Duck Hunter Past Becomes Present

Check out this article from Ducks Unlimited Magazine that looks back at waterfowl trends from 65 years ago and compares the fundamentals for today. See how things differ, yet are the same.

“THE EXPERIENCES THAT DRAW US TO DUCK HUNTING ARE TIMELESS. OPENING DAY RITUALS. THE SOUND OF WINGS BEFORE DAWN. A BREAKFAST COOKED IN THE BLIND. AN IMPOSSIBLE RETRIEVE. FELLOWSHIP. SOLITUDE. YET, MANY THINGS ABOUT OUR SPORT ARE CHANGING. SOME OF THOSE CHANGES CAN BE FOUND IN THE HARD STATISTICS OF WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT, BUT OTHERS LIE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF MERE NUMBERS. WATERFOWL HUNTING HAS EVOLVED, INCLUDING THE TACTICS WE USE, THE GEAR WE CHOOSE, AND THE PLACES WHERE WE BUILD OUR BLINDS.

WE DECIDED TO EXPLORE SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN AMERICAN DUCK HUNTING SINCE THE 1950S—A DECADE THAT GAVE RISE TO MODERN WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT. IN THIS FIRST ARTICLE OF A TWO-PART SERIES, WE’LL EXAMINE SOME OF THESE CHANGES AS THEY RELATE TO THE WATERFOWL HUNTING COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, PARTICULARLY HUNTER NUMBERS AND DUCK HARVESTS. IN THE SECOND ARTICLE, WE’LL DRILL DOWN INTO THE EXPERIENCES OF INDIVIDUAL HUNTERS AND HOW THE SPORT HAS CHANGED SINCE OUR FATHERS’ AND GRANDFATHERS’ TIMES.”

Read more at Ducks.org.

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