duckboats.net is 10 (now 20). Can you believe it?

Thank You Steve and Eric for creating such a great site! I stumbled upon this site by chance, what a stroke of luck. This is the first and only site I participate on. I have not been a member all that long. But I have been nothing but impressed with the people I have met here. I enjoy the fact that we are all using our real names rather than some ridiculous alias. You have created and continue to maintain a wonderful site filled with knowledge, camaraderie and friendship.

Happy Birthday Guys!!

Gene
 
I don't remember when I first stumbled across this site. I do remember it was the Eric's building of the Scaup that grabbed my attention. I lurked on and off for years. I tried to soak up all the knowledge and experience shared on this site. I never had anything to add so never posted. A little over two years ago I started posting. I still don't know how much I have to contribute. As my wife and I are now emptynesters and it's pretty amazing how many projects" I'm finishing around the home building a boat may not be that far in the future!

Eric and Steve thanks for this wonderful little corner for those of us with some common interested to hang out in. It's a great place!

Tom
 
Congratulations Eric! I'd guess I've been a member for about that long although I've been in and out from time to time. I first found this site doing a search for layout boats and got directed to the Hartley bros readers rigs page. Since then I've met a lot of good friends here and learned a TON. I love the no BS attitude here. Someday I hope to be able to repay this place!
 
The first time I posted was in August of 1999, just months after I bought the Xpress hull, now "the tank", that the dogs and I took up north this past year.

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I met Ira and his brother and several of Ira's other hunting buddies.

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Mark(mo)

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and in Iowa met hunting Dave, Ed L...

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Dave Shady.

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Ive hunted with Steve Sutton more times than I can remember now.

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I have hunted with Dani more times than I can remember.

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Ive hunted with Dani and Steve more times than I can remember.

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Dani and I hunted with Blake Wilson and his buddy Dave Williams the last weekend of 07-08 season.

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went on a really fun airboat ride with Steve McCullough and his wife.

On another really fun day spent out on the airboat was with Chuck Huff and his family.

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The only day I ever spent with Chuck Huff was this day. The day ended as if he'd been a good friend forever. That he is...a good friend to many, forever.

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I've hunted with Ron Smith and have a really nice one of his Teal decoys. Speaking of decoys, I have really nice decoys from Jason Russell, Yukon Mike, Bob Furia, Dani Richey and Jim Williams...all who hang out here, and all who's decoys I love. I have a very old decoy Captain Hackey (Ky Kraus) gave me.

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Hackey invited me to Westlake where I met so many guys, I can't remember them all without going through the photos, Jim Williams, Pat Gregory, Terry Desilets, Jason Russell, Lou Tisch, George Mitchell, Brian Ballard, Bill McAdam, Hank Garvey, Hank Jr. and Mrs Garvey, Josh Ward, Chad Hauser. And soon will meet Tom Scholberg, and Pete McMiller and his buddy Woody as we all will be headed for Argentina in about a week with Dani and my best friend Capt Scott.

I have three of my buddies from MO all lurking, I know your out there TM Todd, Kyle, and Greg.

I'd be in the shitter if I didn't mention Momma Goof

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I probably am anyway...

I also spent three very nice days hunting with three Gentleman hunters from Alabama, you may recognize them. I remember freaking out a couple times when the web site was taken down. Don't ever do that again...please.

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Here's to the next ten years!!

Hitch
 
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[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica] Thanks Eric and Steve for a great little place on the Net.
I've been coming here since the old days and remember it as just an email list.

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Happy birthday DHBP!!! Thanks a million Eric and Steve for keeping this community of brothers and sisters together. This is the best site on the net and the only one I visit everyday. It's the friendly atmosphere created by REAL duck hunters that gave me the courage to drive to some dude's house (ya, that you, Rutgers) and carve decoys with a bunch of strangers in Kalamazoo. Now I've carved more, learned more, and love our sport and history more than ever because of the people and friendships I've made on this site. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication over the last ten years!!!! May we all enjoy many more:)

Sincerely,

Dave Robinson
 
This wasn't the first year I don't think but was likely the second. I am pretty sure it was the inaugural event of the MLB. The cabin at Pool 9.

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Eric, It is so hard to put into words what this site means to me. First and foremost THANK YOU both for starting and second for not letting this site die. I remember the day you said it was going down, I was on my way to the Minn. Decoy Collectors show in Bloomington to meet several guys that I met here. I had the sad duty to tell them about the problem. To a man they were all broken hearted. Thanks Steve for picking up the tiller as it were.
I first came here while I was building my third boat and have never left. Not sure just when that was but it had to be early because the whole Scaup was not here yet. I have since built my first Devlin but certainly not my last.
The one thing that keeps me here are the people who have become friends over the years. Always willing to give advice and opinions on anything related to the pursuit of the wonderful waterfowl. Honest, honerable and interesting to say the least. For myself not a day goes by that I don't think about waterfowling. I know that doesn't sound weird here but there are people and places that that would be considered strange. Misery does love company. It is amazing how strong a bond waterfowling is beween hunters. We have all shared LOL's and extreme sorrows. Way too many to try to list but the one that really gets me is that in 10 years anyone of us who hunt with a dog has lost at least one. I have sent two ahead to wait for me. The support from all of you has eased the pain that only a dog person really knows. We have probably all lost two legged hunting partners too over 10 years and this may be the time to think of them once more.
Enough morbitity! In just a few short days I am off to what may be the hunt of a lifetime with Hitch, Dani, Pete McMiller, Woody and Hitch's friend(sorry I can't remember his name). Without the Upper Midwest DHBP Boat Builder Show and Bragging Day in LaCross last year this would have never happened. There I met Pete and when the opening for Argentina came up I was invited along. Pete said we need some more fires to get our stories told. Then my long suffering wife of 34 years told me that I "should" go. Not sure what the real costs of the trip will be but HuntinDave & I will have to compare notes. When I try to explain this trip and who I am going with and how it came about most people wonder about the axe murderers and how could I go half way around the world with strangers. Well you are not!
Enough for now, I echo all the good thoughts about this site and wish Eric and all of us another glorious 10!!
 
WOW! I almost missed this post. Thanks Eric, Steve and all that kept this place going. It's been a great website.
 
Hey Eric,
Happy birthday to the "Page". Thanks for all the time you've put in giving a lot of guys a ton of pleasure. I was talking to Alvin a while back about the boat page and the most fasinating thing about it to me is how many guys and gals who have never built a boat, carved and painted decoys, made custom blinds, and a host of other projects have taken the leap and done it. Especially decoys. When I was guiding my customers were always amazed that I made all of my own decoys. Then guys started showing up from the boat page that had never made a decoy before and they were carving and painting much better decoys than I ever did. What a wonderful clearing house of information and comerraderie.

Here's to another 10,

Bill Wasson
 
Well, Well, William

About ten years ago my phone rang and there was Capt. Bill calling to tell me about this fun little web page. After ten minutes of load time my life was forever changed. Since that day I have made great friends, traveled to a myriad of waterfowl destinations, and created what has now become a family tradition.

My sincere thanks to Eric for creating and maintaining this Electronic Mayberry full of neighbors and friends. As well a a thanks to Bill for taking a minute to drop the match that has allowed me to sit in the decoy shop and the duck blind with my kids and share quiet moments where video games and text messaging cease to be important, and talk of hunting seasons and outshooting the old man abound.

Happy 10 DHBP,
The Ballard Family

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Eric,

This has been a life-changing site. Eight years ago you could have fit everything I know about boat building into a thimble. Now I know twice as much! And it's all because of the great advice on this forum.

DHBP is a second home.

Blessings to you and Steve.
Rick
 
In 2000? or 2001 I was sitting at the computer, doing a search for "sneakbox". This was the first site that came up on the search, I think. I clicked on the link, and that started several years of fun, friendship, aggravation, "cuss and discuss" that was like sitting at the Duck Camp.

I've always enjoyed that this site encouraged people to share what they know, share their experiences, and just out-and-out B.S.

Thanks to this site, I have made lifelong friends from all over the country. I have a lust in my heart to go see some of the "wild places" that I hadn't really thought about before except maybe in the abstract. I have shared the loss of my Lab, and consoled friends, some of whom I've never even seen face-to-face, on their losses.

No other website has coined the phrases "milk fed rhino jerky", "Art Stoop", or "floating ashtrays". Thank the Almighty.

Like a family, the bad times have been kinda ugly, and the good times have been great. And there have been many more great times than bad.

Congratulations, Eric. You and Steve should be proud of what you started and what the site has become.
 
We sure would be a sorry mess without you guys. It just goes to show persistence pays! I could not count all the happy hours I've spent on the DHBP. It's become a way of life to so many of us, simply GREAT! Happy 10th!

Dave
 
Happy birthday DHBP! Thanks to you Eric for getting it going and thanks to all who help and contibute!

Jim S
 
Congrats on 10 years!
I remember finding this little place in 99. This was just about the first place I ever found related to waterfowling. Reading what the 'old timers' at the time were saying about all the stuff posted the year before made me feel like I missed so much. I could hardly wait until that fall and I wasn't disappointed. Those first few years were really something special... not that it isn't great now, but there was a lot of knowledge shared on the forum in those early couple years. Members past and present should be proud of that. The forum has changed some just because of the information that is now out there because of places like this sharing so freely.

To many more years,
Tim
 
When I found this site in 99, duck hunting was 2 dozen plastic mallards sitting on a bucket at the marsh.

Now we have 2 Kara's and a BBIII and 50-60 cork or wood decoys, 2 Chesapeakes

It has become a year around hobby instead of a couple of weeks in the fall!

Thanks
Eric and All on Duckboats.net
Craig
 
Wow. You all have reminded me so much of why this place is important which gives it meaning and a purpose. I thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. I'm humbled.

Eric Patterson
 
Eric,
Thanks! I know I wasn’t the first guy on the site but first logged on sometime in the summer of 98. Some snot nosed punk from California, some old mountain man from Oregon, an old guy from Seattle (Gary Potter) and another who loved to give the snot nosed punk a hard time and, a whole slew of guys from Michigan and some carvers from the east coast were already here. I remember asking Rob Leonard if I could tell these guys about his Kara and all the grief I caught for using inferior building products and that there was no way I could carry 12 doz. decoys in that boat! Friendships have been made, hunts have been planned, decoys have been swapped, waterfowlers from across the country have a big round table at the country diner to pull a chair up to and share a cup of coffee and tell a story or two. My, have the last 10 years gone by already? Here’s to looking forward to the next 10!
 
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