Becoming the Norm

I decided last minute to do an unscouted, walk in hunt, and by last minute I mean, I woke up at 4 for some reason and figured I was up so why not. 4 is usually when I get to the lake so rolling up around 5 I knew that I wouldn’t get a prime spot. I pull up and there are 3 other trucks there. “Oh boy” is what I thought. I walk out and it just so happens that I walk by a group of three guys (the truck owners), smoking and joking in there blind. I stop and we BS for a while, turns out this is all three of their first season and just decided it would be fun to try. All of them had the best gear money can buy, each one bragging about how expensive there shotgun was, how awesome there calls are (not one of them actually knowing how to blow a call), etc and here I am lonely ol me shooting a beat to heck, old 870 20 gauge (my first gun, throwback day for me), my first decoys that have been patched and repainted about a 100 times, and blowing calls I made in my garage. Any way I go on my way to the actual spot I want. LST hits and all heck breaks loose from their position. 9 shots ring out and some yelling after. “What the heck is going on over there?” I thought to myself. I get a group of 3 teal come in, one leaves. A little after that all heck breaks loose again from the other guys position, 9 more shots. Roughly a half hour later, I have a group of jacks working the spread. On this lake, the picky go home with no ducks so I popped a jack on their last swing in. More shooting from the guys down the shoreline. Either they are really bad shots or they are just shooting to shoot. I pack up my stuff around 930 and start my stroll back to the truck, they happen to be picking up as well so I stop again and BS. They see my 3 ducks and ask is that all I got, I told them it was and I asked how they did. “We all shot our limit” says one of the guys. I ask to take a look see at what they got. All three of them hold up 6 coots, boy they were proud as punch. I’m really not a mean person, and usually when I see that, I would let them know that those are coots and not actual ducks. But, that morning for some reason, be it , I was cold, my coffee wasn’t strong enough, I don’t know what it was, I just smiled congratulated them on some of the best eating ducks out there and told them to take it easy and walked back to the truck. Seems to me that people like this, first timers, with no guidance are showing up more and more. I’m not sure what’s bringing them into this sport but if this keeps up, it’s not looking good for the future.

This encounter is becoming the norm, however there are still good folks out there. Teaching their young ones on the heritage and the proper way to love and enjoy this sport. Sorry for the long read/rant/soapbox. I try to get this kind of stuff out on my wife but she just usually looks at me with that I don’t really care or understand smile she gets.

They did taste great, thanks! hahahah jk, cmon man, help the newbies out. Theyre in for a mouth full of garbage later.

You could have really made their day by letting them know that they could shoot 15 each.

With lead

Ugh, all them newbies gonna end up like bieber, nobody to guide them

Now that would just be a silly lie.

At least they didn't do anything illegal. Last week a good buddy of mine found a guy 50 yards from the spot he wanted. No decoys, so he did the right thing and invited him to join.

My buddy hits a gaddy and it glides off. He goes with the dog to get it. On the way back he hears shots. The guy proudly holds up a cormorant.

Packed his dekes and left. Not sure if he educated the guy or called it in.

guess that's one way to weed out the coots

I had a few newbs belly crawl through the woods last year to shoot some ducks........my decoys. It was a slow morning with not much shooting. They never knew I was there until h shot a pair of gaddies that came in. All of a sudden I saw them stand up on the edge of the trees. There exact words "Dude, we thought your decoys were real ducks! It took us 45 minutes to sneak up on them"

My response "well you all are pretty stealthy because they never flew off"

LOL

The real question is, would they volunteer to buy you new ones if their stalk had been successful?

the first thing that popped into my head

I'm calling BS on this entire narcissistic thread.

Hey I've been in the blind at lst on a dark foggy day and a guy shot the Mojo 5 ft off the water thinking it was a duck dropping in...it also was his first hunt...and rooster..shut up haha

Can you say Duck Dynasty. Bringing them out of the woodwork.

Agree 100%

No joke I took a teenager on his first duck hunt one time and he shot one of my brand new ghg wood duck decoys while the real ducks were still in the air. Not only did he not offer to pay me for it, he tried to get me to give it to him so he could put it on his shelf!

One time I was setting in my blind with a noob coot that shot my mojo and wood duck decoys with 10ga lead. I looked at him like he was a total db and thought to myself "Don, if the chit hits the fan you can take this coot, he dont look so tuff". A professional fighter once told me that if you get in a barn burner with a coot you better have your mental game together.

I bet they had a great time. Maybe they were coot hunting. It is good to see new guys out there that actually put the money into the right equipment.

Lmao