Northwest Sportsman – August 2019

152 Northwest Sportsman AUGUST 2019 | nwsportsmanmag.com

out individually. Smoothing shot-

rumpled feathers. Admiring them

time and again. Feeling it – I mean

really feeling it. He had advanced

along the path, and I was proud to

have been a part of it.

Of special note, five rounds into

a two-man, six-shot volley in which

nothing – absolutely nothing – was

killed, Ashden looked at me alongside

the rib of his Weatherby Centurion

and asked, matter of factly and out of

the proverbial blue, “How are we not

killing anything?”

Ah, to be young and capable of

multitasking again!

“WATERFOWL IDENTIFICATION” IS a key

thing for beginning duck and goose

hunters to learn, but it’s also something

of a misnomer as it should also include

local history, and all-around info.

Here, we go back to your title, your

role as teacher, and not merely an

identifier of waterfowl, though that

is understandably important. What

do the various species look like?

What do they look like in silhouette?

Where do they live? What do they

eat? How fast do they fly? What is

that? What is that?

What is that, you’ll ask your

mentee, and not only of ducks and

geese, but of swans and cormorants,

kingfishers and great egrets, not

to be confused with the great blue

HUNTING

heron. Everything. I believe it’s very

important to not only look at the

world around you, but to see it as

well. Point out a mink. An osprey. Talk

about native plants, as well as marsh

invaders like yellow flag iris, purple

loosestrife and milfoil. How they got

there. Where they’re going. But we

won’t forget waterfowl identification.

Are we starting from scratch with

this individual? If so, maybe a copy

of Ducks At A Distance from the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service might be

in order. Or images on the Internet,

courtesy of Google. Perhaps a trip to

a local refuge or wildlife management

area, where you can sit and point

and discuss the differences between

mallards and mergansers on several

levels. Or ask questions like “Which

is the only North American puddle

duck with a white speculum?”

Waterfowl ID isn’t an overnight

thing. Getting good at it takes time,

and you have to make the time to get

good at it.

There won’t be another generation

of waterfowlers unless we take

action and spend the time to bring

new hunters along. (TRAVIS SMITH,

INSTAGRAM: @WICKED_WINGZ)

Doug Hawkins takes a moment to adjust a strap holding his wife Jennifer’s first-ever duck harvest, taken last

November at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge during the inaugural Veterans Day Waterfowl Hunt. One of

the toughest things a mentor will teach is the ethics of the hunt, but respecting the quarry is one of the most

valuable lessons. (BRENT LAWRENCE, USFWS)