Posted by Ted S. on August 02, 2000 at 8:38:42 a.m.:
Ted S, age 27. I got into duck hunting during college when one of my buddies took a couple of us up to his wild rice farm along the Red River Valley in northern Minnesota. What a great introduction to this tradition! We saw thousands duck and geese every day both in the sky, on the dry fields and in the rice paddies. Since then I have been addicted. These days I mostly hunt when and where I can around the Twin Cities. Its crowed at times, but I’ve found with a little luck and dark clouds (maybe some snow) most of fair weather fans get ferreted out and a fella can have a good time… so long as he’s not too greedy. I have also hunted a few spots in southeast Minnesota and along the North Shore and am thinking more a more about making a pheasant trip to South Dakota in the near future.
I don’t own a boat anymore, but have built a few canoes and kayaks over the years. I enjoy woodworking and working with my choc. lab (Gabby) in what little free time I have. My wife says it keeps me out of trouble and that the dog actually makes me get some much needed exercise. However, I suspect that she really does mind because she tends to get the benefits of both… new furniture and goose dinners (hopefully, since this will be Gabby’s first year in the field).
Since I have no boat and am an average caller at best, most of my waterfowl hunting has been geared toward taking mallards, woodies and geese through a combination of wading through potholes and wetlands/swamps or pass shooting on the Mississippi or Minnesota rivers. I also make grouse and pheasant runs when the sky’s too blue to get the ducks and geese off the water. I am still a pretty inexperienced hunter, especially when compared to a lot of folks in this forum, but each year I get progressively better... and progressively more addicted. I carry a Beretta semi-automatic for all my hunting today (great gun) but part of me longs for a double like the one my grandfather carried all those years ago.
Best of luck with your hunting this year
Ted S.