Hard to believe it but this month in 1998 I launched duckboats.net with the intent of photo-documenting the construction of Devlin's Scaup which I had Sam Devlin design for me. Wow, 10 years goes by fast. I'm not sure what I should put in this post for fear of leaving someone or something out. I guess I'll just jot down some of the history behind this site that has created countless friendships and memories and encourage others to chime in with their memories and thoughts.
When I started the site Jeff Smith was teaching me the craft of building Devlin duckboats. He proved to be an outstanding teacher and became one of my closest friends. When I told him I was putting the build on the net he figured I might get an odd google hit every now and then. We were blown away by the reception. Emails flooded in with people asking questions about sneakboxes. After several months of this I decided to add a forum to the site. Timing was on my side as SPAV was unraveling at the seams as folks like Benny and Hoozier Jim had turned that site into a bar room brawl. Serious waterfowlers thirsting for hands-on information flocked to duckboats.net and within a matter of months we had an incredible amount of daily traffic. 500 posts a day was normal. We opened up Reader's Rigs pages and Carver's Corner where folks could submit their info and these were a huge success. The section on building the Scaup took off like a rocket and to this day it is still one of the most heavily traveled sections on this site.
As time went on the site continued to grow in content and in recognition. We were featured in DU magazine and other publications. There was a core of active participants that were not only active on the forum, but were recognized for their contributions to waterfowling and it's many related areas such as decoy carving, waterfowl biology, retriever training, guiding, outdoor writing, boat building, etc. etc. We had arrived at the point where no matter what the question was somebody was more than just a casually acquainted with the subject, but was an authority or widely recognized for their skills and education in that area.
duckboats.net has always had the policy that anyone could openly tell others of their waterfowling products and services free of charge. In exchange we encouraged those folks to participate and lend their expertise. Case in point. I met Mark Rongers and hunted with him and the rest of the MLB at Pool 9 on the MS River. Steve Sutton, Jeff Jacobs, Tod Osier, Pete McMiller, and others joined us that week. It was about this time Mark had visions of running his own waterfowl supply company and had just started selling dark cork for decoys. A hunt at pool 9 led to friendships that set Mark at ease to tell everyone at duckboats.net the items he was bringing to market. To this very day duckboats.net has very close ties to the Mighty Layout Boys and it's because of the sincerity, support, and unending friendship Mark has given us from day one. There are others too, such as Lou Tisch from Lock, Stock and Barrell, and Ira McCauley from MoMarsh. duckboats.net has a proud history of strong mutually supportive friendships with the folks who have made this site their internet home.
From the very beginning it was stated we'd resist banner and paid advertisers as long as the viewers could pay the bills. I've never been left in a financial pinch. The list of financial contributors and donors is longer that anyone probably realizes and far longer than my memory. There have been some big contributions made by those who didn't want to be mentioned by name. They did it for no other motivation than giving back to the site that had benefited them. I have always respected those wish not for recognition, but who give out of appreciation. Without everyone's financial support we couldn't have made it these 10 years and I see no end in sight.
About the mid point of this site's history I was struggling with some family issues and really hit a brick wall when it came to keeping up with day-to-day events, diverse personalities,and the technical and financial backend. One an occasion or two I pulled the plug out of frustration and on the last time meant for it to be the end. Fortunately Steve Sutton understood the events surrounding this and knew what help I needed to keep it going. If Steve had not stepped in at that time and rolled up his sleeves, taking a huge daily burden off me, I wouldn't be sitting here now talking about the huge successes we had. The existence of this site today is a direct result of Steve's foresight and willingness to volunteer his time and talents. If you didn't know about this keep it in mind as you read and interact with Steve. Nobody is more argumentative than Steve, and he'll admit to that too, but also nobody gives more over the long haul than Steve. He's a pleasure to co-manage this site with.
With help from Steve and Chris Stearns we emerged from the "dark days" of the site and rolled out a new format. SPAM and cumbersome static html was replaced with the format we enjoy today and from the admin point-of-view was like leaping from the stone ages to modern times. A jump we needed to take and the time vested paid big dividends.
I think I'll finish this long winded jaunt and say I'm not completely surprised this site is still going strong after 10 years. We've got great members. Some of the original members are still here in addition to all the newcomers (relatively speaking that is) and the spirit this site has makes it the best place on the net for socializing, giving and getting help from fellow waterfowlers. Ten years and so many things have changed in and around us, but the purpose and benefits persist and are as strong as ever.
I thank you for all your support over the years and look forward to another 10.
Eric Patterson
When I started the site Jeff Smith was teaching me the craft of building Devlin duckboats. He proved to be an outstanding teacher and became one of my closest friends. When I told him I was putting the build on the net he figured I might get an odd google hit every now and then. We were blown away by the reception. Emails flooded in with people asking questions about sneakboxes. After several months of this I decided to add a forum to the site. Timing was on my side as SPAV was unraveling at the seams as folks like Benny and Hoozier Jim had turned that site into a bar room brawl. Serious waterfowlers thirsting for hands-on information flocked to duckboats.net and within a matter of months we had an incredible amount of daily traffic. 500 posts a day was normal. We opened up Reader's Rigs pages and Carver's Corner where folks could submit their info and these were a huge success. The section on building the Scaup took off like a rocket and to this day it is still one of the most heavily traveled sections on this site.
As time went on the site continued to grow in content and in recognition. We were featured in DU magazine and other publications. There was a core of active participants that were not only active on the forum, but were recognized for their contributions to waterfowling and it's many related areas such as decoy carving, waterfowl biology, retriever training, guiding, outdoor writing, boat building, etc. etc. We had arrived at the point where no matter what the question was somebody was more than just a casually acquainted with the subject, but was an authority or widely recognized for their skills and education in that area.
duckboats.net has always had the policy that anyone could openly tell others of their waterfowling products and services free of charge. In exchange we encouraged those folks to participate and lend their expertise. Case in point. I met Mark Rongers and hunted with him and the rest of the MLB at Pool 9 on the MS River. Steve Sutton, Jeff Jacobs, Tod Osier, Pete McMiller, and others joined us that week. It was about this time Mark had visions of running his own waterfowl supply company and had just started selling dark cork for decoys. A hunt at pool 9 led to friendships that set Mark at ease to tell everyone at duckboats.net the items he was bringing to market. To this very day duckboats.net has very close ties to the Mighty Layout Boys and it's because of the sincerity, support, and unending friendship Mark has given us from day one. There are others too, such as Lou Tisch from Lock, Stock and Barrell, and Ira McCauley from MoMarsh. duckboats.net has a proud history of strong mutually supportive friendships with the folks who have made this site their internet home.
From the very beginning it was stated we'd resist banner and paid advertisers as long as the viewers could pay the bills. I've never been left in a financial pinch. The list of financial contributors and donors is longer that anyone probably realizes and far longer than my memory. There have been some big contributions made by those who didn't want to be mentioned by name. They did it for no other motivation than giving back to the site that had benefited them. I have always respected those wish not for recognition, but who give out of appreciation. Without everyone's financial support we couldn't have made it these 10 years and I see no end in sight.
About the mid point of this site's history I was struggling with some family issues and really hit a brick wall when it came to keeping up with day-to-day events, diverse personalities,and the technical and financial backend. One an occasion or two I pulled the plug out of frustration and on the last time meant for it to be the end. Fortunately Steve Sutton understood the events surrounding this and knew what help I needed to keep it going. If Steve had not stepped in at that time and rolled up his sleeves, taking a huge daily burden off me, I wouldn't be sitting here now talking about the huge successes we had. The existence of this site today is a direct result of Steve's foresight and willingness to volunteer his time and talents. If you didn't know about this keep it in mind as you read and interact with Steve. Nobody is more argumentative than Steve, and he'll admit to that too, but also nobody gives more over the long haul than Steve. He's a pleasure to co-manage this site with.
With help from Steve and Chris Stearns we emerged from the "dark days" of the site and rolled out a new format. SPAM and cumbersome static html was replaced with the format we enjoy today and from the admin point-of-view was like leaping from the stone ages to modern times. A jump we needed to take and the time vested paid big dividends.
I think I'll finish this long winded jaunt and say I'm not completely surprised this site is still going strong after 10 years. We've got great members. Some of the original members are still here in addition to all the newcomers (relatively speaking that is) and the spirit this site has makes it the best place on the net for socializing, giving and getting help from fellow waterfowlers. Ten years and so many things have changed in and around us, but the purpose and benefits persist and are as strong as ever.
I thank you for all your support over the years and look forward to another 10.
Eric Patterson
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