Chris Townsend
New member
Greetings! I've been enjoying reading the posts and was encouraged to introduce myself as a new forum member. I look forward to reading more and getting to know y'all.
My hunting career really didn't take off until my son was about 8 years old and told me that he'd like to go hunting. Most of the outdoor pursuits that I participate in these days are because of that young man's desire to explore the world via hunting and fishing. I went on a few outings growing up that included pheasant hunting in Washington state and a couple of deer hunts but my father was very busy as an Army Ranger and we just didn't get out that much.
Years later as a dad myself, when my son expressed a desire to hunt, I poured over books and Youtube videos and NC Wildlife classes and then we'd take to the field. Had I not gone through the steep learning curve of learning on my own later in life I don't think I'd have appreciated authors like Bill Heavey, and his classics: "You aren't lost if you can still see the truck" or "If you didn't bring jerky, what did I just eat?" Fast forward 8 years and we've taken many squirrels, deer, ducks, and turkey almost exclusively on public land. Shhh, don't tell anyone as most of the people I meet think the public lands are a zoo. Other than duck hunting that just hasn't been true for us.
Our duck hunting started 3 seasons ago. During the October opener we hunted two spots after having scouted them and somehow managed to bag several wood ducks and two geese. I shot my first wood duck drake and it literally landed at my feet! I quickly picked it up and threw it into the creek for my dog to retrieve - good girl!
The opening day of that first November split was not nearly as kind. I had hip waders on and there were guys already in the hole we had scouted the few days prior to the opener. We moved on past them as far as we could and saw plenty of birds. By the time we saw them they were LONG gone, just a fleeting moment of realizing I had seen a duck and should have been ready. I also thought, how are you supposed to shoot something moving that fast! We both fell in, got soaked and it was a ~ 20 degree morning. We left the swamp freezing, shivering, and without a single duck. As we walked out my son and I commiserated about how insane that experience was compared to the October opener. I fell in again both forward and backward in hip waders that filled up and said a few choice profanities, apologized to my son and then I said: "As crazy as that was, I can't wait to get back out again." My son agreed and we've been hooked ever since.
We've learned a lot since then and have made, I'm sure, every mistake in the book. All that said, my son got three banded wood ducks this past October opener. Three different waves of birds and three bands! He's stoked as you can imagine.
Kindest regards from Apex, NC!
View attachment TimShi.png
View attachment Band.png
View attachment Geese.png
My hunting career really didn't take off until my son was about 8 years old and told me that he'd like to go hunting. Most of the outdoor pursuits that I participate in these days are because of that young man's desire to explore the world via hunting and fishing. I went on a few outings growing up that included pheasant hunting in Washington state and a couple of deer hunts but my father was very busy as an Army Ranger and we just didn't get out that much.
Years later as a dad myself, when my son expressed a desire to hunt, I poured over books and Youtube videos and NC Wildlife classes and then we'd take to the field. Had I not gone through the steep learning curve of learning on my own later in life I don't think I'd have appreciated authors like Bill Heavey, and his classics: "You aren't lost if you can still see the truck" or "If you didn't bring jerky, what did I just eat?" Fast forward 8 years and we've taken many squirrels, deer, ducks, and turkey almost exclusively on public land. Shhh, don't tell anyone as most of the people I meet think the public lands are a zoo. Other than duck hunting that just hasn't been true for us.
Our duck hunting started 3 seasons ago. During the October opener we hunted two spots after having scouted them and somehow managed to bag several wood ducks and two geese. I shot my first wood duck drake and it literally landed at my feet! I quickly picked it up and threw it into the creek for my dog to retrieve - good girl!
The opening day of that first November split was not nearly as kind. I had hip waders on and there were guys already in the hole we had scouted the few days prior to the opener. We moved on past them as far as we could and saw plenty of birds. By the time we saw them they were LONG gone, just a fleeting moment of realizing I had seen a duck and should have been ready. I also thought, how are you supposed to shoot something moving that fast! We both fell in, got soaked and it was a ~ 20 degree morning. We left the swamp freezing, shivering, and without a single duck. As we walked out my son and I commiserated about how insane that experience was compared to the October opener. I fell in again both forward and backward in hip waders that filled up and said a few choice profanities, apologized to my son and then I said: "As crazy as that was, I can't wait to get back out again." My son agreed and we've been hooked ever since.
We've learned a lot since then and have made, I'm sure, every mistake in the book. All that said, my son got three banded wood ducks this past October opener. Three different waves of birds and three bands! He's stoked as you can imagine.
Kindest regards from Apex, NC!
View attachment TimShi.png
View attachment Band.png
View attachment Geese.png
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