NDR: leaving on a jet plane soon

Anthony A

Anthony A

Well-known member
I will soon be leaving North America for different, European, pastures for work for the forseeable future and I wanted to pause for a moment to reflect on what I will be missing.

I will miss the relative freedom to drive down a dirt road, throw on some waders or an orange vest, take my gun out, and head off into the woods/marsh. Such a thing will not exist where I will be going. It will be a land of hunting clubs. Not that there is anything bad about hunting clubs! They are essential when land and opportunity is limited! The potential high cost to belong to a club is what worries me, and is directly related to the long list of hunters wanting to hunt, and availability of hunting land. It can turn into an "exclusive" club pretty quickly.

Easy access to water - in my few trips to Switzerland, I haven’t really seen anything like a public boat launch. My wife looked into what I would need to be able to drive my boat out onto the lake - nothing short of taking a course, passing a theory exam, followed by an actual "road test" out on the water; the license would be valid for that body of water only!! This was why we decided to sell a lot of my gear (at a loss!), give a bunch to friends, and to store everything else (Estuary, firearms, and all remaining hunting gear and clothes) in Canada until we see which way the wind blows. Who know where we'll be a year from now (or three, or five)? It was a bit of a pain with lots of paperwork, but it all worked out in the end. That being said, I will miss the feeling of cold water in my face as I'm standing up in my boat, with the tiller in my left hand, holding on to the boat with my right, trying to navigate the meadowlands and great or barnegat bays in the wee hours.

I will also miss paddling my Aquapod up (or down) a tidal creek, turning a corner, lifting my gun up to my shoulder, hoping to jump a wood duck, teal, mallard or whatever. This is an extremely successful method of hunting, although can be difficult to do, factoring in current, tide, wind, angle of the boat as it turns a corner. The 'pod andf my better decoys are now with a good friend, a recent college graduate. I wish him luck, but I doubt he'll have the time, energy, or the inspiration, to hunt like I did :)

Hunting partners… I will miss them greatly. Hopefully, I will be able to travel back to the US for work reasons in the middle of hunting season, and I'll be able to borrow a pair of waders and a shotgun and hitch a ride into the marsh with a good friend. I was also contemplating organizing a trip for a two day pheasant/rabbit hunt or something in eastern Europe. Not sure if/when that would work out and if time/$$$ would allow my buddies to come…
What I don’t look forward to: High cost of living.

What I look forward to: Mountains! Lots of mountains! Getting back into rock climbing! Hiking! Skiing! Mountain biking! Great public transportation! Being in the center of Europe, with Italy, Germany and France just a few hours away - so much to see and do! Reaching out to aunts, uncles and cousins still living in Europe (both my parents left their familes behind when they came to Canada in the '50s).The swiss have some of the most liberal gun laws in all of Europe, I look forward to lots of shooting!

I will not be leaving the site! I will still visit daily and will be living vicariously through all of you!

Take care guys. Keep the traditions alive for the next generation!

Sincerely

Anthony
 
Anthony,
I wish you the best with your new adventure. Kinda bad timing with duck season right around the corner but sometimes that's the way it goes. I will try to post pics as often as I can to try to keep you in the loop. Maybe the wind will bring you back this way for more seasons to come. Good luck.
 
Chris, you stole the words out of my mouth. Anthony, thanks for making duckboats.net a hangout of yours and all that you shared. I wish you the best as you head overseas and hope you find an activity that will replace your love for waterfowling. You've been a valued member of duckboats.net and I hope that continues.

Eric
 
Best of luck in your new adventure in life. If you ever do plan on heading back, even for short periods, let us know and I am sure someone will be able to find a spot in the blind/boat for you. Just give us a shout.
 
Anthony, Best of luck in your new endeavors. Will miss seeing you at Tuckerton, but it's good you'll still be in the DHBP loop, Jode
 
Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for the kind words and messages! I am honestly saddened that my time in NJ has come to an end. It takes a lot of knocking, but it really is an interesting place to work, live and hunt. There's a little bit of everything, and people come from all over the US and the world to come live, work and play here. If I could, I would come back here again; if only for duck hunting within sight of Manhattan and the Empire State Building :)

I will stay on duckboats.net and provide my $0.02 when I can, and where appropriate!

Sincerely

AA-
 
Good luck Anthony. My oldest sons studio is in Manhattan and he lives in Brooklyn. He informed me a few weeks back I'm going to be a grandpa. Never could get him interested in hunting but it sounds funny to a midwest flatlander even though I know there is a rich history of hunting there. I've never thought about hunting where you can see the Manhattan sky line.
 
Don't know where to start from, met Anthony through this site and found a fantastic hunting partner, when i met him i had only one season under my belt and together we learned a lot, i'm going to miss long talks while waiting for the birds and the two Estuaries parked side by side.
I'll have to figure things out again as we together had formulated a system for divers and sea ducks . I was there when he shot his first Bluebill, 2 drakes infact, we shot our first Old Squaw, first Widgeon , first Eider together.
I'm going to miss a partner i could always count on, always eager to go out and venture new areas, one who held me by the belt while i climbed on the outboard to cut the longline tangled in the prop in four ft sea and above all as crazy about duck hunting as i am.
Dude i'm going to miss you, we started as hunting buddies and became family friends, thanks for the the good times, guidence and encouragement.
Hopefully i'll catch you in Switzerland, best of luck
Farrukh
 
Don't know where to start from, met Anthony through this site and found a fantastic hunting partner, when i met him i had only one season under my belt and together we learned a lot, i'm going to miss long talks while waiting for the birds and the two Estuaries parked side by side.
I'll have to figure things out again as we together had formulated a system for divers and sea ducks . I was there when he shot his first Bluebill, 2 drakes infact, we shot our first Old Squaw, first Widgeon , first Eider together.
I'm going to miss a partner i could always count on, always eager to go out and venture new areas, one who held me by the belt while i climbed on the outboard to cut the longline tangled in the prop in four ft sea and above all as crazy about duck hunting as i am.
Dude i'm going to miss you, we started as hunting buddies and became family friends, thanks for the the good times, guidence and encouragement.
Hopefully i'll catch you in Switzerland, best of luck
Farrukh
Click to expand...

Aw shucks dude. I'm getting all misty eyed :) We'll keep in touch for sure!
 
Dwight,

I will be the Associate Director running the PMO (Project Management Office) for R&D out of the head office. It's a small EU Pharmaceutical company who is not yet big enough to feel comfortable with relocating people - so this is a big deal :) expectations are high!

Anthony
 
Dwight,

I will be the Associate Director running the PMO (Project Management Office) for R&D out of the head office. It's a small EU Pharmaceutical company who is not yet big enough to feel comfortable with relocating people - so this is a big deal :) expectations are high!

Anthony
Click to expand...


Oh, so you'll be the AD of the PMO for R&D at the HO of a EU Rx Co...why didn't you just say so!

So who's expectations are high of whom, theirs of you, yours of them, or both? Any case, good luck, and don't be a stranger.

Best
Chuck
 
Anthony,

It was a pleasure to meet you. Call me when you come back for some needed "therapy".

Call Lenny Maiorano. He wants to speak with you. He will fill you in on the Swiss stuff. His wife is from there and he visits yearly and knows the "spots".
 
Chuck, you're too funny. The expectations will be high on both ends! It's a completely new job, building upon my experiences from the old one.

Mike: it was pleasure meeting you too :) I'll give Lenny a call.

Sincerely

Anthony
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top