Hunting with Fine Young Men

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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Staff member
Our season is off and running now and with vacation ahead of me we are looking to hunting quite a bit over the next couple of weeks. Bird counts are low from what I'm seeing but that's not too much of a surprise given the mild temps. When I woke up this morning it was in the 50s and now we are in the 60s. Some say our birds arrive according to a calendar, and that may be true, but I think the remainder of birds that haven't shown up operate under a thermometer instead, and we just need a little cold weather to push them here.

Saturday morning Bill Burruss, and his son Alex, who is home from West Point, joined me and Thomas on a diver hunt. Thomas hasn't spent that much time hunting divers and wanted to pursue them a little more. Well he got off to a great start Saturday bagging his first canvasback.

Alex is heading back soon so he won't get to hunt with us again this season, but I must admit I really enjoyed being around such a fine young man and hope Thomas takes note of Alex's maturity and good nature. The pic below was taken after the hunt on Saturday. During the hunt after Alex made a nice shot on a drake ringer and Thomas had his first canvasback I looked over to Bill and said this is great stuff. Two dads watching their boys grow up while sharing a common love for waterfowling. It's no wonder we wait all year long for the season to start.

FirstCan.jpg

 
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Good stuff Eric. Young man with his first Can is a great moment and great that you captured it with a great photo.
 
My son has come closer to home after 4 years in Oregon, now in Madison WI, (at least its closer) and he wants to hunt again after a 10 year layoff. I can't wait to be with my fine young man again doing what we enjoy doing together...I told him I have some new spots to check out and he is excited
 
Eric that is really great! Being able to hunt with your children is a true blessing. My daughter is 8 and we have hunted together several times. My son is 5 and is awating his 7th birthday anxiously so he can go also. We do squirrel hunt together and he is an expert squirrel spotter.

We moved back to AR a couple of years ago, but previously lived in Chattanooga. I hunted some down near Scottsdale on the river on the WMA there - beautiful habitat, but the ducks were thin unless we had cold and snow up north. Is that the area you hunt? It was definately a "ducky" place!

Good Luck and enjoy your season!
 
John

You must mean Scottsboro. Yep, we frequently hunt the WMAs near Scottsboro and have been doing so for 30 years. I suspect your duck hunting opportunity has improved just a tad since you moved to Arkansas. Before you know it your som will be hunting with you. Good times ahead that's for certain.

Eric
 
That is awesome Eric! You must be one proud papa?!!! I can't wait to share experiences like that with my boys. One is 7, and the other almost 2 so I have some time yet.
 
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