Fred McIntire
Active member
It's beginning to look a lot like duck season. The leaves are starting to fall. There's the smell of crops being harvested in the air. The Sandhill cranes have begun to make their way south to their wintering grounds. Deer season opened today here in Indiana for the archery deer hunters. In years past I would have been "sick" and woods therapy would have been the only medicine that the doctor prescribed for my treatment.
Time is a thief though. God willing, I'll be 62 come January. I don't find myself climbing many trees to sit in a deer stand any more. I prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. Dragging out a 150 pound deer by yourself is not for the faint of heart. Many a men have met their demise attempting such a feet. My rotator cuff can attest to the extreme physical demands that such a feat places on your aging body parts. I find that ducks are much easier to wrangle with.
The problem with that is the fact that I have a better chance of seeing deer in the woods than I do ducks on the water. Unfortunately, the area here in west central Indiana where I live is mostly devoid of ducks during duck season. Goose Pond is about an hour and a half from my house. It's no duck magnet by any means. Some years are better than others at Goose Pond but it's no Stuttgart by any means. It can also be a very long walk and pretty hard to get to the areas that the ducks prefer, especially for us older hunters. I don't enjoy hunting alone as much as I used to, especially in cold, deep waters where one mishap can spell
T H E E N D.
My best friend and I had big plans to be world class hunters after he retired from the military; however, he was only retired for a short while when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He's still fighting the good fight. We were able to get in a couple of dove hunts this fall, and I'm thankful for that. Unfortunately, he got married a few years ago to a woman who covets his time and attention like a toddler guarding the last French fry. It's not about the fry, it's about making sure nobody else even thinks about touching it. It's like Costco-level bulk affection. She doesn't need all of it, but heaven help you if you try to portion it out anywhere else. Jesus! Let the man enjoy the time he has left.
Speaking about retirement, I think the end is near for me, too. Come March 16, 2026, I will have 34 years completed as a law enforcement officer. I think that's enough. It's a young man's job and I'm not getting any younger. A few days ago, my grandson who lives in Florida told his teacher that he was wearing his camouflage shirt just like his Papaw, and that he misses his Papaw who lives in Indiana very much. Don't worry. I have no plans to marry one of those Costco-level bulk affection needing women.
I've been wanting to find a Barnegat Bay sneakbox boat to hunt out of and I will try to make that happen again this year. I had a MLB sneakbox boat several years ago and, like an idiot, sold it to a guy that hunts Goose Pond. Even though I don't like to hunt alone it's pretty much my only option if I really want to duck hunt so a one-man boat serves the purpose well. I'd love to find a David Clark Estuary boat or a Classic Barnegat boat. I'd really like to do a layout boat hunt for divers. I think that would be the cat's meow. Hunting Greenheads in flooded timber in Arkansas would be the experience of a lifetime too.
I think the Toby Keith song "Don't Let The Old Man In" pretty well sums it up for me. I'm just afraid that it may be too late.
I hope you've enjoyed the ramblings of this old duck hunter. If you'd like to invite me along to hunt this season I'd sure enjoy the time spent in the duck blind. Here's wishing everyone a safe, productive season......
Fred
Time is a thief though. God willing, I'll be 62 come January. I don't find myself climbing many trees to sit in a deer stand any more. I prefer to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. Dragging out a 150 pound deer by yourself is not for the faint of heart. Many a men have met their demise attempting such a feet. My rotator cuff can attest to the extreme physical demands that such a feat places on your aging body parts. I find that ducks are much easier to wrangle with.
The problem with that is the fact that I have a better chance of seeing deer in the woods than I do ducks on the water. Unfortunately, the area here in west central Indiana where I live is mostly devoid of ducks during duck season. Goose Pond is about an hour and a half from my house. It's no duck magnet by any means. Some years are better than others at Goose Pond but it's no Stuttgart by any means. It can also be a very long walk and pretty hard to get to the areas that the ducks prefer, especially for us older hunters. I don't enjoy hunting alone as much as I used to, especially in cold, deep waters where one mishap can spell
T H E E N D.
My best friend and I had big plans to be world class hunters after he retired from the military; however, he was only retired for a short while when he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. He's still fighting the good fight. We were able to get in a couple of dove hunts this fall, and I'm thankful for that. Unfortunately, he got married a few years ago to a woman who covets his time and attention like a toddler guarding the last French fry. It's not about the fry, it's about making sure nobody else even thinks about touching it. It's like Costco-level bulk affection. She doesn't need all of it, but heaven help you if you try to portion it out anywhere else. Jesus! Let the man enjoy the time he has left.
Speaking about retirement, I think the end is near for me, too. Come March 16, 2026, I will have 34 years completed as a law enforcement officer. I think that's enough. It's a young man's job and I'm not getting any younger. A few days ago, my grandson who lives in Florida told his teacher that he was wearing his camouflage shirt just like his Papaw, and that he misses his Papaw who lives in Indiana very much. Don't worry. I have no plans to marry one of those Costco-level bulk affection needing women.
I've been wanting to find a Barnegat Bay sneakbox boat to hunt out of and I will try to make that happen again this year. I had a MLB sneakbox boat several years ago and, like an idiot, sold it to a guy that hunts Goose Pond. Even though I don't like to hunt alone it's pretty much my only option if I really want to duck hunt so a one-man boat serves the purpose well. I'd love to find a David Clark Estuary boat or a Classic Barnegat boat. I'd really like to do a layout boat hunt for divers. I think that would be the cat's meow. Hunting Greenheads in flooded timber in Arkansas would be the experience of a lifetime too.
I think the Toby Keith song "Don't Let The Old Man In" pretty well sums it up for me. I'm just afraid that it may be too late.
I hope you've enjoyed the ramblings of this old duck hunter. If you'd like to invite me along to hunt this season I'd sure enjoy the time spent in the duck blind. Here's wishing everyone a safe, productive season......
Fred
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