FIRST TIMER John Mattila holds up his first duck taken during a waterfowl hunt with the author. John got started in hunting later in life and now enjoys seasonal hunts with the author. WON PHOTO BY Tim E. Hovey
Tim E. Hovey
WON Staff Writer
I couldn’t tell you when my interest in hunting started. I know I was young, maybe ten, when I really started the pursuit of game with a single shot BB-gun. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a mentor or someone I knew that hunted. Everything I learned along the way, I learned myself. I’d read everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with hunting and how to get close to animals. I will say, most definitely, my learning curve was steep, with several seasons filled with failure and disappointment. The one personality trait that served me well, is that I never quit.
I understand that the legacy of hunting and the continuation of the activity relies almost exclusively on the next generation of hunters. If we don’t share this interest with anyone that is interested, it will die out. I was lucky. I decided to train my daughters how to shoot and hunt at a very early age, and my oldest, Alyssa has stuck with this. However, what I’m learning as I move through life, is that it doesn’t matter what age you start hunting, as long as you start.
Recently, I was offered three very different examples of how hunters can follow the hunter’s path. Since I began early, I figured getting a jump on hunting as young as possible gave you a far better chance at success. However, if you have someone passionate enough about the pursuit of game, that can guide you to early success, you may get a head start.
DUY PHAN
I first met Duy, through my good friend, Jose De Orta. Jose and Duy worked together, and he had heard about our hunting exploits often. Wanting to experience a hunt himself, Jose and I took Duy out on his first rabbit hunt. At the age of 35, Duy picked up his first California hunting license, and from there, he became a regular fixture on our small game, predator and upland game hunts.
Last year, Jose, Duy and I all went on a waterfowl hunt around the third week of the season. While wading through the soggy marsh in the dark, I found out that Duy had never been on a duck hunt before. We arranged our decoy spread and settled into the blind. About five minutes after shooting time, a group of mallards dropped into the spread and Duy dropped his first ever duck. The smile on Duy’s face in the photos I took of that duck says it all.
Duy is now part of our hunting group and it’s been a pleasure seeing him drop his first animals. Though he started late in life, he’s making up for lost time by hunting as often as he can.
ALYSSA HOVEY
My daughter Alyssa started tagging along with me when she was seven. She picked up her junior hunting license at the age of ten and in those early years she hit the ground running. She has big game, wild turkey, upland and small game under her belt, and I may be biased, but she is one of the best shots I know.
Now, as an adult working a full-time job, her free time is limited and I’m lucky if she gets out with me once or twice a year. Last season, I made a point of scheduling some time with her over a friend’s duck pond. She had never shot a duck before and I thought maybe if she could bag her first duck, she may make more time to hunt.
The first part of the flight didn’t go so well. Ducks worked our spread, but unfamiliar with how fast they are and the appropriate lead, she missed a lot, and I could tell she was getting frustrated. An hour into the hunt and she had yet to bag a duck.
As I had done during her first dove hunt when she was ten, I told her to calm down, follow through and to give approaching birds a full duck’s length of a lead. After an hour of waiting a small group came in, flared at the decoy spread and Alyssa dropped the lead bird. Even though she’s been hunting for a very long time, taking her out at the age of 24 to hunt ducks reinvigorated her to start hunting again.
COLTON BRIDGES
My good friend. Mike Bridges sent me some photos of his grandson, Colton standing in front of a limit of ducks spread out on the tailgate of their side by side he bagged during the early youth hunt. A field photo showed him standing near a makeshift blind. The area looked familiar to me. Mike and I had hunted the same spot the year before with great success.
Mike mentioned that Colton had just received his first hunting license at the age of 10 on September 1st to hunt dove. With the youth waterfowl season starting a week earlier than the regular season, Colton’s dad, Matt took him out to look for ducks. With good calling and shooting, Colton bagged his first limit of ducks by 7:15 AM. Excited at his early success, Matt took him back out the following day where he bagged another limit.
The years have all but erased my first duck hunt. I do know that I’ve developed the urge to get back into waterfowl hunting in the last decade. Having mentors or parents to show you the way will get young hunters like Colton interested early, and hopefully keep them on the hunter’s path. Welcome to the club, Colton!
These three examples demonstrate that it doesn’t matter when you start hunting, as long as you start. If someone asks about your time outside, offer to take them out with you. If they show an interest every time you go, chances are they will enjoy the experience.
