duckboats.net is 10 (now 20). Can you believe it?

Congrats Eric and Steve! I've only been here since the new format but love what you've created. It is the ONLY forum I participate in and I feel I've gotten to know most of the active members well enough to call them friends. The no ads and real names is great. I found the site when I was trying to find info about TDB's when my friend had one for sale. I never knew there was a WHOLE WORLD beyond Jon boats!

It has certainly changed my hunting style and my way of thinking about duck boats.

Thanks so much!

Gene Jr.
 
Congrats,Eric and Steve. Thank You for creating and maintaining such an informative and entertaining site.Without this site I doubt that I would be in the process of building my first duckboat. The wealth of knowledge here is unsurpassed!!
 
Happy Birthday duckboats.net! I got online in '99 I think and I quickly found a site made by some high school kid named Charlie in New Hampshire (maybe?) who seemed to be really excited about stuff, then somehow I got talking to a guy named Sean Peters who sent me to duckboats.net if I needed a fix of enthusiasts. I was living in Watson Lake and Meg was born then, I was staying home to look after her and Mac. I had been carving crappy working decoys with no outside influence for several years and had built a couple of crappy plywood skiffs on my own too. To say I was overwhelmed with the expertise, experience, and generosity of the people on this site is an understatement. When I saw what people used for hunting decoys I was inspired and I made a rig of 6 buffy's and 6 GE's that winter - more than I'd ever made at once before. I made a quick little duck skiff that me and Mac used mostly for fishing, and then we moved here to Whitehorse and I had a real garage for the first time ever. I made a pumpkin seed looking pond box sneak boat thing and couldn't have been prouder. With access to a real hardware store all kinds of tools started coming to live here and projects inspired by stuff off the page started to fly.

I remember when Eric shut down the page for good, and I was really sad that I would be cut off from all the good people who gathered here. I'm glad Steve jumped in.

We've lost a few since I came on, but we've gained a bunch. I've been lucky enough to meet a few guys in person, Al Paul in Brooks was the first guy, and now I'm looking forward to a visit from some guy named Dave McCann, probably and axe murderer. I look forward to meeting a bunch of you guys in Westlake next March.

I think you have a good thing going here Eric!

Mike
 
Eric and Steve, thank-you for your efforts in keeping the web site up and running. It had been a remarkable resource for serious waterfowlers, and I have really enjoyed the discussions. I am looking forward to the next 10 years!


Thanks again,

Bill
 
I’ve always thought of this site as Eric’s den. Unlike most of the net it’s friendly, we are expected to use our names and act civilly toward each other. After all these years it continues to be full of friends who share a deep interest in waterfowling and it’s associated traditions. Where how the sport is practiced is so much more important than the ”score”. 9.75 years ago I was turned onto the site. At that time I was a lite weight waterfowler that wanted to learn and do more. This site was my passport from what I’d only read about into the world of serious waterfowling. I live in Connecticut and serious waterfowlers are not very common, this site allowed me to meet a number of them. Guys who are my friends and are some of my best hunting and fishing partners.





Andrew ca.jpg
Thanks to the site, I learned to scull, attended 3 Lobsterfeasts, hosted casting parties where we turned hundreds of pounds of scrap lead into decoy anchors of all size and shapes and fishing jigs & sinkers. Twice I participated in Bill Wasson’s eider hunts. I have joined Eric and hunted out of the famous Scaup that this site was created for. Had great hunts with a number of fellow DHBP members, shot many species here locally that I had only read about, oldsquaws, scoter, brant, goldeneyes and canvasbacks. I have decoys carved by a number of DHBPguys, a Greg Stender original hanging at home and two of his prints here in the office. Also hanging on my office wall, getting a bit yellow now, is a Happy Holidays card from Jeff & Shelly Jacobs in thanks for the site’s efforts to help after the flood.





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This site has meant so much to me, allowed me to meet 100+ new friends with the same basic values and a passion for the traditions of waterfowling. In addition to thanking Eric and Steve yet again, I’d really like to thank the collective body of regulars that have made this such a great place to hang.

Thanks Eric & Steve!
 
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WOW I can't believe that it has been 10 years since I joined the page. Eric and Steve both I can't thank you enough for keeping this great site alive. I have met so many friends though this site and have had some great times and some sad here. This site and the collective friends were the first ones to come and help me when Mary spent 10 months in a hospital and I almost lost her. I can only say thank you. All the kind words and support for Mary and my family were just awesome. I have met some great folks and even my son has made some life time friends on here like Eric's and Bob B son's. I know Hank has enjoyed meeting some in person and others on the web. It was great fun posting pics of the 4 BBSB's that we built 7 years ago now. Boy does it fly by. Eric and Steve, I hope the site stays up and keeps going. This is the first and last place that I go on the web everyday. Thanks for all the fun, friends, support and experiences.
Hank Garvey (HHG)
 
Thank you Eric and Steve. I can clearly remember that day I was surfing the web looking for information on duckboats and happened on Eric's old Scaup build site. I was a bit intimidated and didn't join the forum for many years after but I printed out every page Eric's Scaup build, and that was our instruction manual for our Cackler build back in 2003. I knew I was going to like Eric when I saw a golden in his boat and we have had some pleasant conversations about dog breeding, training and hunting since, and after being slammed by Steve Sutton on my very first post, I've learned to expect a well thought out contrary opinion on most any topic. He would be fun to spend a day in a duck blind with.

And now with my present Cackler build, I have made more new friends, have recieved lots of good advice, been invited to far reaching hunting spots and reciprocated with my local areas.

Thank you guys.

John
 
Congrats Eric and thank you Steve for jumping in like you did. I found this site while reseaching duck boats around 2000 or so. I had moved back to my family grounds in 1998 to find all my buds had all given up hunting and when my dad passed in 2000 I found myself a solo hunter. I selfishly picked this spot as my virtual hunt club. I have wandered though several such clubs on the net but not one has shown me the pleasures I get from the conversations on this board. Even though it was started to document a boat (and occasionally still does) there isn't a topic (well recieved or not) that can't be found here. Best of all it's the friendships I have found from members I've met and gotten to hunt with as well as the ones yet to meet. I hope there's another 10 years.

Take care,

Ed L.
 
I joined this site a little under 2 years ago, and being younger then most on this site felt I might be "looked over", but I couldn't be farther then the truth. The members of this site are the type of people I would love to learn and be around, as I can tell by the way most carry themselves just by the way they post. I've had the pleasure to meet a couple of you and look forward in the future to meet more.
This place is so much more then a "duck killing, post up your dead tailgate shots and brag about it" type of site that I used to post on. Its a group dedicated to the "traditional" way if you will of behaving, and being stewards of this great sport.
Not having a family member (Dad,Uncle, Brother, Grandpa etc...) that hunts it makes me turn to this group of people who have done it before to show me the little things about hunting that most take for granted. I thank all for showing me either directly or indirectly about how to carry myself in the field and the countless tutorials on rigging, decoys, boats, etc... have taught me things I would have found out the hard way.

Thanks Eric and Steve, and all the great members of the DHBP

Zach Houvener
 
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10 years ago I was 13 and just getting ready to start high school. Didn't start posting til I was 18...but I'm glad i did...it's definately one of my favorite spots to see what's going on, where people are hunting, what they are doing, what boats are in the woodshop, and other such pursuits. Thanks a lot guys!!
 
Thanks Eric for a great site.

I've been lurking/semi-posting from the beginning, and can honestly say that this is by far the best resource available for waterfowlers.

I've made a lot of good friends here, and definitely wouldn't be in the duckboat business if it weren't for the "duckboat page".

Thanks!
 
Schupp showed me this site 10 years ago. I still didnt know how to operate a keyboard or even what the internet really was- amazing how things change.

Congrats and thank you for hosting a great format for sharing. I think the quality of information here is the best on the net by and large.
 
WOW. 10 years. Thats awesome. I still have no desire to build a boat, or a decoy, and probably never will. But I have learned to appricate a lot of stuff from this site. Amazing how small this site made waterfowling to me, as I learned how people in other places really do stuff. The friends Ive made from here are mind boggleing, how many Ive shared a meal, a beer, or a hunt with, let alone calls and emails and shooting the breeze. thanks for 10 years eric! travis
 
Believe it or not, we yet to anyone axe murdered upon meeting up for a decoy carving session or group duck hunt!!

I would think that would make us successful!!!
 
Thanks to Eric for starting this great place, and Steve to help keep the lights on when needed.

Here's to 10+ more!

-D
 
Lot of years, who would have thought it. Great job Eric and Steve and all those that have contributed over the years.

T
 
Wow, 10 years, that's incredible.

In our lives there are certain incidents that shape us and determine what or how we live after that experience. For me finding this site almost ten years ago was a real watershed event. I have met many guys as a result of this site and hunted with at least 50-75, but more to the point ............... I now have several new best friends and that is something that truely is 'priceless'.

The quality of experience that the participants here have at their fingertips has changed the way I look at my own hunting experience, gear, etc. It is so much more about the experience and the friends I hunt with than it ever has.

Thants to Eric, Steve and all of the other participants that make this site what it is today.

Best,

Pete
 
Wow thanks Eric and Steve, This is the first site I ever posted on. When you meet people who build things you are in great company. The helpfulness of people on this site is awe inspiring. Happy birthday Duckboats
 
Thanks Eric and Steve for a great site! Happy Birthday Duckboats! Good people, great advice, a wealth of information. A place that you can feel at home with. Here's to another 10 years!
 
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