Interview With The Downeast Duck Hunter Pt.2

The following is the conclusion of my interview with Tony, The Downeast Duck Hunter.



When you interviewed me you shared with your readers that you have 2 young girls. How do you feel about them continuing the tradition of hunting and have they expressed an interest in following in your footsteps? If so, do you know how you will introduce them to the sport?

My two beauties are my life and I would love to have them participate in my world of hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. My oldest is a learning experience, she loves the outdoors whether it be on the lobster boat, hiking in the woods looking for buck and doe sign, ice fishing, or freshwater fishing. However, I've also found that she has a sense of remorse for the animals I take. Most usually we release the fish and I must be very sensitive about how I present my take. On one occasion, she nicknamed a black duck “Cutie” so Cutie was processed after she went to bed. On any account, she's in my back pocket and most recently we scoped out the ducks that have congregated locally since the big freeze & the end of puddle ducking. She's got a knack for this, how far she goes with it, we'll see. No matter what, I will support her in any decision concerning a future participation in the sport.

My youngest I believe, will be first in line for anything outdoors. But she is only two and it's hard to do the same with her as I do my oldest. She does get excited when she sees deer on the television, or on my deer cam.

Both girls will soon be getting their life long hunting and fishing licenses. For $500, both will be able to take this opportunity with them wherever they go and I must say this is one of the few good things about our state government.

Most of us who hunt dream of a once in a lifetime hunt, what is your dream hunt ?

I've been on enough moose hunts for anybody, after drawing tags in 2000, 2003, and 2007 I'll let someone else have a crack.

Deer hunting has become something I do and usually expect to get one every year, so pursuing another big buck doesn't seem so attractive.

Sea duck hunting for many is a dream come true, but it is my way of life and something I've become adept at. I spend days taking friends out and leaving my gun in the case, I enjoy watching people fall in love with what I do. Take them out once and I've got partners for life, my duck hunting black book is full.

So my dream hunt, it would have to be either a caribou or elk hunt with some great friends, good guides and plenty of time without worrying about what's going on at home. I have often thought about jumping on a caribou hunt with some friends, but the timing has always been bad.

My duck hunting dream hunt would be in the prairie pothole region in Arkansas, Louisiana or Mississippi. I watch those guys on the outdoor channel calling those green heads in through the flooded timber and then the shotguns absolutely roar. You covet what you don't have, and even though I have wonderful sea duck hunting, I often wish for a duck hunting road trip with some great friends.

How has blogging affected your hunting, if at all? And in what direction do you see The Downeast Duck Hunter blog moving towards?

Blogging changed my world, not only recording a visual log that allows input from people all over the world, but much rather a reason to be more considerate of the finer details of my hunt. My father keeps a fine hunting journal, but I'm not quite as dedicated. Most of my hunts this year were put on the blog, plus practicing better outdoors writing in order to eventually publish a book has become something I'm serious about.

By having my blog, I have connected with people that otherwise would have never had the chance to meet me. Our world is changing, someone like me as a traditionalist has become a visible “enemy” of others. I'm a living, breathing man who loves his country, family, and way of life. So when I work hard to make our country better and find dissent in how I play, the blogging network gives me people who share my attitudes, beliefs, and passion for the outdoors. For each and every person who has commented positively on my blog and for those blogs who I have commented on, thank you for letting me be a part of something very special. Little did I know that a blog would help define who I am.

Thank you for your time and sharing your thoughts. Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

I need to let your readers know that my biggest supporter in all my endeavors is my lovely wife. Often she is excluded from my blog, too often I write about my adventures and it's important for everybody to know that my greatest adventure is the one I share with her and my two girls. I want your base to know that I am a maker, not a taker and want the very best for our country and world. It has been difficult to be a conservative thinker in times that are changing, but I appreciate a great dialogue and will never dismiss an opinion as useless.

I aspire to be a great representative for our tradition and encourage anyone to browse through my pages and drop me a line, even if it is to invite me to visit your blog.

Finally, I would like to thank Terry for becoming such a great friend over these unique online means. There will be a day when I'll get her to Maine, make her tired of shooting eiders, stuffed full of lobsters, and get to see the sunrise before any other person in America.


I want to add that in my eyes too, Tony has also become a friend over the past several months. I have thoroughly enjoyed tossing ideas back and forth about types of watercraft, decoys, ground blinds and much, much more. I look forward to continuing this conversation and hope that someday, I too can hunt Eiders, Scoters and the other varieties of sea ducks of the historical, Atlantic Flyway. Lastly I want to thank Tony for sharing his commitment and passion for waterfowling, his insights, experience and integrity. It would be an honor to share a hunt with such a gentleman.

Women's Hunting Journal Integrity For The Hunt

Interview With The Downeast Duck Hunter Pt. 1

After following you on your blog The Downeast Duck Hunter, I have learned your methods of hunting on the Atlantic flyway differ greatly from our Pacific Flyway. Considering this can you explain how you rig your decoys, types and number and how do you keep them in place? Also what type of vessels do you hunt from ?

99% percent of my hunting takes place on the Atlantic Ocean with the majority of ducks being the American common eider, Northern common eider, surf scoter, black scoter, white-wing scoter, old squaw (long-tailed duck), bufflehead, black duck, golden eye, and an occasional mallard or goose.

The biggest challenge when hunting the Bay of Fundy in Maine is working with the tide, wind and temperature (not necessarily in any particular order). I've spent my entire life thinking and practicing strategies to best enhance the hunt and the above three variables become the pillars of success or failure. My blog entry “Working a Different Wind” is a fair assessment of how I anticipate the above listed variables.

http://thedowneastduckhunter.blogspot.com/2008/12/working-different-wind.html

Due to the nature of our tides, I use long lines of eider, scoter, and old squaws decoys attached to twenty-five pound mushrooms anchors. Typically, I run about 40 eiders, either on two separate lines or tied all together. Depending on the wind direction and tide, I may choose to let the line run on one anchor. Usually, I put one anchor on each end to assert the position of the deeks. For areas such as marshes, mud flats, or shorelines, I do use long lines for the black ducks, and also use individual anchors for some to give a more realistic presentation. I suppose that leads one to believe that some birds are a little more sharp than others. For me, one black duck is a more difficult duck to chase than one hundred eiders.

I do have shadow decoys (silhouette), but don't use them very often. Most of my gunning is over plastic decoys, but my father and I have on occasion used our own that we made during the off season.

In terms of my water fowling transportation, I hunt out of a variety of boats. Since I'm a lobsterman as well, most of my tending craft can also double as hunting vessels. All are painted in a camouflage pattern and are very reliable. If they are good enough for lobstering, worming, clamming and other work, then they are certainly dependable for duck hunting.



I have an 18 foot Lund Alaskan with a 40 horsepower Mercury. The motor was originally on my 16 foot aluminum, but my father and I found the Alaskan with a 25 horsepower Honda tiller. By swapping motors, we now have two very reliable watercraft. However, the 16 footer has been in moth ball so I recently picked up a Northern Flight boat blind in marsh grass for a little freshwater hunting.

In addition, I have several smaller tenders for those hunts that do not require one of the aluminum boats. They range from eight to twelve feet and are great for negotiating difficult areas. We typically use these around mussel beds and ledges in shallow water. For these boats, I have a 3.3 horsepower Mercury or the ever dependable oars.

I'm currently dying for the new Old Town Canoe Ambush model. It's a canoe/kayak hybrid with an 800 pound carrying capacity. If I can force myself to buy it I will, but it's hard to justify that purchase when I don't really need it.

What was the defining moment that cemented your passion for hunting and who was it that passed this tradition on to you and how has this impacted your life?

When you are the son of a local duck hunting legend, it's hard to not become the next generation. My father who has his own chapter in Ron Koch's “All Duck Hunters are Crazy” has spent his entire life hunting. When people come to our area and ask for old time duck hunters, he gets the referral. He laughs when he's thrown into the old timer category, but he also understands that his breed of hunter is a thing of the past. To better explain the previous statement, he lived in a time and place where ducks were a staple. There existed no bad shots, some hunters wouldn't shoot unless they knew they could get two in one shot. He used to sit in school as a youngster and listen to the hunters during the fall. With the number of hunters and how close the school was to the ocean, it's no wonder why he says he struggled in school.

I shot my first rabbit when I was five years old, it was with a 16 gauge Ithaca pump and I remember pointing at the white spot in the woods while my dad braced the shotgun. One shot later, and I was heading home to show my mother what her son had done. That was an important day.

However, the day that changed my standing as a passionate hunter was November 2, 1993. I had been skipping open gym basketball practice to go deer hunting and since I had been on the varsity squad the previous three years, getting in trouble wasn't going to happen.

My father and I went into the woods after school, set up in a tree stand and waited. It didn't take long for several does to work their regular path towards a bedding area. But this day was different, a gigantic buck crashed through the thicket and stormed towards the females. Shortly thereafter, my 7mm Remington Magnum Weatherby echoed a blast that dropped the magnificent animal where it stood. Ten points and two-hundred pounds later, I had taken the one that had eluded so many. Since then, I have taken around ten bucks ranging from eight points down to little spike horns. As I have gotten older and time runs short, you tend to capitalize on any opportunity. However, no deer has ever matched that one. And to be honest, I've never been the same since.

I took my first duck at age 11. A white-wing scoter cupped towards the decoys and I dropped it with my new Remington 870 Express. Having my father be so proud of me just made me want to keep doing well. He's my biggest fan and best mentor, although I've taken my craft to a different level with technology, education, and research, I still bounce every idea of off him.

On a side note, my duck hunting has been greatly enhanced by reconnecting with an old friend, the Rabid Outdoorsman, and his younger brother who is frequently on my blog. Since then, we have formed a duck hunting club that never has a dull moment. I discussed the story in
“Duckpower- God love it!!!” http://thedowneastduckhunter.blogspot.com/2008/05/duckpower-god-love-it_23.html


That concludes part 1 of my interview with Tony, The Downeast Duck Hunter. Look for part 2 later this week. In the meanwhile go check out his blog and the wonderful videos.

Women's Hunting Journal Integrity For The Hunt

Interview Coming Up

Just a short note to remind readers of a very special interview beginning on Monday Jan. 26 with The Downeast Duck Hunter. This will be in 2 parts and I am sure you'll find it interesting as it involves hunting sea ducks of the famed and historical Atlantic Flyway. A place where at one time in history it was the mecca for waterfowling and the birthplace of punt guns and sink boxes. The early days of decoys carvers and call makers. Until then get your gear dried out, your gun cleaned and throw another log on the fire.

In the meantime here's a photo of a couple of Goldeneyes from my last hunt of the season. And there's more to this story than meets the eye. Note the 2 different species of Goldeneyes; Barrows on the right and Common on the left.

Women's Hunting Journal Integrity For The Hunt

The Bend Bulletin Interviewed Me

Much to my surprise I was recently contacted by a reporter, Anna Sowa, of The Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon. The recently published article will continue to promote and advocate for more women hunters. I am honored that they found my blog and were willing to venture out of mainstream social norms. A sincere thank you to The Bend Bulletin.

Blogger aims at women who hunt
By Anna Sowa, The Bend Bulletin (excerpt - links to original)

At age 11, Terry Scoville was finally old enough to join her father trudging through the Oregon forest, guns slung onto their camouflaged backs. The early fall air was warm and laced with the smell of star thistle, and painted leaves cloaked the ground. The two moved through cornfields taller than Scoville’s head and settled beside a flooded field, waiting for the whistle of wings in the air.
The experience, Scoville would later post on her blog, reassured her that her father would support her interest in a sport that doesn’t engage most daughters.
Scoville is now 49, but she remembers the butterflies in her stomach at being included during those first hunting trips. She also remembers feeling unusual: a short girl wielding a Belgian-made side-by-side 410 shotgun, an early Christmas present from her father that would help her bag her first dove.
“ It was a novelty having a girl in the field,” Scoville said last week in Bend.
She says the recent rise in women hunters has increased their representation in the industry, but she’s still a member of the minority. So she is using the blogosphere to connect with more women hunters and encourage their entrance to this male-dominated sport.
She started her blog, womenshuntingjournal.blogspot.com, in April, at a friend’s urging. She’s been pleasantly surprised to find more women like her, searching for fellow hunters online.
“It’s nice that there’s a community of women hunters out there,” Scoville said, adding that she’s already made plans to meet one woman, whom she found through the blog, for a hunting trip this year. She hopes that’s just the beginning.
Bucking the trend . . . READ MORE http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080825/NEWS0107/808250366/1041
From bendbulletin.com - published daily in Bend, Oregon, by Western Communications, Inc. Copyright 2005.
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Women's Hunting Journal Integrity For The Hunt