Unlimited Ducks... We hope

Yesterday afternoon while driving home I got a call from a buddy of mine asking me if I was interested in duck hunting this year.  "Absolutely!" was my answer.  Last year, the boys and I didn't get a chance to go.  We're itching to make several hunts this year.

We hunt on my Dad's land in previously harvested rice fields in which we stop up the levees and catch rainwater.  This is already done, but we have some work to do to get things ready.  Toward the end of this month, we'll go out to the field and get a tractor and something to knock down all the rice stubble that is standing so that the ducks have plenty of water to land in and forage around.  We will then put out the duck decoys and build a blind on the levee so that we're hidden from sight.

Below is a picture of Benjamin and Russ during one of our Fall 2010 hunts.



The mighty hunters providing meat for the freezer

According to a quick Internet search, I found that these are the Fall hunting season for ducks this year:

Louisiana waterfowl hunters will have a 60-day duck season and a 72-day goose season after the state's Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved the schedules Thursday.  For duck hunters, the West Zone dates will run from Nov. 14-Dec. 6 and Dec. 19-Jan. 24.

So once we have the pond ready, we'll get up long before dawn breaks, put on camouflage, grab our guns and hunting gear, fill a thermos with coffee and drive to my Dad's farm.  We'll meet up with my friend and position ourselves in the duck blind to be ready for sunrise and the flight of ducks coming in to land and feed in the pond.  Hopefully, we'll get our limit and have plenty of meat to make some good duck gumbo during the cold (by Louisiana standards) winter months.



Daybreak Duck Dudes

And you know what?  Even if we don't kill anything but time, being in the great outdoors with my boys and enjoying a sunrise still counts as a successful hunt in my book!