Due to the lack of cataloging and records from that day, the art of tracing down many carvers has been quite confusing. And no, Duck Dynasty was not the first to do it… Many accords attribute their carved decoys as “my grandfather’s” when in fact they could have been carved by many others in the mixed bag.
One skilled carver was Nicole Vidacovitch. He originally arrived in the US on a boat from Yugoslavia in the late 1800s where it is rumored he jumped from a ship and swam to the shore somewhere around Empire, Louisiana. Nicole had a passion for the outdoors growing up and worked as a guide for the Delta Duck Club where they brought in pounds and pounds of duck, geese, deer, oyster, and fish for the market (when market hunting was still legal). Nicole was soon recognized for his remarkable carving of cypress root decoys which he sold to multiple duck camps in the area for $18-$24 a dozen. Nicole was also known as a “traiteur” or faith healer. He was known to remedy migraines quite often and did so for free. Nicole was a well renowned man and loved by many in the area for much more than his decoys.
Another Master Carver was Mark McCool Whipple. Born in the bayou of Bourg in 1884, he was an inspiration for many carvers to come in that area. Mark was a tugboat captain who spent his free time carving, hunting, and guiding. Mark was seen as one of the best marksmen in the area, largely due to his 32 inch full choke 12 gauge he named “Ole Doube”. The Whipple decoys are some of the most plentiful still around because of Mark and his brother’s enormous love and energy for the sport. They used tupelo gum cut from the bottomlands of the basin, and their decoys rarely showed shakes or splits since they took enormous care in drying and painting each one.
This is just a small part of the history that these duck carvers from Louisiana have left behind. There are many many more carvers that have inspired generations to come with their exceptional work. These men are known as pathfinders in wetland heritage. Their long, lightweight designs specifically carved for the terrain are largely sought after by collectors and museums to display. We can only be thankful that these men and others inspired their next of kin to pass down the traditions of call making and bring this art with the family name forever.
This is Part 1 of The History of Decoys! Join next week for another region, thanks for reading and be sure to like and share on Facebook or Instagram.
Cited: Charles Frank: The Great Book of Waterfowl Decoys
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This piece of equipment is a lifesaver. If you haven’t seen it before, The Finisher is a small coin sized piece of metal with a sharp point jutting out that is meant to finish a wounded bird. Just as the name states, straight to the point. Poke this tool at the base of the duck’s skull right above where the spinal cord meets, swirl it around a bit, and you have a finished duck. No more windmill neck breaking, tree smashing, or whatever else medieval tortures y’all think of. Just insert and swish around a bit – Boom, done. It is small enough to hang on your lanyard, but easy enough to hold. All around great tool!
How many times have you gotten to the blind and forgot your water bottle? I did it all the time until I went ahead and spent the ten bucks to get a refillable water bottle. Nalgene makes a great one for example, and they have a little loop on the lid that secures to your bag if there’s not enough room inside. If you’re one of those “no blind bag, wear jeans and garbage bags on my boots” kinda guys it’ll also feed through your belt loop. But seriously, hydration is key, and this thing has come in handy!
Probably my most frequent purchase on this list because I lose at least three a year, the screw in tree hook. I could not life without these things. There are other great options out there like straps or bags that have straps integrated in, but you’ll never beat a good ole screw in hook. Much trustier in my opinion, yet I still give them the test pull before ever putting my camera bag on them…
One thing you’ll never regret buying. My wife may hate them, but camo crocs are a must in this household. Great for lounging and slow cruising while in two-wheel drive but flip that strap back over your heel and you’ve got on the best set of mud tires money can buy. Give them about a season to break in and you’ll never go back to muck boots or house shoes as your “before wader” shoe. As they say, “if you ain’t croc-in’ you ain’t rockin”.
Finally, every man needs an awesome lid. Something that really shows off your passion and what you stand for each and every day. Branded hats have become a staple of your post hunt pictures, you may or may not wear it during the hunt, but everyone has that go-to hat they wear to show off their trophies. There are some great brands out there, I would be honored if you chose an All Gas Duck Club hat to be yours! As the great Ron Swanson said, "Buy one. Or don't. I am not a beggar."
As always, thank you for reading. During these weeks where some are out of jobs or income is tight, we are still using a percentage of proceeds from purchases to provide canned foods to a local food drive. Anything and everything is greatly appreciated. Stay safe everyone!
]]>Here is my nightmare.
We had been hunting for three days already down in South Louisiana. It was late season so the weather was cold, but not unbearable and we were lucky enough to stack a decent amount of Green-heads over the course of the weekend. We sat out to hunt on our last morning, hopeful to have a successful hunt in an area we had scouted the day before. The hole was tucked back far in the swamp; a perfect opening in the timbers where we had heard and seen large groups piling into. It was a tough boat ride, and wading around could be challenging because of the tall grasses that also surrounded the area. We patiently waited for shooting time, all the while hearing wings and shallow quacks just above the trees.
Shooting time came and we took a few right off the jump. The dog retrieved them no problem. Out of nowhere a mallard buzzed the tree tops pitching in behind us. We shot a few times and hit him on the way out, dropping him about 40-50 yards behind us. Sent the dog and prepared for the next volley that was circling. We shot a few more and continued to work a few weary birds.
It wasn't for a few more minutes that the birds had slowed and we went to reload pockets with shells and re-situate when I noticed that the dog had not yet returned from the bird that landed behind us. I called for him, beeped his collar and waited. Heard nothing. I figured the bird may have been winged and traveled a little ways, the water was no easy task to walk through so it may have taken dog longer to find it. I continued to call and beep the collar with no sign anywhere. That is when the panic began to creep in. I began to call louder, tossing a hat in the air just in case he happened to see the movement. He was a well trained dog, so running off was very unlikely. The feeling in my gut started to really tell me something could be wrong.
So many possibilities, but the worst fears running through my head were that he had either got hung up and drowned or taken by a gator. We called off the hunt and the three of us all searched for the dog calling out and circling the swamp.
No Luck.
We continued to search all day, knowing that we were supposed to be leaving the next day and I wasn't going home without my dog. Hope was quickly starting to fade. Before leaving the spot I took off my Drake outer jacket and laid it on a patch of land praying that he would return to the scent. We took back to the boat ramp as the sun set and asked every hunter we saw if they had seen our black lab. Nothing. We posted all over social media in hopes that maybe someone had seen him and grabbed him up.
As heart breaking as it was, I had to accept that something had happened to my dog and it was very unlikely that he would return. We had spent 4 great seasons together.
The day after arriving home I got a strange message on Facebook. A guy had seen my posts all over and actually offered me a ride in his helicopter to scan the swamp for my dog. I couldn't pass up that opportunity, if at least to get some closure.
We scanned for about thirty minutes before returning to the hole we had hunted last. The jacket still laid in the same spot, but from the helicopter there was a black figure laid in a ball on top of it! My dog had returned, God knows when, to that jacket and waited. Six days he was in the swamp waiting on my return. We grabbed him up, he was so low on energy he could barely muster a tail wag at the site of us. After spending some time at the vet to regain his hydration and rest he got to go home with us without a scratch!
Six days that dog waited. What happened between the lines we will never know. What a true blessing it was to be called back into the swamp, and to come across something you would only expect to see in a movie. My dog and I have had two more successful seasons since that day and I will say he has more drive now than ever!
--This story was a story told to me this past season. It is not an actual event that happened to me, but to a friend and fellow hunter. The events are recollected to the best of my knowledge.
--Thanks for reading and please check us out on Social Media and the Apparel pages on the site!
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Where do we even begin, I guess the first step in calling ducks is, well, the call. There are so many different types of calls. The first distinction that one must make is how many reeds do you want in the call. There are single, double, and even triple reed calls. The most common material for a reed is a mylar (or similar) compound. I have heard about people using other types of materials but for the sake of a three-hundred-page article let’s talk about the 99% here. So, the question now is which is the best? Everyone wants the best gear, right? Well I don’t think there is a definitive “best” because there is always that one guy “SiNgLe ReEds ArE HaRd To BlOw”. Well my only argument to any of this is, more reeds = more area to moisture lock. Frankly, double and triple reed calls tend to lock up even in moderate conditions, much less in the rain and snow on a brisk Kansas morning in the marsh. I would advise everyone to pick up a single reed call as early as you can. Double and triple reed calls are much more forgiving, but as you gain experience calling you will switch. Save your money, buy once cry once. My vote (and the other members of AGDC is single reed all day long).
The next big option you will have when selecting your call, J-frame or cutdown style? Can I help you decide which one you will like better? No probably not. A J-frame call will have a much longer note hold ability and will have a nice wide range of tones, volumes, and notes that you can make on it. A cutdown has very little hold, they have tons of volume, raspy whiny barks, and very ducky. Now the largest difference in how they blow, to me at least is it seems like the J-frame is a lot easier blowing, it is all controlled with your tongue and throat diameter to meter the back pressure. When you pick up a cutdown everything changes. You could be able to wail on a J-frame, pick up an RNT Mondo and sound like a third grader with a kazoo. A cutdown will take a lot more air and the back pressure is created more with your hand than within the mouth and diaphragm. I prefer a cutdown, this is a hot topic. There is no right or wrong here, find a call you can blow that fits your style.
One more call option then we will get to the real stuff. Material. Wood or acrylic? What is better? Again this is personal preference, I prefer the acrylic calls, you get a lot of volume, longevity and aesthetically I prefer them. I have personally blown some wood calls that blow amazing and I would be glad to have them on my lanyard, check out any J. Stephens call if you want to see a wood call that will make any true call nerds heart ache. Sound wise I think you will get very similar results out of either material; wood is much more cost effective if you are on a budget (unless you buy a J. Stephens). So, this is all preference.
Let's get to it. Calling in a duck. Talking to them. Where do you even start?
I am going to gear this more toward the beginner, if you are a world champion duck caller, hats off to you boss man you will already know all of this and more. If you are new to the waterfowl world, I hope my insight will be helpful. So, you’re in the blind, marsh, timber, boat, layout, whatever you hunt out of. We’ve all been watching videos of duck calling world championships and hearing those long hail calls that no one has ever used in a duck hole in the history of the world to success. Relax, you don’t have to sound like fifteen million ducks when you’re running a two dozen decoy spread. Which leads me to my first pointer of calling ducks.
Call to your spread size. I can’t emphasize this enough. If you are running a ninety-decoy spread you can absolutely hammer those feeds to sound like tons of ducks, but remember you’re trying to fool a bird, that is real. They have instincts that will alert them when things aren’t right, if you have twenty-four decoys out but you sound like two hundred ducks, the real birds will know. I know this probably sounds elementary and you’re going “Well no shit dude…” Yeah next time you’re wondering why that group looked and hauled ass after you hit them with the machine gun feed and your six decoys... Remember this tip! All jokes aside this is hugely important, we’re trying to imitate a group of birds feeding, rafting up and hanging out. Try to imitate what they actually do!
No calling is better than bad calling. We all have that hunting buddy that thinks he’s Antonio Jones on a call but realistically, a wet fart on a hot summer day is more pleasing than listening to him blow the reeds out of his call. Practice, when you’re at home; get fifteen to twenty yards from your phone and record yourself blowing the call. I cannot emphasize this enough; I blow calls every single day. If you record yourself from that distance it will give you a pretty good idea of what you sound like. If you want to watch hunting videos where guys call and sound great I recommend anything that has Dr. Duck in it, or Tony Vandemore. These fellas know how to talk to them. Listen to them and then listen to yourself, you’ll know when it’s right. Videos of real time hunting will be of much more use for learning purposes than Joe Blow standing in front of the camera quacking here and there.
Listen to real ducks. If you have the chance sit and listen to a refuge. Listen to what real ducks actually do when they’re on the water together. That is what you want to mimic. Learn the cadences, learn to speak duck. The coolest part about this is the noises they make on the water are very basic! It’s mostly just quacks in different cadences and volumes. There are variations but for the beginner, a basic five note greeting cadence could finish you some birds!
Feeding Chuckle. To me this is the most important call you should learn. Yes, there are days where they will finish to you screaming at them, even on those days you will utilize the feeding chuckle. On those days where birds are call shy very subtle quacks, and the ever-present chuckle is your best friend. There are ten thousand ways to feed chuckle. They are all right, the more notes you can make, and sound different from everyone else blowing calls the better. That is why the feed chuckle is great, from basic to advanced learn this call.
I’m going to wrap this up because I could go on all day about duck calling! To that new caller who just got their first call and is blowing your lungs out to just figure out that first quack, welcome to the addiction my brother! You have entered the most frustrating and rewarding aspect of hunting. The Call.
Hopefully this article was of some use! Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed the tips, take a look in our apparel section linked above.
]]>Waterfowl hunting in Australia has slowly decreased in popularity over the last five years. Dwindling numbers and the growing concern over gun control has yielded far less people in the woods.
The average annual harvest in Australia is around 390,000 birds compared to upwards of 10 million killed in the United States. The ecological departments of Australia are trying to determine the cause of the decrease in waterfowl population over the years. Hunters are blamed even if there is no significant evidence that it is detrimental. States such as New South Wales, Queensland, and West Australia have even went as far as to ban the sport.
Citing a local interview, Dean Rundell describes how the culture sees hunters:
"Some think we aren't compassionate or sympathetic people.
"Others think we are just feral and shoot anything we see."
Sounds like something straight from Hollywood's mouth.
An article posted to "Independent Australia" shows pictures of ducks with their necks being rung and calling the season "slaughter season". The author even goes as far as comparing hunters to arsonists by stating: "For example, shooting helps them “connect with nature”. I mean, seriously? Destroying nature is now connecting with it? Could an arsonist not use the same line when they head into the bush with a box of matches?"
The ignorance speaks for itself.
There is another largely possible reason for the outrage and one that is very easy to agree with; There were over a billion animals lost in the wildfires this year in Australia. So I can definitely see where the extra killing of animals could seem excessive to some. To others like Dean and many of us, it is where they find their solace, confidence, well-being, and connection to nature. Not to be confused as arsonists, the few still reign strong while they can.
All I have to say is that there's always room in my blind for you blokes, and I am thankful to live in a country that supports such an ecosystem where birds can thrive and prosper.
USA!!
Cited:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-11/duck-hunting-on-lake-connewarre/9591250
]]>Those of you who have hunted for a few years know the struggle. Should I wear this extra jacket just in case? Do I need an extra base layer? And so on. Many mornings are spent on those sneakily windy days wishing you had worn the extra layer. Finding that balance is crucial! Us boys from the south have a tendency to over estimate the cold. Travelling up north or out west, when you see 20 degrees on the radar it may as well be -20 to a good ole Alabama boy. We are NOT used to that weather. So of course, I'm piling on all the hunting gear I have to try and stay warm. You can always take off right? Now mallards are circling the hole and I'm over at my blind bag trying to get my outer layer back on because I'm freezing my balls off again, boom. Flared em. Every time. Surely someone has thought of a solution for this issue.
Sitka is that solution. I'm going to start this rant off by saying I was not always on the bandwagon. I never really liked the camo (though I can always appreciate the science behind it), and I thought it was a gimmick that would surely fade out or someone would expose something *leaks* similar to a few other brands who claimed to have it all figured out. I was perfectly happy with the gear I had until I wore the Duck Oven. The warmest jacket on the market by far, there is only one way to describe it.
Comfortable.
No more ten under shirts, three jackets, doubled pants, etc. If it is under 40 degrees, wear this jacket and a fleece and you will be more than warm. The Duck Oven is the single piece of gear that I personally believe is a must have if you are going to buy anything. Total game changer.
Now, I know where this has taken some readers minds and I may have lost a few by now,but if you are still here I want to be sure to mention that I am aware of the stigma that comes with Sitka...The price point it has almost become a status symbol in the waterfowl world. I'm not going to tell you I kill more ducks than you because I wear what I wear, but I will tell you that I am more comfortable. I don't feel the wind, I stay warm, and most of all I don't look like the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man on a cold day.
So the truth about Sitka? Worth every penny. My dad always said, "buy once, cry once". Buy quality gear, you'll never be sorry. Buy this gear and you'll never have that thought of "Ah, I probably need a new jacket this year..." The cost of one jacket compared to the three you normally would wear is comparable anyways, but that's a talk you can have with your financial adviser.
**Disclaimer... This is in no way a paid advertisement. I am writing this as an original thought and am not influenced monetarily in any way.
Thank you all so much for reading. Be sure to connect with us on Social Media (Facebook Instagram Yudu).
I am always open for topics to cover so be sure to drop a message!
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