Youth Duck Hunting at Joyce WMA

Youth Duck Hunting at Joyce WMA

Bayli doesn't like taking photos.

I have made some great memories duck hunting. I remember some of my first hunts in the early 90's in crawfish ponds and out in the Atchafalaya basin. I remember shooting my first wood duck that I got mounted my first green head, encounters with gators, falling out the canoe. Looking back on those days brings a smile to my face but seeing my kids hunt now brings joy to my life. They are part of the reason I stopped hunting I had to raise three kids alone so that didn't leave any time to hunt or fish. Now that I am married to a great Cajun woman and my kids are older it's time to make them some memories of their own and pass on a tradition.

Youth only duck hunts is something I look forward to each year. The season is early ducks haven’t been pressured, the marsh and flooded timber is mostly empty. We don’t often even see other hunters on public land and it’s a great time maybe the best days for kids to hunt. The first year me and Bayli my youngest daughter went for her first youth duck hunt was also the first time we hunted in Joyce WMA. I had only explored the area a few times. We made it out to the parking area before sunrise and we were the only vehicle in the parking lot. We crossed some of the floating marsh walking carefully and dragging the canoe along with us. After getting to open water we paddled around until we found a spot to set up. We set up some wood duck and teal decoys and hid in the marsh grass waiting for the sun to raise.

Now at 13 Bayli was not an experienced outdoors woman, she never hunted ducks before and only fired the shotgun a few times. The night before I asked her if she wanted the 20-gauge youth model or the 12 gauge over under. She chose the 12 gauge. The first ducks that passed by was a group of black belly whistling ducks I got low and told her to shoot, Bayli followed them with the barrel of the gun but decided not to shoot because they crossed over my side. Ducks seemed to be flying over and around us but not landing or coming in range, so I decided to pick up and move to a new spot closer to the tree line.

I have watched my kids play sports all their lives I watched Bayli play soccer and win game after game score hundreds of goals. I watched her run track and cross country, she has won first place overall in 5k’s, won parish cross-country championship, set middle school long, triple and high jump records. But when that blue wing teal came flying around the rouseau cane and she fired off a round and it dropped to the water nothing made me prouder. There’s no participation trophies in the swamp you must earn it.

And so, it begun Bayli was able to take a few blue wing teal that day and I let her shoot some pouldeau. She must have shot a case of shells and never admitted to having a sore shoulder.

I have spoken with a game warden about the lack of hunters on youth days and he thinks it is  because the adults don’t get to shoot. I am fine with that I can wait until opening day of big duck to get my turn. Let the youth have their fun and turn it in to a teaching moment it’s something they will remember for the rest of their lives.