Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
This past Saturday and Sunday (February 5th and 6th) were designated as Federal Youth Waterfowl Days. Youth 15 years old and younger could hunt waterfowl when accompanied by an adult and only the youth could hunt! "These hunts offer the perfect opportunity for youth to be introduced to waterfowl hunting in a positive manner" said Dean Harrigal, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) biologist.
With a busy schedule this past weekend I wasn?t sure if I was going to be able to make it, but it turned out that I could and I was excited to see what some of our youth would do. As I drove down the night before it rained for a solid hour without letting up. It wasn?t a good sign and I hoped that it would quit before the morning, but we didn?t end up that lucky. It rained throughout the night and for a couple of hours in the morning. As ?Murphy?s Law? would have it, the rain slacked up once the hunt started winding down.
I was pumped about this hunt because I was going to be in the blinds with the guys. I knew I would be able to get some really neat footage from being right there ?in the mix?. I was glad that I was in the blind too because if I had been out in the open I would have gotten soaked even more than I did and filming wouldn?t have been possible. The blind offered some cover where I could keep the camera somewhat shielded from the rain.
In our crew we had 3 youth hunters, 2 adults who assisted, me, and a dog hunkered down in 2 different blinds. I should probably describe the blinds a little because they were unique, but the video will give you a better feel than my words can. The blinds were rectangle in shape and they were in the ground. When sitting on the benches inside the blinds, our eyes were just above the level of the water. The blinds were camouflaged really well with brush all around the top edges. The blinds also had tops on them that flip open whenever it?s time to shoot, but for our hunt we left them open so as to have increased visibility for the youth and for the camera. The blinds were situated side by side on a point in the middle of the waterway. In case the blinds flooded the blinds had small pumps that pumped the water out in the corners of them. While we were sitting in the blinds our boots were about ankle deep in water due to all the recent rains and it wasn?t letting up.
We got there early and some of the guys put out decoys while I was getting my gear situated in the blind. The rain was still falling and I knew it was going to be tough to film and take pictures in this wet environment. After a little while everyone was situated and we just sat there waiting on the sun to rise and we also listened to the driving rain pinging the roof just over our heads. With the blinds over our torso our legs were exposed to the rain and within time I got soaked! The water ran straight down from my pants into my boots and before too long I felt ?gushy? on the inside of my boots. It wasn?t fun and before too long everything from my waist down was soaked and it seemed like it weighed 10 lbs more than when I came in. I guess I should also mention that everyone except me had waders on! I?ll probably have to invest in some waders here at some point, but leave it to me to go without any and having a valuable learning experience from it.
After a little while some ducks started swimming across the waterway. I could zoom in and see them with the camera better than we could with our eyes and they were heading our way. I got some good footage of this and I told the guys that the birds were coming our way. The guys were ready and within a few minutes the shells were flying in the air and I think the kids got 5 ?Coots? in total.
We still had birds coming in even after the first round of shots and after the dog had retrieved all the ducks! We sat there for a while and I got some more footage of the guys in the blinds and the overall setup. As it got lighter out the video got clearer and you?ll that reflected in the video below. Randomly we?d have a group of ducks come in and I was able to get some footage of birds flying in and I also got footage of the guys missing some shots that were right down the pipe. We were all laughing and having a good time with it though. I couldn?t believe the number of ducks we had around us throughout the morning and it really compliments the guy?s hard work done in the off-season to that area.
By the time the hunt was over I was completely soaked and my cameras had water all over them too. I wasn?t sure if I was going to be able to pull footage off the camera, but luckily it went undamaged. After the hunt we all went up and ate breakfast and had a good time hanging out. Though it was pouring and not the best filming conditions, it was still a great hunt and a great time together in the outdoors. I?m glad that DNR has a youth day set up because it helps get the youth fired up and keeps the hunting legacy going.
The rain, mist, fog, and clouds made it a little difficult for me to film?especially when trying to pull focus on various objects. So, some of the shots you?ll see in the below video are a little blurry.
Thanks again to the guys for inviting me along!
Regards,
Clint
As many of you are aware, this past hunting season has been a little cooler than normal. I?m interested in knowing what you to do stay warm. You?ve probably got some good, wind-breaking, waterproof, insulated camo pants, jacket, or suit along with some nice insulated boots and thick socks?and you probably even base-layer it with Under Armor?s ?Cold Gear?. At least that?s the approach I take, but when temperatures get really low (like they have been lately) the cold still seems to find a way to cut right through all that stuff and grab me.
I usually put my gear on inside the house and by the time I?m through getting it all on I?m sweating so I rush outside to cool off. Then by the time I walk to the deer stand or to the duck blind I?m sweating again and you all know what happens next?the sweat eventually dries and you are even colder! In attempt to counter this sometimes I?ll leave my gear unzipped or untucked until I reach my location. This helps a little, but doesn?t eliminate the situation completely.
With a few weeks remaining in hunting season I was talking about how cold it was and my mom said ?You ought to just get some of the heat wraps and put them on? because that?s what they used when they had back pain or something. At first I didn?t give it much thought, but after I went on a hunt and sat on a chair covered in ice for 3 hours I decided that I would take the time to find out. When I returned home I asked her about them and she explained a little more. Later on I went to the Springs Wild Game Center where I picked up some ?Toasty Toes? and then I went to Wal-mart and got about 3-4 different brands of those Thermacare?s Heat Wraps?.and the next morning I was so glad that I did! I guess they say ?Mama?s know best? for a reason.
I started off putting my base layer of Under Armor gear on. All of the warnings on the heat packs say ?Do not apply directly to skin? so I put them on after the base layer. Back in the day you had to shake those things to make them warm up, but now all you have to do is open the package and the oxygen makes them heat up. Got to love technology! So I took the ?Toasty Toes? and stuck one on my chest (where I pressed the camera against to keep it warm) and I stuck the other one to the other side of the camera so that it had heat coming from both sides. The "Toasty Toes" are unique in that they have adhesive on them which helps them stick to your clothing.
After applying the ?Toasty Toes? I took the Thermacare Heat Wraps and put one on my lower back and one on my neck. Within minutes I could feel small pockets of heat start warming up all over me. I knew I didn?t have long before I would be sweating on the inside of the house so I hurried up and got dressed. By the time we got to the duck swamp those heat packets were even warmer.
I was so glad that I had investigated, purchased, and used the Heat Wraps and Toasty Toes because those things saved me. I could lean back in my chair and the rail of the chair would press that heat into my lower back and it felt so good. Of course I didn?t tell anybody that I was wearing them?after all, I?m a man and can endure the cold!
You may laugh and give me a hard time, but next time you have a hunt in cold weather plan ahead and give some ?Toasty Toes? or Thermacare Heatwraps a try and see how your hunt goes.
What other methods, tips, or products do you use to keep warm during your hunts?
As the sun faded and the sky darkened the sound of wings filled the air. Shooting time ended without a shot but what transpired in that thirty minute window before dark was something to treasure.
My dad and I were invited by a cousin to come hunt his farm on the outskirts of town (Chester) this past Saturday. We had a chance to hunt this property a few years ago and we were able to take a few mallards. The thought of those memories had me eager for more. The hunt on Saturday started at about 3:30 p.m. My Dad and I got set up overlooking a flooded corn field. A few decoys set the stage for the afternoon hunt. Dad and I hunkered down on the other side of the berm behind a few mature sweetgum trees. The air was cold as we waited but the thoughts of ?wings in the air? kept my blood pumping. It wasn?t long before we saw a few mallards circling off in the distance. Those birds sat down on another pond and we soon realized that our plans and the ducks plans weren?t coming together. This pattern continued through the afternoon and the shooting time started to dwindle away. Our cousin came up with a few minutes of shooting time left and said that the full moon and recent ice had changed the ducks pattern and they would more than likely pour in right after shooting time.
Sure enough probably not five minutes after shooting time the whistling call of several wood ducks could be heard as they zoomed over our set up. Then the grunt of a drake mallard and quack of the hen could be heard circling overhead. It was as if the ducks were watching a clock and knew we could do nothing. They started to pour in and I was amazed. The ducks were literally crashing into the flooded corn stalks. As a novice duck hunter just being in that moment and watching the birds work was so satisfying. Most experienced duck hunters would?ve probably been disappointed but I was in a trance and enjoying every minute of it as the sound of wings echoed through the fading sky.
Below is a five minute video I put together of the hunt. I apologize for the quality as it doesn?t do the hunt justice, but hopefully you can get an idea of the experience. Turn up the volume and listen carefully. ?Do you hear wings in the air??
I was pumped to see the second season come in and for good reason. The last few weeks have been pretty awesome for me and my gang. We?ve been hunting lakes, swamps, ponds, and beaver holes. We?ve seen ducks in every spot we?ve been to. I want to tell you about a few hunts we?ve had over the past few weeks.
One hunt, that really sticks out in my mind, is the morning my buddy, Cole Lowery, put the smack down on a few geese. It was a COLD morning. The water was frozen, but we were determined to hunt either way. We headed out to a little pond- this pond holds a lot of ducks to be such a small pond. Justin Gainey, Cole, and I decided to break a section of the ice and throw out the decoys. We worked and worked to break up the ice but it would freeze back up as soon as we would get back to the bank. Getting ready for the ducks to fly in, we took a break to talk about how cold it was and how we really had no sense to be out in such cold weather. The birds started chirping and then the ducks started flying in. We busted a few wood ducks. We were pretty pumped about it. The ducks were scattered around us, so Justin and I decided to start picking them up. We laid our guns down and took off into the water to get them. While Justin and I were out in the water gathering the ducks, Cole stood on the bank and guided us in the right direction. I glanced across the field, and all I could see were geese coming right toward us. I was too far from my gun to take off to get it and so was Justin. I started yelling at Cole to get ready because the geese were coming in. All I could do was stand there and watch. Man, that made me sick. They came in pretty as could be, all but landing on the end of Cole?s gun barrel because they were so close. Cole started firing and geese started falling. After the first shot, two geese fell to the ice. Then, he shot two more times and two more geese fell. He reloaded, shot again, and another one dropped. He had reached his limit. We were all so excited. We jumped up and down like we were kids again. All three of us were pumped up about our great morning. Not to mention, it is Cole?s first year of duck hunting and he was very excited. We had so much fun that morning. I can still play it back in my mind like it was yesterday. That was definitely a morning to remember.
The next hunt that sticks out is another morning to remember. It was the cold morning of December 18th. The boys got together and headed down the long, muddy, bumpy road that leads us to the honey hole. We got our gear together and headed on into the beaver hole. We got set up, and it was just a matter of time until we would be seeing some ducks. In no time, the ducks started diving in and we started shooting as fast as we could shoot. At one time, I couldn?t keep my gun loaded. I dry fired more than I fired successfully. It is a rush that I can?t put into words. We shot close to ten minutes straight. I was keeping up with the number of ducks we hit. I yelled out to the boys that we could only kill two more ducks before we reached our limit. The last shots were fired and reaching the limits was taken care of. We had reached six limits of wood ducks. All we could do was sit back and admire them as they flew. We had EIGHTEEN wood ducks and THIRTEEN of them were drakes. We were hyped about our great hunt, but also glad we had reached our limits because between the six of us, we probably didn?t have a full box of shells left. Ducks were laying everywhere. It was such a great hunt and the first time of the season that we all reached our limit. I had to go out of town that morning for a Christmas gathering so I left the cleaning to the other guys. I?m sure they had a few choice names for me that morning.
Another impressive memory is when some friends of mine gave me a call one evening to ask if I wanted to go to Lake Wateree to hunt. Of course, I was ready to be in on the lake action, so I gathered up my lake gear that night. I arrived at their house at 4:00 AM. By 4:15, we, with our gear, were packed into the Trailblazer like a pack of sardines. We finally arrived at the boat landing and started loading all of the gear into the boat. The excitement in the air felt like Christmas morning. The boat's throttle is bad about freezing up when it is that cold. Thankfully, we were prepared for it. We had two clothes hangers ready to rig up to get us to the hole. We were determined to make the best of it and shoot some ducks. We took off across the lake with P-Nut driving the boat... with the clothes hangers. (It was worth the trip just to see this!) We arrived to the lucky log, got the decoys out, and hid away the boat. We were ready to hunt. I had my usual "break time". The set up looked good and the sun was rising quickly. We could see ducks flying above and all around us. We decided to take out a few of those ducks. We killed a few drake woodies. We sat back and were waiting on the mallards to fly in. All of a sudden, P-Nut yelled to Doug to "Call 'em in, man!" P-Nut had spotted three malley birds in the distance. Doug started calling, and the ducks started turning toward us. At first, they came in a little out of shooting range but Doug wasn't going to let them get away. He called them back in. This time they were within shooting range. Everybody sat as still as the tree we were perched on, and it was paying off. When the ducks came into land in the decoy spread, we rose up and fired. All I could see was three ducks hit the water. My heart was pounding. We had dropped all three ducks. We started yelling, dancing, and hooting across the lake. We didn't care if we saw another duck because we accomplished what we came to do. We gathered the ducks and the decoys, and began taking pictures immediately. We started our journey back across the lake so we could get our feet warmed up. We had a good time that morning. I think Doug's head may have grown a little that day, but he called them in so two thumbs up to him!
The last few mornings have been depressing in comparison to the start of the season. I can count on both hands the amount of ducks I have seen. Hopefully, whatever element has changed will go back to normal soon, and we can have a few more good hunts this season. This also proves that it?s not about duck killing. It?s about the hunt. Not every hunt will be as successful, but the time shared during the hunt makes the good hunts even better.
Hey Everyone,
Just recently, me, my dad, and good friend Robbie Boone headed out to Stuttgart, AR for the Intermediate World Duck Calling Contest. There were 26 contestants from all over the United States between the ages of 14-16 who had high hopes just like me.
After enduring the 12 hour ride, we finally arrived around 8:00 pm and Macks?s Prairie Wings was still open so we took advantage to stretch our legs and look around at the enormous display of waterfowl supplies. After dad and Robbie purchased a few items, I called my duck calling mentor and good friend Butch Richenback of RNT Calls , to see what time I could come by the RNT shop the next morning for a call tune up and for him to listen to my routine.
So the next morning we stopped by the RNT Shop where Butch re-tuned my call and worked with me for about 30 minutes prior to being overrun with other callers and store customers. This particular week was Stuttgart?s annual ?Wings over the Prairie Festival? with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance which was huge for not only Stuttgart but the state as well.
After we left Butch and the RNT shop, we headed to Main Street so I could register for the World Contest. Once I registered, we had a small lunch (nerves were starting to set in) for both me and my dad. At 1:30 they called back all of the contestants for to go over all the rules and to begin the contest.
While we were getting ready backstage, the callingducks team was setting up their video equipment which would be giving live video footage for their site www.callingducks.com. This allowed other family members and friends who were unable to come , to watch and see what it?s all about .
Once the contest started, and I was #3 to come out, boy the nerves really started buzzing. When my number was called out, I said here we go, and just blow clean. I blew a solid routine and was tied for 4th after the 1st round and was called back in the top 12. I drew #6 for the second round and surprisingly found myself less nervous.
When my number was called out, here we go again, and blew a solid routine again but with combining scores of the first two rounds, put me at finishing 7th in the world.
I would like to congratulate Seth Hartman for winning and two of my good friends Devlin Hodges who finished 2nd, and Greg Hubble JR for finishing 5th. Way to go guys!
I would also like to thank everyone at Drake Waterfowl, Decoy Outdoors, WinnTuck, and the team of WeHuntSC.com but especially Butch Richenback of RNT Calls for all of the support giving to me . I could have never finished 7th in the World without you.
Good Calling & Hunting - Blake
I had a pretty busy weekend over this past Thanksgiving Holiday. I spent a lot of time in the woods and swamps and don?t have much to show for it, but then again that?s why they call it hunting rather than shooting! Though, I don?t mind getting out in nature and not shooting anything?it?s a whole lot better than being at work!
We knocked off early at work on Wednesday and I headed down to Pageland. I wasn?t able to hunt that evening because I gave the devotion at football practice that night. After that we had the Turkey Bowl draft and then I headed down to the in-laws! We stayed up pretty late talking and I got to bed around 12:30.
During the day on Wednesday I gave Mr. Bruce Puette a call to see if he wanted to go hunting Thursday morning. Just like clock-work Mr. Puette assured me that he was going. I should have known he was going because if the sun rises, Mr. Puette is usually in a stand somewhere! I woke up at 4:15 in order to get ready and meet Mr. Puette at his hunting club. Though on Thursday morning he put me in a nice stand overlooking a gas line and he hunted a different stand. I had the perfect setup and a good stand, but nothing came through. I could hear the duck hunters wearing some ducks out in the distance though. Those guys were shooting every couple of minutes. There are obviously some ducks flying down around the Pee Dee River!
After the hunt with Mr. Puette I ate a very nice Thanksgiving lunch with my in-laws. I ate enough to hold me over, but I didn?t over-eat because a big game was up next on the schedule. That?s right?the Turkey Bowl was scheduled for 3 o?clock and I needed to be there and ready to play! You may be wondering what the Turkey Bowl is?well if that?s the case then please refer to the blog entry I wrote for 2MinuutinVaroitus.com where I describe the Turkey Bowl in full. Some of my Finnish friends asked me to write a blog for their web site so they sent me a shirt and I gave it a whirl.
Thursday evening we ate yet another Thanksgiving meal and this one was at my parent?s house. If you know my mama, then you know she can cook and she puts on a big spread every Thanksgiving. We ate until we almost couldn?t move. I was so tired from the Turkey Bowl that I had to go and lay down at a decent hour. I think I got to bed that night around 11.
I was up early Friday morning to go duck hunting with Gavin Jackson and his duck hunting crew. I got all layered up and stepped outside. As soon as I got outside I knew something was off. It wasn?t cold at all. I started getting hot after a few steps. When I got into my car I noticed that it was only 60 degrees whereas the day before it was 38 degrees. Some kind of warm front had come through the area and I didn?t even wear my jacket in the swamp!
We made our way into the swamp and got everybody set up. We had 3 hunters and me and I set up on the beaver dam to try to video the event. It started to get light and we anticipated birds flying in from everywhere, but for whatever reason, nothing much was flying. We had 4 birds come in real low very early and they got out of there quick, but it was too early to shoot plus they were in and out very quickly. After that we only saw a handful of ducks in the distance and before too long the hunt was over. We had our own little ?lame duck session? in the swamp. Though, the lack of birds flying didn?t stop me from filming and taking pics. I got some good footage of the setup and guys walking through the swamp. Videoing while duck hunting adds another factor into the mix that is somewhat scary?water. I was scared of dropping my camera in the water, but what can you do right? The tripod also got introduced to swamp mud on this trip. Even though we didn?t get any birds much less a shot at a bird, we still had a good time.
I had to be at Central at 12 because the bus was leaving for Woodruff at 12:30. We made our way over to Woodruff and I thought the bus we were on was going to break down before we got there. We did end up making it and I have to say that our game this past weekend vs. Woodruff was one of the best high school games I?ve ever been a part of?coaching, playing, or watching. Woodruff had a nice stadium and it was jam packed, music everywhere?it was the electric, Friday Night Lights environment that you read about and only experience every now and then. The game was full of big hits, big plays, momentum swings, and it was down to the wire. In the end we won the game and everyone was on edge until the clock struck zero. Woodruff had a really good team and be on the lookout for their Qb next year. He was running the show and doing a good job with it. Now we?ve got Dillon again and I hope we can break our recent trend with them!
After I woke up I headed back down to the in-laws and hung out for a while. We even did some painting for my mother-in-law! It never hurts to keep the in-laws on the good side I guess. Later that evening I hunted near their house from my climbing stand. I?m not a big fan of climbing stands, but every now and then I?ll break bad and use mine. And it took me more time to get situated because of my use of the safety harness, but I always use it when in the climber. It can be aggravating, but the downside would be a whole lot worse than if I wasn?t wearing it.
In this setting I was overlooking a swamp behind me and a fire break in between some planted pines and oaks in front of me. I had some corn out beneath me and also on the fire break. I had been putting corn out there for a while, but had never hunted there and I figured it would be the perfect set up. I thought that I wouldn?t be able to film out of the climber, but after using it I think I could use my Irwin Grip and make it work. We shall see in future attempts!
On this hunt I saw everything but a deer. I had some wood ducks fly over me and then came the geese. Throughout the whole afternoon I had 2 squirrels running around below me. Sitting in the stand I had my back to the swamp and I figured that if something was walking through the swamp that I would hear it and be able to turn around in time. Well I was sitting there in the quiet when all of a sudden I hear something slurping water behind me. I was frozen. I knew there was no way a deer could have walked through there that quiet enough to get close to me and drink water. I slowly turned around and 2 huge raccoons were quietly walking through the edge of the swamp. I tried to get them on film, but by the time I turned around they had gotten behind some brush and I couldn?t get the camera focused on them. I guess they came down from one of those trees or something. I have no idea how they got that close to me. Right before dark I had, what I thought to be a chipmunk, come out of some thick brush to my right. It was getting dark and was difficult to see, but after looking at the bird it was plainly a quail. I haven?t seen them around much, but I definitely knew what it was. I watched it walk around for a bit and then it flew off. It was a neat afternoon in the woods with the exception of not seeing any deer!
Below is a video with visuals from the weekend...no ducks or deer harvested, just scenery!
By the time Sunday morning came around I had to sleep in. The weekend was wearing me out and I didn?t want to fall asleep in church! No hunting on Sunday afternoon as we watched film at the coaches meeting and then I spent some time with the wife!
Overall it was a good, long, weekend. Thanksgiving, good food, the Turkey Bowl, an exciting football game and road trip, duck hunting, and deer hunting made up my whole weekend. I didn?t bring anything home other than myself, but it sure was fun. I was actually glad when Monday came around because with this kind of scheduling, I have to go to work just to rest.
A while back I told Daryl Hodge of Wrecking Crew Guide Service that if he ever had an open spot on a trip that I?d love to go with them and get some video of one of their hunts. Well, Daryl contacted me and said he had room so I told him that I still wanted to go. Daryl said that he would let me know what time I needed to meet them sometime on Friday. We were on the way to play Strom Thurmond and Daryl texted me and said that I needed to meet them at 4am Saturday morning. As I was on the bus I started doing some figuring and it didn?t look good for the amount of sleep that I would be getting Friday night. The Eagles won again and we ended up getting home at 2am in the morning. Since I had to drive a little ways to meet Daryl and the rest of the Wrecking Crew I had to get up at 3:15. I set my clock and took an hour nap and then got up and hit the road. Needless to say I was struggling, but I was still kind of pumped from the game so I was able to make it, plus it was opening day so I had to soldier up.
We were obviously in some kind of a valley and there were creeks at the bottom with some flooded areas as well. We had 6 people in the bottom and we got there in plenty of time so that we wouldn?t be rushed. I didn?t have any waders so I stayed on the side of the creek closest to the trucks and the rest of the crew crossed the small creek and set up on a small island. They scattered out to cover more ground and we had about 80 yards worth of swamp covered with shooters. We hoped to keep the ducks on their toes from both ends of the creek! There were trees everywhere and it was pretty thick. It wasn?t like the open scenario over water that you might anticipate, but rather was more like hard woods with creeks running through the bottom.
Before it was daylight we could hear them coming in already. I tried and tried to get some footage of them coming through, but I?m not quick enough and the lighting was too low to get birds on camera. Blake did some calling and the birds periodically came in around us. You could even hear the wood ducks splashing the water when they landed in various parts of the creeks. The sound of them landing was louder than I imagined it would be, but I think it was because of the angle they had to take to get to the water since the trees made them come from a more vertical angle.
Every couple of minutes I heard a ?BOOM? coming from one end or the other. Where I was setup gave me the closet view of Blake. I kept trying to get him on film, but he kept hiding behind trees and made it tough on me! Though, I was able to get a few shots of him throughout the morning. And yes, as you would imagine, Blake did the calling for the team throughout the morning! I guess it doesn?t hurt to have a world champion duck caller in the swamp with you.
After a while of shooting the action slowed down and it was time to go find some birds. In total, Daryl said that they shot 7, but we were only able to find 4. Sometimes it?s just tough to find those birds and I mean we searched high and low! I think one of them went under water and grabbed a root. After the birds were all rounded up it was picture time. Daryl, Blake, Robbie & his daughter posed for some pics in the swamp and then we headed back out. Daryl and Blake had to be down at Schofields in Florence for a show that morning so we didn?t have time to stay in and wait on any mallards.
It was a good trip and a great opening day in the swamp. I was dragging by the time I made it home, but I?d do it again if I could! So a big thanks to Daryl Hodge and the Wrecking Crew for letting me get in the swamp with them.
Below is a video collage of the trip
Last night the wife and I went down to the Lancaster County Ducks Unlimited banquet. We had a really good time and hung out with fellow WeHuntSC.com blogger Gavin Jackson and his wife and some other friends from around the Pageland area. The event was packed with waterfowl hunters and there were tons of prizes on hand being auctioned off, won, and bided on.
We arrived to the event and walked around looking at all the items that were on display. There were some nice paintings, decoys, a corn-hole set, clocks, mail-boxes, and a really nice shotgun too. Everyone was mingling and looking at the items on the tables trying to figure out what they wanted to bid on during the auction. Fellow WeHuntSC.com blogger and world champion duck caller Blake Hodge was scheduled to do some demo calling at the banquet as well.
Around 7:15 the guy emceeing the event got on the microphone and said that it was time for Blake to do some calling for the crowd. The emcee told the crowd about all the awards that Blake?s been winning and Blake made believers out of everyone there. He really made those calls sing! Everyone in the room went quiet while Blake was calling and after he finished everyone gave him a big round of applause. While Blake was calling you could see people in the audience shaking their heads and looking at each other as if to say ?I can?t believe how good he is?. The emcee tried to lure Blake into coming hunting with him so that he could use his calling abilities to draw some birds in, but Blake gave him a quick no and the crowd laughed at his quick response. Imagine being 14 and getting up in front of a crowd of grown-ups who?ve been hunting way longer than you and showing them how to call. I imagine it could be a little intimidating knowing that everyone in the room was going to critique your style. Though it didn?t faze Blake and he did really well.
The gun of the year
Shortly thereafter it was time to eat and everyone munched down on some Jo Jo?s BBQ which was really good. Then came the auction where the prizes get bided on and sold. All of the money gets donated to Ducks Unlimited so the hunters don?t mind spending their money on the products plus it?s a tax write-off. When the emcee got going I couldn?t believe how fast he was talking. He was rolling his tongue and speaking faster than Bone Thugs n Harmony can rap! It was pretty impressive to hear.
The clock started inching toward 10 and the wife looked at me and I knew what that look meant. We had to leave and get back to Rock Hill. We left as the last product was being auctioned off. It was a really neat experience and if you?ve never been to a DU banquet you should check one out. I believe Gavin said that Chesterfield County may be having one in the future too. The Ducks Unlimited organization runs deep and has roots everywhere so most likely there?s an event happening near you sooner than later.
Do you remember Blake Hodge? If you?re in the waterfowl world, then you probably already know him?if not, then you may remember him from his YouTube video we shot of him demonstrating some duck and goose calling for us. Well, we?re excited to announce that Blake is joining the WeHuntSC.com team as one of our bloggers. Blake is from the Lancaster, SC area and will contribute to the site blogging about his hunting adventures, trips, calling competitions, and any events that he is involved with.
At only 14, Blake already has an impressive resume among his peers as well as in comparison to older waterfowlers. Blake has already won several competitions (some won in the adult division). Here?s a list of some of the competitions he?s already won:
As you can see, Blake is getting it done in SC and beyond. We?re proud to have Blake on board and look forward to reading his future blog entries.