25/01/2024
“Okay - that’s pretty cool!”
“Wow - look at all those names!”
“Can I sign it, too?”
It’s a little tradition, and it doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, but one of my favorite things in the world is having people who hunt with us sign a decoy.
I started doing this about 5-6 years ago. Back then, it was on my boat, all public water. The decoy was a gift from a talented friend, . I hated to deface it, but also loved the idea of having some sort of talisman to remember the season when I glanced at my shelf.
But, over time, we change - now most of my hunting is done on private land, with the capacity to introduce way more people to waterfowl hunting, and more importantly, to what I love about Florida.
This year, we had 3 decoys. One was an old bluebill from ; the other two were purchased from . The idea there was we wanted the landowner and the rancher to also have this memento, a tiny thank you for allowing us to enjoy their dirt.
By my unofficial count, 106 first time duck hunters signed this years decoy. That’s 106 people who’ve never bought a waterfowl stamp until this season.
108 women have signed the decoy. I love that. We’ve hosted several all women’s hunts this season, with another one ahead of us this weekend.
88 kids have signed the decoy. What’s better than that?
I look at these things, turn them over in my hands, and I remember - Blaise’s banded mottled in between torrential rains. DC’s first pintail. Myriaha’s first teal.
I remember dad’s and daughters laughing over piles of bluewings, and moms and sons thrilled with a single duck. I remember a family hunt with a grandfather in the December of his lifetime hunting alongside his great granddaughter, too small to carry a gun.
College roommates, coworkers, bosses with their crews, a group of sorority sisters . . . Lawmakers, and legislators, and agency personnel from around the state and country; chefs and NGO leaders and teachers and professors and veterans and and and . . .
“Can I sign the decoy?”
Are you kidding?
It’d be our pleasure . . .
@📸:
