JF Griffin - Index

JF Griffin - magazine - Index

The Etiquette of Duck Hunting
What Mama used to call
“Good Manners”
By Tim White
Bob is sitting in his boat blind on
the local WMA on opening morning
of duck season. It is at least
an hour before official shooting hour.
He is excited about the prospects of
shooting some birds. Mallards would
be nice, but woodies, or whatever will
do. Bob has done his homework … he
has scouted over the past few weeks
and knows where the ducks have been
feeding and loafing. He has chosen his
spot after careful consideration and
hard work. He has checked the wind
and has his blind in the best spot. He
cleaned his gun, has practiced his calling,
worked his dog, bought new decoys
to add to his spread, and is wearing
his new hunting coat. As the sky
starts to turn orange, Bob sits in eager
anticipation as he hears duck calls and
wings whistling overhead.
Roy, on the other hand, is just showing up at the WMA.
He is running late. He jumps out of the truck and slams the
door. He runs around to the other side, grabs his gun, and
slams that door. He launches his jon-boat and starts out into
the bottoms. Then he remembers his calls and ammo, and
heads back to the truck, which involves more door slams.
Then Roy heads back to the swamp. Roy has not hunted the
area before and didn’t have time to scout it. He decides to
run his boat until he flushes ducks and see what happens.
He doesn’t go far before … BANG! He gets off a shot before
the boat even comes off plane. The ducks wing away into
the sunrise. He motors on and before long sees Bob sitting
in his blind along a distant tree line. Roy figures Bob is there
because it is a good spot, so Roy motors to within 100 yards
of Bob and sets out his decoys. After all, this is a public area
and that other guy doesn’t own it! Before long another pair
of ducks wing across the marsh. Bob starts to call and the
birds bank toward his spread of decoys. One more pass and
they will be in range … BANG!!! Roy fires one off. Never
mind that the ducks were closer to Bob than Roy and that
Bob was well prepared had scouted the area and was there
first. Roy thinks it is his right to hunt wherever he wants on
this public area. And it is his right, but poor Bob has had
to suffer the consequences of Roy’s poor manners, poor
hunting etiquette, and poor behavior. Maybe Roy just didn’t
know he was going about duck hunting the wrong way, but
Bob has paid the price for that ignorance. His hunt has been
ruined. He has wasted lots of time, money, and effort, thanks
to ‘ol Roy.
This scenario is becoming more and more common each day on public
hunting areas across Tennessee and probably across the country. It is called
poor hunting etiquette or just plain bad manners and has the potential to
drive many waterfowl hunters out of the sport altogether. In fact, this lack
of consideration for others has become pervasive in many outdoor activities
where people are sharing a common resource. I learned from my dad how to
behave while afield, how to respect the resource, and other people, and I’d like
to pass along those lessons.