3 pintails

[metlhead]

Love doing duck and upland combos. Headed to Yakistan this weekend to hunt witb SIL. Ladies are shopping. Got a great spot that is usually loaded with mallards and woodies. It's the quail I'm most excited for.

[hdshot]

For the “low numbers” this year hunting has sure been good.

Dang!
Nice work.

You guys continue to prove that sitting home and complaining doesn't get it done.

Sad part is college athletes are now making millions of dollars now and I definitely but some blame on youngsters not entering the hunting world trying to catch the dream of athlete money.  There was some big news lately that the state of Michigan reported has lost over 200,000 deer hunters over the past 10 years.  No matter what you call it the stats are not going our way.

[full choke]

NIL money is ruining duck hunting??

[pianoman9701]

If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase "former hunting partner," I could probably buy a new shotgun. I understand you got burned by him at some point in time, but do you think maybe it's time to move on and go out and have new experiences, make new friends, and hunt new places? I'm not trying to be mean, but you talk about it in every thread, to what end? What do you want us to say? Sorry that he burned you?

I'm sure you have far more hunting experience than I do, but in my time hunting I have come to notice two types of outdoorsmen, the complainers and the do-ers. Seasons change, new people move into spots, land gets sold, diseases, predators, whatever it may be, things change and there are always people who complain about it, blame WDFW, blame someone else, etc.
On the other hand, there are people who are resilient and continue to be students to the outdoors and find new spots, hunt harder, try new strategies, and take ownership in their success. Sometimes it's easy to fall into the first group, I do myself at times. But I try my best to be a do-er, like I see many other men and women doing on this forum. You've obviously been eaten up by this hunting partner thing for a long time, and I'm honestly sympathetic to it, but at some point you gotta let that go into the past and think about the possibilities of the future. That's my best attempt at a pep talk, and I've been thinking about it for a while, since I always see your posts. Best of luck.

I've been burned at least three times by partners who didn't keep their word. It's cost me money and time in the woods. I now hunt solo and am never disappointed.