Posted by Tony Young on October 2, 2001 at 1:28 p.m.:
I'm a long-time lurker and my conscience finally got the best of me.
I'm in the Air Force and have lived/hunted all over as a result. Grew up in North Carolina and have since lived in TX, MI, FL, OH, GA and IL.
I started out hunting wood ducks along the creek back in NC - 15 minutes is all you get so better make your shots count. Once I got to MI (Upper Peninsula), I found out about decoying mallards, teal, and gadwall. Now, I had it pretty bad before, but that just ruined me!
I've got a wife and two boys (6 & 8) that are the light of my life. I had a chocolate lab but developed a nasty allergy and she lives with my stepfather now.
I hunt mostly flooded corn and quiet backwaters here in IL by canoe. I have a 1975 Challenger bass boat that is just begging for a blind, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. When I get it squared away, I like to try the hunting along the Illinois River and maybe the Mississippi although it's kind of daunting for someone that's used to shooting standing up in knee deep water!
I shoot a Remington 11-87 but I'm lusting for an over-and-under here lately. I have an old Browning A-5 that was my duck gun, but it's in semi-retirement.
My trophy quest ducks: canvasback and pintail (in that order). I have had shots at drakes of each species. Missed the sprig cleanly with all 3 shots when I was a kid on a greenwing hunt at Lake Matamuskeet, NC and hit the can all 3 times year before last at Lake Seminole in GA - he still got up and flew away. I can still see both of those birds as clear as day.