Pacific Regional Duck Calling Contest

[Bootlipkiller]

Thanks

Just calling a spade a spade.

[3legged_lab]

Ummm, if that hen in the last pic isn't yours, can I have her?

[Bootlipkiller]

Ummm, if that hen in the last pic isn't yours, can I have her?

She's used, I borrowed her from Joel

[Legband]

A big thank you to the California Waterfowl Association for sponsoring the Ca. Regional Duck Calling Contest.
And congratulations to
Colby Stillwell , jr Duck and jr Speck -
Ryan Sherbondy , intermediate Duck -
Zane Peterson , open Speck -
Stuart Mattos , regional Duck -
Daniel Ault , intermediate Speck .
Well Done Boys

[GadwallGetter530]

Oh, and by the way here are a few pics

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991103.718316.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991110.679899.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991117.895619.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991132.445168.jpg

They aren't actually my pictures but I heard they were worth 1000 words so I thought I would share them.

That crapper pond you hunt sure is awesome.

[RonE]

Oh, and by the way here are a few pics

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991103.718316.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991110.679899.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991117.895619.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405991132.445168.jpg

They aren't actually my pictures but I heard they were worth 1000 words so I thought I would share them.

If that Wingsetter called that last one in, I'm gonna git me one of them things. No wonder everyone speaks so highly of em.

[3200 Man]

Legband

A 100 Mallard for the season is what I call a poor year ( like last year ) , I agree with you , it was only a 45 % year .
This year has all the makings (so far) to put last year to shame , I'm sorry to say !

Thanks for your efforts in keeping the interest alive in our sport .

Some fellas just wish , they could......hunt and not work....

[Legband]

[Legband]

Anybody heading up to the California Duck Calling Championship at Kittles.
Saturday August 23 youth contest
Sunday August 24 adult contest
I'm going to watch the kids for sure and may stay over for the adults.
Last year was a good time.

[3200 Man]

I use to go watch the competition at Auto Life but as the calling got more and more Not sounding like a Duck or Goose
I figured I'd stay what I knew would work ! I kind of miss the deals to be had , when it was here close but , over time it's
mostly the same stuff ( just a little different ) and as they say , 90 percent of the success in hunting these days is gotten
by 10 percent of the hunters using older proven stuff , Why ?
I'm a Dakota , Full Curl decoy type of hunter with damn good success but , being under a waterfowl highway is still the
most important thing to have , besides , a well equipped boat , finished dog , latest shotgun , newest calls , motion decoys ,
portable blinds and shells that are no better than my handloads !

But , I do understand and Like the Hype , along with the BS that's everywhere there !

[Legband]

I use to go watch the competition at Auto Life but as the calling got more and more Not sounding like a Duck or Goose
I figured I'd stay what I knew would work ! I kind of miss the deals to be had , when it was here close but , over time it's
mostly the same stuff ( just a little different ) and as they say , 90 percent of the success in hunting these days is gotten
by 10 percent of the hunters using older proven stuff , Why ?
I'm a Dakota , Full Curl decoy type of hunter with damn good success but , being under a waterfowl highway is still the
most important thing to have , besides , a well equipped boat , finished dog , latest shotgun , newest calls , motion decoys ,
portable blinds and shells that are no better than my handloads !

But , I do understand and Like the Hype , along with the BS that's everywhere there !

There is certainly enough BS to go around at these things. Lol
But I do think its good to get the kids excited about hunting ducks.

[3200 Man]

And I congratulate you for that !

Just take it easy on us Old Guys pocket book......youngins have a way of get into it ? I know .

[Rick]

Hell, when I make it to our State contest, it's for the BS. I'm not nearly interested enough in the calling, itself, to try to understand what the guys are doing (beyond that it takes a heck of a lot more dedication and practice than I'm willing to put out) and can't help but feel for the judges charged with trying to sort them.

But it tickles me to see and visit with old friends I may not have seen since the last time they were in town for the contest or to promote their stuff at the sporting goods sale down the road.

[Legband]

Hell, when I make it to our State contest, it's for the BS. I'm not nearly interested enough in the calling, itself, to try to understand what the guys are doing (beyond that it takes a heck of a lot more dedication and practice than I'm willing to put out) and can't help but feel for the judges charged with trying to sort them.

But it tickles me to see and visit with old friends I may not have seen since the last time they were in town for the contest or to promote their stuff at the sporting goods sale down the road.

Yea I'm not a contest caller either and I do agree that many of the sounds and cadences they use are totally opposite of what you should use in the field.
How ever I do think that it draws attention and notoriety to our sport , a sport that shrinking in popularity each year.
Now some may say great the less the competition the better , but when our numbers get low enough they will say it's no longer economically responsible to even open public ground to waterfowl hunters and after that they will go after waterfowl hunting on private ground as well.
So I try to support it.
And as you have said It's is a nice Time to catch up with guys you may only see once or twice a year.

[Duckdog]

I'm not trying to start an argument, and this has nothing to do with the contest, but I sure have a tough time believing the "diminishing hunter" thing.
I'd sure need to see some real, believable stats before I could get behind that theory. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's great to get the younger folks involved, and I'm responsible for instilling the addiction into quite a few of them.
But, I just don't see the "numbers shrinking" thing at all. It seems like everywhere you go, (work, etc.) you run into someone else that hunts.
Look at all of the trucks you see with hunting decals and such. I sure don't remember it being like that.
And now,...there's a Cabelas or Bass Pro in damn near every major city! If they were losing market share, I can't see where that was a good investment.
It's damned sure easier for the new generation!
I don't know...maybe it's a regional thing? Or maybe even a "sociological" thing, but I work construction for a large company, and I would say the biggest majority of apprentices I get hunt.
Especially Bowhunting! When I first started Bowhunting, very few people hunted with a bow. And, you had to search out little Ma & Pop archery shops to get your gear.
Again, now it seems like every young hunter I run into bow hunts.

I dunno,...I hear it all the time, but I sure have a tough time believing it.
And, I wonder why my auto correct capitalizes Bowhunting? Respect?

[Legband]

I'm not trying to start an argument, and this has nothing to do with the contest, but I sure have a tough time believing the "diminishing hunter" thing.
I'd sure need to see some real, believable stats before I could get behind that theory. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's great to get the younger folks involved, and I'm responsible for instilling the addiction into quite a few of them.
But, I just don't see the "numbers shrinking" thing at all. It seems like everywhere you go, (work, etc.) you run into someone else that hunts.
Look at all of the trucks you see with hunting decals and such. I sure don't remember it being like that.
And now,...there's a Cabelas or Bass Pro in damn near every major city! If they were losing market share, I can't see where that was a good investment.
It's damned sure easier for the new generation!
I don't know...maybe it's a regional thing? Or maybe even a "sociological" thing, but I work construction for a large company, and I would say the biggest majority of apprentices I get hunt.
Especially Bowhunting! When I first started Bowhunting, very few people hunted with a bow. And, you had to search out little Ma & Pop archery shops to get your gear.
Again, now it seems like every young hunter I run into bow hunts.



I dunno,...I hear it all the time, but I sure have a tough time believing it.
And, I wonder why my auto correct capitalizes Bowhunting? Respect?

It's great that you are getting guys involved at work and any other place you can.
I guess the proof I offer is at the ballot box , more and more restrictive anti hunting laws.
I hope it's not hunters voting this way.
Now weather our numbers are being watered down by non hunters or guys don't care enough to vote I don't know but we are a smaller percentage every year.

[Rick]

Duck stamp sales here in LouisIana have pretty much ebbed and flowed with hunting success and were still on the rise last year at over 105,000 following a dip below 50,000 in 2005. Perhaps interestingly, the recorded low since WWII was during what many think of "the good ole days" in the mid '60s, following a then high of 106,000 in the mid '50s.

[Rick]

Hell, when I make it to our State contest, it's for the BS. I'm not nearly interested enough in the calling, itself, to try to understand what the guys are doing (beyond that it takes a heck of a lot more dedication and practice than I'm willing to put out) and can't help but feel for the judges charged with trying to sort them.

But it tickles me to see and visit with old friends I may not have seen since the last time they were in town for the contest or to promote their stuff at the sporting goods sale down the road.

Yea I'm not a contest caller either and I do agree that many of the sounds and cadences they use are totally opposite of what you should use in the field.

I'm not interested (or sharp?) enough to grasp the nuances judges are looking for, but there's nothing I've heard in "main street," calling contests, that I've not found useful afield in moderation. Ringing contest hails seem to take the most flack from hunters, and Lord knows I lack the wind to string as many ringing notes together as the contest callers do, but He also knows there are times when the few I can get out and still follow up with an every-hen-on-the-pond so-called "comeback" are what it takes to break distant birds I couldn't otherwise influence. And while Robertson may get a laugh out of the rank and file by saying, "The time to do a feed call is never." and I once agreed, I've often had good luck using an aggressive feed as my greeting to birds that every swinging dick in the marsh has greeted with quacks.

Ironically, perhaps, I can't make the same claim about "meat calling" contests, as I'm not convinced using the seemingly mandatory "bouncing hen" or "Cajun squeal" has ever done anything more significant than amuse myself and maybe my hunters.

[3200 Man]

I agree Rick with all the cadences blown these days afield more influence could be made as to (when) to use use them ?
Reading birds in flight seems to be more important , than blowing nonstop for 4 to 6 minutes shaking leafs from the trees !

But , there are times when it works , if you know when !