Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Duck Hunting and Conservation

By Chris Lapp


Duck hunting is among the most preferred hunting sports on the planet. It is as much a social calling as it is a hunt, in reality, standing for an entire set of cultural requirements and etiquette guidelines that lots of people do not even consider.



It has a whole culture all its own, from a proper dress code to duck hunting dogs and assistants. The world of duck hunting is ripe with cultural significance, but is also has a dark side and represents a less than desirable aspect of human nature. Regardless of the point of view, there is something to be learned about duck hunting that may shed some light on either side of the ethical quandary.

Duck hunting is mainly a sporting activity around the world now, as commercial duck hunting has since been banned in most of the developed countries. Duck hunting is, in fact, as old as time itself. There are early indications that ducks and geese were somehow hunted during the Ice Age. Cave drawings indicate that duck hunting was a sound practice early on in human existence, giving way to ducks and swans appearing on cave paintings in Ice Age Europe. There is also evidence of duck hunting in Egypt, as a mural on the tomb of Khum-Hotpe displays a man capturing ducks in a stream. Ducks were also likely hunted by early man in the Americas, as early Peruvian art indicates.

With this international history, duck hunting enjoys a popularity that spreads around the world. It is especially popular in North America, where the largest number of localized ducks can be located.

Most ducks use the Mississippi River as a migratory guide, so many duck hunts take place along the river to use it as a guide for finding ducks. Arkansas is a major hotbed of duck hunting, with Stuttgart being considered the "duck hunting capital of the world".

Duck hunting is frequently considered prominent since of its simpleness. The devices of the trade are simplified enough, from a decoy set to a shotgun and duck call. The essence of duck hunting is based around the trickery of making use of the decoy and the duck hire tandem to draw the ducks out and into the air towards the decoy. After this occurs, the ducks are in open range for the hunt and the shooting starts. These hunts take place around rivers, streams, lakes and other bodies of water where ducks can be found.

Most marsh and wetland areas are shrinking at tremendous rates, except where duck hunters and their license fees and conservation efforts, albeit in their own interest, are growing duck and waterfowl habitat. However, there are several out of touch organizations that constantly spar with duck hunters over this reality.

One conservation organization supported by hunters is the popular Ducks Unlimited. Ducks Unlimited is an international organization that stands as the leader in non-profit marshland protection and the protection of waterfowl. Ducks Unlimited sometimes works with hunters to protect the marshlands and protect the hunter's way of life.

The main goal of Ducks Unlimited is the conservation of localized habitats where ducks can be found, enabling hunters to continue protected and logical hunts of ducks and enabling the survival of more ducks by creating better places for them to live.



Most duck hunters are extremely interested in the protection of duck habitat. After all, it is in their best interest to create and protect places for ducks to live and breed. With the cooperation of hunters and marshland protectors, duck hunting will continue to flourish, well into the future.




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