A client and close friend of mine is in North Carolina doing some swan hunting with his son who is working on completing his waterfowl grand slam.

I think he only needs 2 or 3 more birds to do this at 12 years old! Check out some of his hunts here: https://www.facebook.com/greysonwestadventures/

Never heard of a waterfowl grand slam. What 4 birds is he after?

He just shot a swan today so he only needs a hooded merganser, gadwall and one other.

I don't understand this, I've been waterfowl hunting for well over 15 years and have never heard of a "waterfowl grandslam" especially involving those species! I'm curious

I don't understand this, I've been waterfowl hunting for well over 15 years and have never heard of a "waterfowl grandslam" especially involving those species! I'm curious

Where is he from? Guessing not Texas since he hasn't crossed Gadwall off the list yet

The North American Grand Slam of Waterfowl: Hunters are required to kill one specimen out of the 40 (or 41) different species including ducks, geese and cranes legally allowed by U.S. law.

I actually hadn't heard the grand slam until a few days ago. At that age that's crazy. Seems like it would take a lot of time and money but that's awesome. There is a strong called something like ultimate waterfowl challenge. I'm not a member but I looked around. I do t even think anyone on there has completed it yet.

He's from Illinois and shot his swan yesterday. Only three birds to go!

Awesome

That's awesome. Still don't understand the no gadwall though. seems like you'd come across one in Illinois.

For those who are not familiar, check out this link:
Ultimate Waterfowlers Challenge

I have been doing it just over a year and have hit 15 species (one pending registration).

I dont see his name registered on this site. Maybe he is doing it unofficially or there is another site out there I dont know about.

I'm not sure but I'll ask his dad to find out.

He still needs a gadwall, hooded merganser and a common merganser.

Thats a great accomplishment! Good luck to him finishing the slam. I have the feeling it will be another 3-5 years before I can complete it.

Had no idea this existed; I'm further along on the list than I thought I would be.

If you want to do it officially, you can only grandfather in 2 birds. Beyond that, you have to start over. I signed up for it last year a week before heading to St Paul for King Eiders and 2 weeks before the end of the season.

If I could claim what I have taken in the past, all the goose would be off my list and I would be at 20+.

It's really kind of a cool deal. You get independent 3rd party verification of what you have done. They send you an ID card and you take a photo of each bird with the ID card next to it.

They send you a plaque at each stage (15 and 30) and a nice King eider trophy at the end.

I think the only bummer about that is you have to pay for it and take a photo in a specific way for each submission.

He's photographed every bird he's killed so he's doing it "unofficially" but it's still a cool story to be so young.

I went sea duck hunting with them up in Green Bay last year and it was pretty amazing getting to hunt Old Squaw. Definitely not what I'm used to!