Hunting the Great Marsh

Hunting the Great Marsh

	Many people have asked why I hunt and what it is like to be hunting on the Great Marsh. As I sit here and try to write about the waterfowling experience by boat on the Great Marsh, I find it hard to paint the picture. There are days we can't wait to get out and try it. Longing for the day in late December with the saltpans froze and the main creeks choked up with ice as the tide comes in and the Black ducks start to work off the flats and into the marsh. It is cold, numbing at times, your dog sitting by your side looking for the flights of birds as they come toward the Barnegat. I don't care to shoot the first bird that comes in range. I have worked hard to place my hand carved decoys in the creek with great strategy to get the one Black duck that flies into the rig of birds and attempts to land in just the right spot. I want the bird to swing in on the hard blowing NW wind and cup its wings in close proximity to the single decoy I have in the center of the landing area at 15 yards. I want a close bird, clean shot and easy retrieve for the chessie. This is the experience that each person should have a chance to see. It is not just about the bird. It is the cold weather you test yourself to endure. It is the decoys that you work so hard in the off-season to carve and paint with great care. It is the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, the other part of your team, that you worked so hard with in the off-season to train for this day. It is the planning that you went through the night before looking at the weather forecast and tide chart to predict what the birds would do the following morning. The planning and scouting paid off. That day the birds worked the rig beautifully and you had several different flocks of birds come to the rig and in the end you shot one Black duck and the dog made a great retrieve. Now it's time to go. No not yet. I sit for a while longer watching the great movement of ducks as they go about their daily plan. Watch and listen as the birds continue to fill the marsh. You can even close your eyes for a while and just listen to the sounds, calling ducks, wind passing under cupped wings. It is well worth all the work to get to this day. That is why we hunt and what it is like to experience waterfowling on the Great Marsh.