The current state of the world allows just about anyone to have a hot take on just about anything. Television networks and radio shows are built around that premise, and social media has provided any opinionated person with an account to share their 2 cents. Good, bad or indifferent, the ability to provide or combat someone’s opinion is where we are as a society.
Duck hunting is no different.
Since its launch a year ago, “The Standard Sportsman” podcast, co-hosted by Brent Birch and Cason Short, has been a dynamic platform for a variety of guests to share their insights into the world of ducks and duck hunting. Each episode contributes to the ongoing dialogue about the state of the sport. And our individual inboxes are constantly filled with engaging commentary, keeping the conversation alive and vibrant.
The current downturn in duck hunting has coffee shops, group texts and social media posts brimming with a range of fixes for what ails the sport. Some are based on facts relying on waterfowl ecology and research. Others are random thoughts that start with a notion from one that builds into an army of believers.
Far too often, fixes or wrongdoings that lead to the decline are narrowly based on one’s decoy spread or agenda — and rarely on what is best for the ducks. If the waterfowling community put the resource first when looking for solutions, the duck’s ability to fill the skies again would likely happen much faster. More ducks lead to better hunting opportunities and, subsequently, success.
We end most episodes, if time allows, by asking the guests if they could change one thing with modern-day duck hunting, what would it be? The answers have been wide-ranging with proposed solutions covering culture issues to easing the pressure on the resource to habitat improvements. This ear-to-the-ground absorption of hunters’ opinions confirms it is not one blatant thing the sport of duck hunting needs to get back on track.
For the magazine, I selected three faithful podcast listeners who I believe have a good perspective on the sport at large. Hopefully, their input will inspire Greenhead readers to think about their one thing or open their minds to someone else’s “change one thing” so we can get back to those glory days again.
Whitt Hartz
Stuttgart
Better Than We Found It
Duck hunting is a sport that is very rich in tradition and is more of a way of life in the state of Arkansas. The experiences it can create make it unique and easy to love. Beautiful scenes throughout the season are a guarantee. You get to see hard work pay off, whether through habitat improvements you worked on or the offseason training you did with your four-legged companion. You get to experience the mind-blowing ability of waterfowl to migrate thousands of miles and return to the same areas year after year. Duck hunting is a social sport, so the icing on the cake is that you get to experience all of these things alongside your best friends and family, which truly matters.
All of these things, especially the last one, are blessings God gives us. Because of this, we have the responsibility to give back to the resource of waterfowl. The opportunities are plentiful. Get involved in conservation organizations by volunteering your time. Get youth involved in the sport and teach them the responsibility to leave things better than we found it. Lead by example and teach people the difference between right and wrong by practicing ethical hunting practices. Respect the resource by ensuring you don’t waste what you harvest. I’ve stumbled upon piles of ducks in ditches, and I know it’s common practice by many people today. Local food banks always need food and will gladly take it.
If there’s one thing I could change about duck hunting, it would be to see a collective effort to leave the sport better than we found it. Imagine the power of collaboration between outfitters and brands to boost conservation efforts or develop youth programs. How inspiring would it be to see competitors setting aside their differences for the betterment of our sport? It’s not just about what we do as individuals, but about what we can achieve together. And pulling on the same end of the rope ensures that the sport we love is preserved for future generations.
At the end of the day, it’s not about how many limits you killed and how fast you got them. It’s not about what brand of clothing you wear, what species of ducks you harvest or where you shop for your gear. If we want to protect our sport for generations, I think it’s more important than ever for hunters, outfitters and brands to look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we are putting the resource first and foremost.
Forrest Carvajal
Greenbrier
Piles Make Smiles…?
It is a cool, crisp morning. Stars are starting to fade away, and the sun’s yellow glow is beginning to pop. The distinct sound of whistling wings overhead starts and is followed by the blast of a mallard hen. If you are a duck hunter, then you have probably experienced this scenario at least once in your hunting career. It is a promising start to the hunt. It gives you hope that your planning and setup will pay off. What is the true payoff?
At the core of every duck hunt, the goal is to harvest some ducks. If you aren’t there to shoot some ducks, then you are pretty much just bird-watching. However, at the end of the hunt, is a pile of ducks the only thing that produces a smile? You should not feel bad for shooting your full limit of birds with your buddies and taking that picture with your “pile.”
But I want to challenge you to dig deeper and see if that pile is the source of your pleasure or something more.
This was my dog’s first season, and he had good and bad moments like most. During one hunt, I got to watch him track down five out of five birds we shot that landed deep in some cattails. I sent him into the cattails, and we could not see each other. He had to rely purely on his nose to track down the birds and bring them back. This was by far my favorite hunt of the season. If you have a duck dog, I’m sure you can relate to these moments of watching your dog bring more value to your hunts.
What about those times when the ducks make you feel like you are the best duck caller in the world? I remember the first time I had this feeling. I was hunting a slough right next to Millwood, and two gadwalls were flying off the lake. I was using an RNT Short Barrel made from Cocobolo. I let out a five-to-seven note cadence, and those gadwalls went wing tip to wing tip and fell like rocks down into the slough. It happened so fast that I didn’t know how to react.
These are just a couple of memories I have that make me smile. There are many more where the pile of birds never seems to come up. I encourage waterfowlers to take a step back and evaluate how many of their best memories revolve around other moments beyond the pile. Some of those hunts will most definitely end with a pile of ducks, but it will be the moments that lead to that pile of ducks that we all tell stories about.
Todd Ezzi
North Little Rock
Return the Respect
If I could change some things about duck hunting, it would be to bring back the waves of mallards from the early 2000s, the Cache River would be out of its banks in November and those cold winters of the 1980s would return. These are the struggles we all know – the ones that make the magic of a lone greenhead pitching through the trees a little more special. But what truly needs to change about duck hunting? Respect.
The overwhelming negativity and lack of respect in our community have become a serious issue, affecting both new and veteran duck hunters. The division we see today is far more than I ever anticipated. Just a quick scroll through social media, and you’ll witness hunters attacking each other over things our grandfathers would have found absurd. Is the bill of your hat too flat, or does it have too much of a curve? You might find yourself under scrutiny. Do you have the wrong logo on your waders? Brace yourself for a lecture on duck-hunting fashion. Taking pictures with “the wrong kind of ducks”? Prepare for a storm of negative comments. And don’t even think about running a dog other than a Lab if you want to be taken seriously. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen every kind of rude comment a keyboard warrior can throw out there.
The days of running a hole on public land with a spot to yourself might be gone, replaced by groups of hunters coming in at dawn and refusing to leave. Stories of altercations at the boat ramp circulate more every season. I won’t even get into the subject of “swing ducks.”
We can all agree that speaking out against this kind of behavior is not only good for our sport but also necessary for our survival as a hunting community. We must remember that duck hunting is a privilege and something our community has to work to preserve. We all want to pass this lifestyle on to the next generation. Uniting as a community, working together and bringing respect back to our ranks is the only way to make this happen. We must rise above.
When a man is too old to walk to the blind, and his decoy bag is too heavy to carry, he will look back at his journey, smile and hope to pass it on to the next generation. The hunts in a lifetime are numbered and go by as fast as a teal in the decoys. Be respectful because, in the end, we all have the same goal.
