When Did Duck Hunting "Hook" You?

[augustus_65]

Great thread. I started deer hunting and turkey hunting as a child with my father and grandfather, but didn't discver duck hunting untill I was in law school. I had a friend in law school who liked to duck hunt and asked me to go with them to hunt a little beaver pond one morning. I can still remember putting on a pair of borrowed waders for the first time and having my jeans ride up my legs and then getting soaked from all the leaks. A single drake wood duck drifted down through the timber into the hole and I dropped him. After admiring him a moment, I realized I had forgotten about being cold and wet and knew I was hooked. That was 13 years ago and I have been chasing ducks ever since. We continued hunting through law school, hunting mostly public land but making a few trips out of state. The first two purchases I made after getting my first "real" job after law school was a Benelli shotgun and a War Eagle boat. I spent several years hunting the Mobile Delta with a few friends learning how to duck hunt, making the occassional trip to Arkansas or Louisiana. I started hunting in Mississippi 6 years ago and have enjoyed every minute of it.

[chs36]

mine didn't start like none of these other stories. it wasn't no cold foggy morning, with the wind whispering through trees... none of that so ill go ahead and apologize if my story ain't as attractive. dove, deer, fishing was my favorites growing up to start. i'd go shoot ducks a couple times a year with my cousin and back then it wasn't much hunting involved. it was more of a slaughtering. we'd lay down on turn rows or on the side of the sunflower shoot till they stopped showing up or it got dark. may kill 20 may kill 70-80. we were a slight bit illegal back then... but we were young(10-14 or so) and didn't really think about it much. it was when i was about 15 or 16 i had killed all my bucks and does early at camp and shot other folks does and ran out of deer to shoot, so i started shooting tree rats, til the camp told me to stop due to messing up the deer hunters,which is understandable to me, i needed something else to shoot. i didn't want to sit home every weekend. i friend of mine i used to hunt with, woody reeves for those who might know him, told me to come on and go with them. it will beat sitting in a tree watching deer you can't shoot. so i started going with them and it became a new hobby. i think the reason i enjoyed it so much was it was something new and i had to figure it out on my own. i spent alot of time hunting by myself and learned everything trial and error. it's kinda molded me into a "old school" kinda person when it comes to hunting and fishing all together. now i did later in life,after a brief encounter with a fed and bout 29 ducks over the limit, start following the rules i bit better. i may have smugged here and there but what can i say... i'm human and there have been times where greed got the best of me. now.. i enjoy shooting ducks when we have ducks.. my favorite is still doves, fishing is probably #2, and deer and ducks would tie for 3rd. i find deer and ducks alternating alot. one year i'll be wide open on ducks... the next year it might be deer. but i owe it all to my dad.. he got me involved when he used to tote me to the woods/field. and we always had and still have great times. i do the same for my young'uns. my little girl was cleaning doves when she was 4 and my little boy is 2 and just started fishing with me. this will be his first dove season and i cant wait. he has no idea that his dog goes and gets doves !!! can't wait to see this unfold.

[greenheadgrimreaper]

he has no idea that his dog goes and gets doves !!! can't wait to see this unfold.

I'd take picture of that.


Brad, you know damn well I wasn't talkin' about you when it comes to rockstar status.

[tica-tica]

1st duck hunt was kinda like a first beer... tasted kinda funky, froze my booty off and didn't feel the effect...

then a giant flock of greenwings came in... I flock shot and rolled a bunch... been hooked ever since.

[Bruce]

1974

[PWS]

In 06 after a rather bad tour in Iraq, I came home and had kind of lost my desire to deer hunt. So me and a friend joined a duck lease in Monteray, La (and might I add not a very good one). That opening morning I went by myself, borrowed deaks, Red head waders, Mossberg pump, Estate shot, and a Duck Commander call that I had no idea how to blow. I did not kill a duck that day and pretty sure I did not even fire a shot. But hearing those ducks over my head in the fog before day light and then having them circle and give me a look, well I was hooked forever. I have come a long way in equipment and ability over the last few years, but I am thankful for that first day when I fell in love with a sport that I will enjoy until the end of my days.