Welcome to this Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reaves. From Coon Hutton to
Trot Line and in just general country living, I want you to stay a while as I share
my stories and country skills that will help you beat the system. This Country
Life is proudly presented as part of Meet Eaters podcast network bringing
you the best outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right friends, pull
you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I think I got a thing or two to tease you.
Duck Camp etiquette. It's summertime so naturally we're going to be talking about
cold weather. Really? It's getting close to the time when you plan your duck
hunting trips and if you're using an outfitter, I think you'll get some good
out of this. And even if you ain't, I bet there'll be some stuff in here you
can apply to just about anything. You all get ready for some duck camp etiquette.
And I ain't talking about the kind of etiquette that suppresses your inner
caveman and keeps you from reaching across the table and snatching up the last
biscuit out of the bowl just because you still got some soften to do. I'm talking
about the kind of etiquette that helps you get along with folks you may have
never hunted with, maybe in a place you've never hunted before. And since I
know a little bit about the guiding business, we're going to talk about how
that all applies to duck hunt. What clothes do I need? Can I call to? Can I
bring my dog? But first, I'm going to tell you a story.
It was late when I got to the duck camp that night. I've been working with some
other agents at my regular job as a narcotics investigator on a case that
required my presence. So I didn't get to leave when I'd plan to. And it was way
after midnight when I came rolling in. My brother Tim and I owned and operated
Southern Waterfowler's Guide Service near the small community of Raydale,
which was located 30 minutes new south of Stuttgart and on the banks of the
Arkansas River right in the heart of Arkansas's world famous. Green
Timber Duck Hunt. Tim had got there as planned and had everything ready for
our guest when they arrived early that afternoon. They done had supper and he
explained to them that because of my job that I was going to be a little late,
but not to worry, was I'd be there when the coffee got ready the next morning
before we all left out for our hunt. Our lodge was configured where the guests
stayed downstairs with the kitchen, the living room, and our room was upstairs.
We would come and go upstairs without ever disturbing our guests using the
second story screened in porch entrance, which I was slipping in with all my
hunting gear the night this happened. I stepped up the stairs and eased the door
open to the living room and stepped inside, letting my eyes adjust to the
darkness. The kitchen was next to the living room and separated by doorway. The
light above the kitchen sink was always left on and with it shouting into the
living room, I hung a hard left and headed toward my room, dodging a chair in a
footstool, trying not to wake anyone up downstairs or my brother whose room was
just off the kitchen. As I'm tiptoeing trying to be quiet, I hear through the
kitchen that my brother has opened his door and walking in the kitchen headed to
get a drink of water, which he was prone to do. I sat my bags down, walked to the
kitchen and could see a silhouette of my brother standing behind and propped up
against a waist-high island that we had in the kitchen. He was drinking water out
of a coffee cup. I walked up and propped up on the opposite side and we briefly
talked about the case I was working on and once that was done, he let me in on the
plans he'd made for the duck hunt that we were going to go on in just a few
hours. There were 600 so he'd take three and I'd take three. He told me their names
and they were all experienced with guns, no red flags seemed to be a good
bunch of boys and he was looking forward to hunting with them. He'd already
scoured the places we were going and there was lots of ducks so we should have a
good hunt. I was given plum out and I told him I was going to bed. He said okay
and he stepped toward the end of that island and toward his room so I followed his
movement intended to give him a hug before we headed off to our separate beds.
By this time my eyes had calibrated to the darkness and I could see everything
that I couldn't see when I first got inside. It was at the other end of that
island when we both stepped around it that I realized my brother was naked as a
pick bird and had been for the entire five minutes we were standing there talking
separated only by darkness, kitchen furniture and good fortune. Cat
library flexes turned a potential embrace with a naked man into a pad on the
shoulder and an immediate about face. I was still awake when the alarm went off a
few hours later and that's just how that happened.
Lots of questions should come up when you're heading out on an adventure especially
if you're using an outfitter or a guide service. I've been running a camera on a
few outfitted bear hunts with the Claybow and always my number one issue was
power availability to charge my camera batteries. After all I was there to film
and everybody knows that in outdoor media if it didn't happen on film it didn't
happen at all. Now I'm going to talk about coming to the duck camp but you can
apply a lot of this to just about anything if you generalize it just a bit.
The answer to all your questions should be addressed without fiddling
themselves. Keeping an open line of communication between y'all is vital to
making your trip enjoyable for everyone. I've had clients book a December
duck or goose hunt in August when the dates are set and talk to them weekly up
until they get there. I've also had others book a hunt and not talk to them
again until they needed to ride from the airport. Having been in the business
for so long we grew to expect this and tried to get out in front of all the
questions to begin with by sending everyone a list of the items they needed to
bring and what was provided. I've looked at several websites for different
species of game and types of hunting and I didn't find one that didn't have a
prepared list like we made or contact number or email address for questions. So
if you get to your hunting spot ready for your big adventure and you ain't got
what you need guess who's fault that is. Which reminds me of a story. We had
some folks from Wisconsin book a hunt with us that lived in Green Bay. Now
it gets cold up there brother. Now I never think about those boys at Green Bay
Wisconsin that I don't hear John Fesenda the narrator of NFL fam say the
Frozen Tundra of Lambo field. Except John Fesenda never really said that. What he
did say was the Frozen Tundra of municipal stadium and he was talking about the
Cleveland Browns not the Green Bay Packers but back to the story. Those folks
not only lived on the Frozen Tundra they went to the football games at Lambo
field in the winter when it was below zero. Get this they also duck-hunted on the
Frozen Tundra and had experienced cold like I had never known in my life. I picked
them up at the airport, got them to the camp and we checked them in got their bags
in the rooms got the shotgun squared away and began to visit while waiting for
supper to get ready. I thought it was odd that the main topic of concern for
them having just come from the Frozen Tundra was how cold it was in Arkansas. A
big Arctic cold front had pushed in dropping the temps below freezing for
highs and forecasted to get progressively colder with highs in the teens and
lows in single digits for the duration of their three-day hunt. Now I don't
know about y'all and I don't really care to hear everybody that lives up north
tell me there if you think that's cold stories. I do think that's cold and I don't
live up there for that very reason but apparently these boys had it in their
heads that they were coming to the Bahamas to duck-hunt. They didn't bring
coats long had a lunderwear or insulated waiters and even though the severity of
that cold front was abnormal for the love of humanity cheesehead you're still
outside in North America in December. So we busted our high ends finding coats
and barring waiters and clothes from every place we could find to keep those
catch from going back home looking like old hatchet jack and Jeremiah Johnson.
Now in their defense not everyone had access to the internet like they do now
and they just assumed the sense they were coming south that it was going to be
warmer from where they came. It was not. We got them some clothes and boy did we
kill some ducks. So what does that tell you? Ask your outfitter and come prepared
every state that I've ever been in will have someone say if you don't like
the weather just hang around 15 minutes and it'll change well you need to be
prepared to change with it. Choose wisely and bring layers it's easier to take
them off if you get hot and add them if you get cold. Set in yourself up for one
type of weather is dumb unless you're going to the tropics or the Arctic. Those two
extremes are pretty well as safe bet as far as what kind of drawers you're
gonna need. I ask an outfitter and Saskatchewan one clear cloudless day before we
left in a boat to head to a bear bait. Reckon I'm gonna need this rain gear. He
looked at me with the expression I'm sure I had when those boys from Wisconsin
quizzed me about when it was going to warm up and I said March. He went back to
putting gear in the boat and he said this is Northern Saskatchewan. It rains up
here somewhere every day. I took it with me. In less than an hour I was putting it
on in a downboard that came out of nowhere and watching him smiling at me while
I did it. The difference between me and the cheeseheads was I asked.
What about Colin? What about Colin? I'll tell you about Colin. Colin ducks into
the decourse for folks that can't do it is the closest thing I'll ever know of
what it was like to be Elvis. Telling your hunters to be still get ready and
blowing the series of calls at the correct time and volume to get a big group of
ducks lighting the decoers feels as good as when your mama hugs you. I started
Colin at an early age under the mentorship of my older brother Tim and I
practiced year-round. As a matter of fact they're hanging within arms
reach where I'm sitting right now into a duck hunter. It far surpasses the
enjoyment of shooting him in my eyes and I don't know anyone that likes to bust
a cap in a matter of ducks behind more than I do. It's a wondrous thing and
everyone wants to do it but not everyone wants to put in the work to be good or
they just don't know how to be good. The old saying of practice makes perfect
I didn't correct pal. Perfect practice makes perfect. If your practice is jacked up
your duck Colin will be too. Now we had a guy that booked a hunt on the premise
that he could help Colin. No worries. He was the only guy that was coming for
those three days so when he said he knew how to call we took him at his word. I
reminded of a quote by President Reagan that said trust but verify and we
didn't verify but we should have. We just assumed that since he said he could
call that he could call and we've been talking to him all summer. He was the
type to book the hunt in August and we talk to him nearly every day and all he
could talk about was how excited he was about being in the green timber that
flooded green timber of Arkansas and Colin ducks in and killing his limit.
Filling up his duck's trap with limits of green heads that he called in
himself was his only goal because he already knew everything else. So when he
came down and we got out there that morning that first morning of his hunt man
he's got all the right gear. He knows where to stand associated with the wind.
He helps set the decoys out correctly. I can see it's called hanging around his
neck. It's a quality call. He does everything that he's supposed to do and he
looks the part and when the duck started flying and he came time to start
calling the racket that was coming out of his duck call was something I had
never heard in my life. I couldn't imagine how much practice it took for him to
make the sound that I thought was impossible to be created by blowing air over a
flash degree. It sounded like somebody's skin and a live bobcat with a doe
hatching. Tim and I looked at each other and I thought he was kidding. I thought
he's playing a trick on us but it was obvious after a minute or two that not
only was he not playing a trick but he also did not know how to call ducks as
he previously claimed. So after he flared the second bunch of ducks out of the
hole and looked at us like a calf looking at a new gate trying to figure out
what was wrong. He was standing over there by Tim and I asked him I said hey man
have you ever had your call pitched? He said no I don't guess I don't guess I
have do I do I need to have that done? So my brother said yeah let me see it
take it off your lanyard. So the fella took it off his lanyard handed it to
Tim and Tim pitched it to me and I stuck it in my pocket and I said buddy if you
want to kill some ducks let me keep this here and we'll shoot some and then when
we get done we're going to teach you how to call them and that's just what we
did. So if you've a mind to be calling ducks when you get to your outfitter or
club don't be surprised if they ask you to call before y'all go hunting. The
biggest mistake folks make is actually not the sound that they make although
that is important but the biggest mistake that make is when they make the
sounds. I've hunted with collars that like to hear themselves call more than
they like to call ducks and knowing when not to call that may be more important
than knowing when to. I'll tell you this next item on the list was more
contentious than just about anything else we dealt with during our guiding
career and while only a few folks ever requested it it calls the most problems
and hurt feelings and I shudder now thinking about it and that was when the
potential client asked can I bring my dog. Oh Lord here we go. I'll tell you this
nothing makes a good hunt great faster than a well trained obedient
retriever. I've had one of the best I've ever seen her name was Anna she was
black as the ace of spades and lived with us for 13 years and when she died I
thought I was going to die too. She was something special and retrieved no
telling how many ducks thousands. On the other hand nothing will ruin a great
hunt quicker than a dog that I ain't trained. Allow me to pontiff a game.
This group of hunters came to us from the Atlantic coast. They dug a lot out
there but the hunting conditions where they were was quite different than it was
in Arkansas. They were lucky if they shot a few wood ducks here and there where
they lived. They never had the numbers of ducks working into the decoys like we
did in Arkansas when they brought their dog for the first time. We had fully
vetted these folks on how good this dog was. They talked about his pedigree. They
did demonstrations with him when they got there to the camp on how good this dog
was and man he performed like a champ for real. He did everything that that
boy told that dog to do when he told him to do it. I mean he was an absolute
monster and they also hunted him in hunt test and he did really well. But when
we got in that flooded green timber in groups of 20, 40 and 50 ducks started
working around the hole and in coming in and calling the water sloshing and
shooting man it was more than a dog could stand. He was whimpering, winding, barking
loud, breaking off the stand, running out of decoys and when the duck started
coming in and that's dangerous for everyone especially the dog. He can mess
around and get shot and the other hunters were looking to hang that dog and his
own. It's really nothing against the dog. He had just never experienced
anything like that. He had seen all the hunting scenarios in the hunt test
that he'd been in but he had never experienced the real thing and man I'll
tell you I have so I about lose my mind every time a big group of duck starts
working and coming into the decoys so I get it. He was excited and he just
couldn't help it. He just needed exposure to it and the wrong time to expose
him to it is when you got a group of folks paying the hunt and the only thing
that's keeping them from being successful is your dog. So while we wound up
doing was taking his dog and the stand and the hunter and moving them back
like 30 or 40 yards away from where the decoys were and we would work the
ducks and shoot them and then bring the dog up and let him retrieve the ducks.
They were there for three days and that was the first morning we hunted. We
retrieved our own ducks the last two days. There's so many things to consider
when bringing a dog on a guided hunt. Number one is the dog trained. Does the
outfitter have space available for a dog? Just because it's a duck camp does it
mean it's open range for labs to roam all over digging in folk stuff and
leaving pure marine landmines behind the cows. Yours and Mama's baby might be
able to do that at home and sleep in the bed with you but it'd be a rude
surprise for both of you if after you get permission to bring him and you get
the camp and you find out all the dogs stay outside in the kennel. Ask yourself
this question before you consider asking about bringing your dog. Will he be an
asset to everyone's hunt or a liability? It's that simple. I've seen a lot of
changes in duck hunting from the time I started to what it is now and while I
still have the passion for it I don't have the drive to do it like we used to.
60 days is a long grind but boy did we have a good time. I made friends that have
remained friends long after we retired from guiding. Tim and I talked to two of
them today. Two good friends from North Carolina took a chance and booked a hunt
at our duck camp. We met and we all became brothers and that was over 20 years
ago. David Miller and Jay Van Noah and unlikely parent of a mortician and a lawyer
two folks that everybody's gonna need eventually. One of them can help you get
you out of a jam and the other one well he'd be the last fellow that will
ever let you down. Literally. Booking a hunt with an outfit or well it's a gamble.
The only thing that they can guarantee is to do their best to give you the
opportunity to shoot some ducks, deer, elk, catch fish whatever it is you're
after. That's what you're paying for the opportunity. Take it upon yourself to
be informed about what your responsibilities are and recognize that going in and
the whole experience can change for you. Do this for me. Go in with the
attitude that you want to learn something just one thing in addition to why
you're there. Like the guy that couldn't call ducks but thought he could he
learned two things. Number one that he didn't know how to call ducks. Number two
they kill in a full strap of green heads paled in comparison to the group of
ducks that he called in by himself and lit in the decoys. On the last day of
his trip Tim and I had our limits and had unloaded our shotguns and was letting
him do it all by himself. He was one green head short of his limit when he saw a
group and started calling like we'd shown him. He worked them like a champ. He
was solid when they approached except for soft-contented feeding calls and
forceful when they swung away bringing them back time after time until they
committed and settled in the hole. They were landing all around him and us and he
never fired a shot. I will never forget it. The ducks eventually spooked and
exploded out of the hole and he never reached for his gun. We were silent watching
him watch all those ducks fly out of sight. They'd been gone 10 seconds before he
moved and with tears of joy in his eyes he looked at me and Tim and said it was
the most beautiful thing that he'd ever seen and I have to agree it was
pretty sporty and we was awfully proud of him. I think y'all so much for
listening. Remember educate yourself on what your plan is. Do your diligence
and understand what's expected to view them above all else. Never hug my
brother in the dark. This is Brent Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful.