The gifts we give to the "Duck Gods"

[Dave Church]

I hunted last Friday and while I had some free time (birds weren't flying well) I noticed that one loop on my call lanyard was empty. I quickly thought about what "extra" call at home I would like to add to the assortment. I quickly forgot about it until yesterday while I was hunting in some heavy wind. Mallards were out "a ways" and I figured I could bring them over with my trusty Yentzen Sure Shot double metal reed call. This call is loud and can really reach out there, especially in the the wind. I reached for my trusty call, the first call I ever owned, almost 30 years old and never failed...................and finally realized why I have an "extra" loop in my lanyard. I frantically searched the boat with my son, the dry bag, my wader pockets, and after the hunt...... the Jeep, the garage, the decoy shop, the yard..........everywhere! No such luck. I can't calculate how much enjoyment that one call has brought me over the years. There were days that the call made me look like the greatest duck caller of all time.................I have been able to forget the days when my calling made me look stupid. Someday, when I get old, I might just sit down and try to list everything that I have offered as a sacrifice to my favorite sport. Let's see.........trailer light, license plate, life jacket(s), decoy(s), hat, glove(s), camera, cell phone, boat cushion, sun glasses, duck call,............................


dc

 

[Huntindave McCann]

Dave,

I lost half a call once. I had been scouting a new spot and didn't discover the missing half till I got back home. I drove the 80 miles back to the spot the following day and was lucky enough to find the missing half laying on the trail about mid way between the pond and the parking lot. Now that call is double looped on my lanyard.

Too bad you were unable to locate yours.

 

[Scott Bell]

I lost a personalized call (engraved and signed by the maker) given to me for my high school graduation when picking up decoys several years ago. We had a pretty incredible hunt that day and I remember taking it off and dropping it into my blind bag, but when we got back to the ramp it wasn't anywhere to be found. As you say, sometimes the duck gods require a tribute. It can be painful to pay sometimes.

Scott

 

[MLBob Furia]

Dave,

Years ago one of my hunting partners gave me a little Gerber limb saw with a 6-7" blade that retracts back into the handle. Over time I have found it to be one of the most useful tools I carry in my "possibles" box. Great for cutting annoying obstructions away to clear a shooting lane where I have tied off the boat, or for trimming willows or grasses to camo the TDB. Earlier this season I lost my grip on it and dropped it into about 4' of water when the slough was running high. Try as I might to feel around for it under my waders in the muddy water, I had no luck. I rely on that tool so much, I picked up a new one the next day. A week later when the River had dropped, I walked back across a mud-flat to the spot that had been under water when I dropped the saw. There it was. Took it home, cleaned it up, and put it back in service - this time I drilled holes in the handle for a leather lace, so that I can loop it over my wrist while cutting.

Lost this widgeon decoy in the foreground on a hunt at Au Train Lake, Michigan one fall, and had a hunter from Wisconsin use the information on the brass tag on its keel to call and tell me he had found it and was shipping it back to me. Pretty cool to have someone do that - waterfowl hunters are just good people!

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[Al Hansen]

Hey Dave,
Some day you will just get a little older. Just wanted you to know that you won't get old! By the way, I am sure that the duck gods have been pleased with your offerings. This year I watched 4 decoys literally fly off the bank of the Rio Grande and float away in mass. I had messed up the lines on them and tossed them on the shore. Well that morning we ended up with some 60+mph wind gusts.
One year I had bungee cords holding down a huge bag of decoys that was on my four wheeler which was in the back of my truck. When I got home, the bag was missing. I retraced my path to no avail. Called the sheriff's office to put out an alert of the missing decoys. It was hundreds of dollars worth. Of course I had a $500.00 deductible.
Al

 

[Shermie]

Twas a similar day when i took Makayla out for a duck hunt and it was this day i gave her grampy`s calls ,she was only little 6 i think ,she was right some proud to be handed down his calls ,and they were hers now a family tradition ,,,well we were walking along the bay of fundy shores to my little honey hole and she was calling every once in a while when she would see a black duck flying.....
well as the day went by ,,,hot coco drank and treats gone,,,, home ward bound we walked back to the truck the tide was chasing us off the flats,and in our haste i did not notice that part of one of the calls was missing...
to this day she asks me if im mad at her for losing the call ,No ! honey it happens i loose stuff all the time...no biggy...I told her i was sad that day only because we lost it and i had saved it all these years to give to you is all..
then a week later i upload the pictures of the start of our trip and the call is there in the pictures so we have not realy lost it have have we i said to her there is grampy`s calls....

the call was an old Olt black duck call and the insert fell out so now we only have the barrell and the pictures ...and thats good enough!!!by all accounts

the gods taketh and giveth back sorta...
sherm...