of the public water as in Currituck Sound and parts of Pamlico Sound. When I say, “none”, they wonder why I left.

Yes, I can jump shoot woodies here on some creeks and back water.

But I decided to pivot to deer hunting giving me much more freedom, privacy and great opportunity on the public lands here in NC.

I’m sad about pivoting from duck hunting. But I am very happy getting out in the woods during the week, rarely seeing another hunter, and usually harvesting a deer or two each year. And my once a year fly fishing trip to eastern TN is becoming two or three trips a year.

Sometimes you just have to adapt to the changes life throws at you and be grateful that you still have the physical health to enjoy the outdoors.

Larry

View attachment 70689
This is a pic from mid-Michigan the day before the recent snow. Mallards, pintails, wigeon, teal, bluebills swarmed in from the prairie ahead of the snow.

If i moved to the east coast... I would sell all my duck hunting stuff and retire in a hurry lol. I would probably still find ways to goose hunt though.

 

[Vince Pagliaroli]

Retired from a job? Yes.

Retried from waterfowl hunting and the lifestyle? No.

I have cut back due to to these reasons.

1) Access is very poor in NY compared to my many years in PA. It was easy to waterfowl hunt the way I wanted to in PA either with gunning partners or solo. Plenty of public places in the Commonwealth of PA. Very few hoops to jump through.

2) Waterfowling no longer governs my life as it once did for 50+ years. I consider all those years (not just the seasons) a investment I made that is now in my older years paying off in ways one doesn't consider when yer "Hard At It". I have no need to kill waterfowl for food, and because I could as I did in the past. I much prefer to have folks hunt over my decoys and enjoy the experience. That said I love hunting and eating Wood Ducks and Teal. When the taste for wild goose hits me I look for them and one goose is enough. I still go scouting almost everyday.. that habit I cannot break.

3) Age. At 75 and with a few medical issues the way over and boarder line crazy things some types of waterfowling calls us to do ain't happening. I have made it this far so Pick & Choose works much better now.

The loss of many hunting partners over the years did and still does impact my life. They are never forgotten. One adjusts and carries on as well as possible. I'm still involved in DU and try to keep abreast of all things waterfowl. Still preach the gospel of Decoy Carving and the wonderful avenues and friendships that it opens in life.

I could blather on and on but won't. I will say this. Old Duck Hunters Don't Retire They Die. That's the full circle.

Vince

 

[Fred McIntire]

Well, I'll be 62 years old this coming January, God willing. I'm not retired from working or hunting; however, I'm thinking that come March 16, 2026, I'm going to hang up my gun belt and retire from the police department. I'll have 34 years of service. I think that's enough. Sadly, we just had a bright, young sheriff's deputy killed this morning while assisting a disabled semi tractor trailer on the interstate a couple hours north of Indianapolis. He'd only been on the job a few years and had just gotten married this past June. I don't want to be the third guy on the match so to speak.

I've drifted in and out of duck hunting over the years. It's hard to find anyone who hunts with a passion. My Dad was my hunting and fishing partner until he passed away in 2001. It was never too hot or too cold for him. I remember one year we were deer hunting and it was snowing pretty good. He hadn't arrived back at the truck yet and I was getting a little worried about him so I went to where I knew he was sitting on his signature 5-gallon bucket. There he was sitting there with gun in hand and a 1/2" or more of snow on the bill of his cap. He would have stayed as long as it was legal shooting time if I hadn't come to get him. Those were the greatest days!

I've hunted with a fellow who I'd consider my duck hunting mentor since I was a 10th grade student at the high school where he taught my biology class. I think he's 75 years old now. He's one of those guys that you can plan a hunt for 2 months in advance and, without fail, he'll call the night before and cancel on you. Time and time again. I finally learned to just accept it and not be surprised. I have another friend who has stage 4 cancer. Before he was diagnosed we had planned to hunt like nobody's business when he retired from the National Guard. Unfortunately he married a woman who has to be the center of attention and insert herself in everything he tries to do. We were supposed to go pheasant hunting next week in South Dakota. I haven't heard from him in over a month. I refuse to call him. Dyed in the wool hunters are very hard to find.

I would say that my greatest obstacles to duck hunting, or hunting in general, are 1) being able to find someone who truly enjoys hunting with a passion, 2) access to hunting properties, 3) being in a flyway where ducks actually come through on their migration. I live in west central Indiana and I just haven't seen many ducks. That may be tied to having the properties to hunt though.

As I approach retirement I find myself struggling with my own mortality. That's one reason I am looking to retire in March. I want to be able to hunt, fish, and spend time with my children and grandchildren before I'm too old and sick to be able to enjoy it/them. The children and grandchildren all live in Florida and I'm in Indiana. I find myself wanting to downsize the gun collection and the "things" I've accumulated over the years. The kids have no idea what the guns and stuff are worth. It would be a real burden to saddle them with dealing with all that.

Will I ever retire from hunting and fishing? I don't know. I highly doubt it. The question becomes what that will look like in 5 or 10 years. I would rather them find me dead in the woods with my favorite deer rifle across my lap as opposed to laying in a nursing home with someone changing my diaper.

As a side note, being totally serious, I'm up to driving 4 hours, possibly more, in any direction from Indianapolis, Indiana if anyone wants to share a blind.

Fred

 

[Steve Sanford]

To those of you that no longer hunt but still consider yourself a duck hunter (as you should) after years of participation, when did you know it was time to call it a career? What lead you to your decision? Was it health, loss of desire, frustration with the sport, poor success rate, loss of partners, loss of access, economic costs, etc. etc.? Did you ease out over time or just abruptly exit? Did you call your partners and announce your decision or just quietly quit making plans to be a part of things?

Thanks for your inputs.

Good morning, All~

I am enjoying all that I am reading on this thread - but do not yet fit the category. I have just begun my 60th season pursuing this Grand Passion that we all share. I do something with the sport just about every day of the year - boats, decoys, artwork, stories, history and the rest. For at least the past 40 years, I have done a fair bit of teaching and mentoring - usually informally and mostly one-on-one. I do recognize, though, that my drive is diminishing. I am not "retired" from duck shooting - and have no plans to do so - but am clearly in the senescent phase of my field activities.

I was introduced to the term in a zoology lecture - maybe in 1972. Wikipedia defines it thus: Senescence or biological aging is the gradual deterioration of functional characteristics in living organisms.

For most of my 59 seasons I hunted as much as my schedule would allow.

For example, when I was on Long Island and we had but 30 days in the duck season, I would hunt virtually every day. Access was fairly easy if you had the boat, motor, trailer and tow vehicle and I hunted all around the Island. I rarely hunted a full day and only occasionally joined others. I had a small cohort of like-minded waterfowlers and my Dad with whom I was happy to be afield.
A small band of us got a head start each October and drove across the Empire State to hunt for a few days in St. Lawrence County (across from Ontario). We built many fine memories for about 20 years up North. One year we brought my Dad along.


I have hunted out-of-state only a couple of times - Jersey and Maine - as we have always had ample opportunities near where I lived. Once I moved "upstate" to dairy country - 1996 - I made sure to get down to Long Island once or twice each year, usually in January (after when we had closed up here).

My senescence began for 2 reasons, about 5 years ago. One factor was the loss of vision in my right eye (arterial blockage of unknown origin....). Thus, I could no longer enjoy that magical feeling of lifting my Model 12 upward and just the right amount ahead of my targets - and watching the dead-in-the-air outcome more often than not. I lost my right-hand shooting in 2019 and decided to not shoot the remainder of that season - for reasons of safety. I shot left-handed in 2020 and did better than I expected. I brought 22 birds home that season. Not bad for a "one-eyed fat man" (John Wayne and True Grit bestowed my new moniker: Cap'n Fowler was now Rooster Foghorn....) Instead of dead-in-the-air, more birds were knocked down, to be retrieved by my partner Jamie Woods and his lab Boo. I lost no downed birds that year - but the satisfaction of shooting lost quite a bit of its luster.

The second reason was a dearth of ducks. I have lived here on the farm for 29 years now. I have watched waterfowl numbers carefully over that time and have observed a dramatic reduction recently. Conditions on the landscape have not changed in the "territory" throughout which we have pursued waterfowl for almost 3 decades. The 2 significant declines are Mallards and Canada Geese. Here on the farm we have 3 ponds. Over the years we have a hundred or more birds on these waters each Fall: mostly Woodlies early on, with mostly Mallards by November or so. The Wood Duck numbers seem about the same; we saw our first Mallards this year just last Sunday - and only 3 of them. We always - for the first 24 or 25 seasons - had 50 to 100 Mallards on our ponds before freeze-up. I believe the decline is attributable to HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza). My hypothesis this that both Mallards and Canadas use human-affected habitats more than many other waterfowl species and so are more susceptible. I cannot substantiate this with hard data, of course.

In any event, my take on waterfowl has declined from a typical 30 to 50 birds per season down to 1 or none for the past 4 seasons. Year-round I spend lots of time out in the natural world and still get afield every few days. And, I usually let guests take the shots on the few opportunities. Here is Jamie Woods, Ruthie and a few Woodlies here on the Hickory Swamp.



I no longer hunt every day - but am not close to "retiring". My Dad shot his last Brant in January 2011 - and died on Memorial Day a few months later at age 86. I am only 72 - so only Time will tell how my adventure ends. My one eye and my two man-made knees will keep getting afield, out to the shop, around the farm, at the easel - and here at the laptop - sharing with whomever will listen (or read). My participation in this "sport" will not end, however, for lack of interest, enjoyment or satisfaction.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Blake K]

Don't know that I could ever just quit completely. Been waterfowl hunting 45+ years and love it, but definitely have changed over the years. I was pretty hardcore--scout hrs on end, hunt every chance I could, rise early and beat people to spots, etc. Nowadays since I have my own 88 acre moist soil unit which is 2 1/4 miles by road, 1 mile by the way the crow flies, from my house. Thus, I rarely hunt any place else. Hard to beat not having to beat guys to your spot--can get up 45 minutes before LST and drive side by side there, launch layout boat if needed, throw out decoys and still have 10 minutes or so before LST. I am fortunate in that I can keep my side by side with all my gear and boats attached, locked up at my house so literally just hope on side by side and go. Like anywhere some hunts we shoot ducks, some days we dont. And like others on here--sometimes I dont plan to go until I wake up and decide last second to go, and some days I plan to go but change my mind after I get up.

I think I enjoy the preparation for the season--mowing, brushing blinds, spraying the undesirable weeds, as much as if not more than the hunt itself. There is something special to being able to waterfowl hunt your own property and being able to manage it the way you see fit. When I have my unit full of water, I can be found most sunsets sitting in my chair observing the ducks and geese coming into roost while I am enjoying a single cocktail, sorta like sitting on a beach watching the sunset to those beach lovers.

Its definitely not about limits anymore, but the satisfaction of providing high quality duck habitat and maybe shooting a duck or two on occasion.

I do still go on 2 annual waterfowl trips a year: 1) 3 day hunt with my dad and son in Manitoba and 2) 3 day hunt with my buddies somewhere in the states-this year Oklahoma. We do not freelance on these trips and honestly that is probably why I enjoy these trips--Get to spend some quality time with family and friends both in the blind and out of the blind.

 

[Larry Eckart]

Don't know that I could ever just quit completely. Been waterfowl hunting 45+ years and love it, but definitely have changed over the years. I was pretty hardcore--scout hrs on end, hunt every chance I could, rise early and beat people to spots, etc. Nowadays since I have my own 88 acre moist soil unit which is 2 1/4 miles by road, 1 mile by the way the crow flies, from my house. Thus, I rarely hunt any place else. Hard to beat not having to beat guys to your spot--can get up 45 minutes before LST and drive side by side there, launch layout boat if needed, throw out decoys and still have 10 minutes or so before LST. I am fortunate in that I can keep my side by side with all my gear and boats attached, locked up at my house so literally just hope on side by side and go. Like anywhere some hunts we shoot ducks, some days we dont. And like others on here--sometimes I dont plan to go until I wake up and decide last second to go, and some days I plan to go but change my mind after I get up.

I think I enjoy the preparation for the season--mowing, brushing blinds, spraying the undesirable weeds, as much as if not more than the hunt itself. There is something special to being able to waterfowl hunt your own property and being able to manage it the way you see fit. When I have my unit full of water, I can be found most sunsets sitting in my chair observing the ducks and geese coming into roost while I am enjoying a single cocktail, sorta like sitting on a beach watching the sunset to those beach lovers.

Its definitely not about limits anymore, but the satisfaction of providing high quality duck habitat and maybe shooting a duck or two on occasion.

I do still go on 2 annual waterfowl trips a year: 1) 3 day hunt with my dad and son in Manitoba and 2) 3 day hunt with my buddies somewhere in the states-this year Oklahoma. We do not freelance on these trips and honestly that is probably why I enjoy these trips--Get to spend some quality time with family and friends both in the blind and out of the blind.

Very nice post Blake. You are blessed to have "graduated" to your own duck hunting property!