by Art Young

Created on: September 15, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

Something that my urban friends will never understand is my passion for duck hunting. There's really nothing like it. You rise several hours before the sun comes up, grab your gear, load your dogs and hit the road to the duck blind.

This "blind" is carefully built and camouflaged "dugout" room with almost no creature comforts. It's located on the edge of a pond or lake and since duck hunting season happens in the winter, the weather is almost always bitterly cold. It is also possible for a hunter to wear waders and walk out into this cold, murky water to wait for the arrival of the ducks. Given the time of year, it is also likely that rain, sleet or even snow could be falling as you patiently wait.

So, what's not to like about this sport so far?

The best part of duck hunting is getting to work with your best buddy - your dog. If you happen to get lucky and actually hit an in-coming duck, a well-trained dog will immediately spring into action, dive into the water and retrieve the downed bird. Given the usual water temperature during duck season, this scenario is far superior to the alternative of having the shooter hop into the water and bring back the bird. It takes a lot of training to teach a dog the finer points of duck retrieval and the best approach is to start this training when the dog is still a pup.

Several years ago, after a long morning in the blind, I pulled into the only Wal-Mart in town to buy some more shotgun shells. On the pickup seat was a cute black Labrador puppy that got to come along on the hunt and watch the big guys do their retrieving thing. Since everyone got up at 4 a.m., this little guy had been snoozing in the truck all morning.

By the time we got to the store, I noticed that the puppy was wide awake and ready to play. When I got out of the pickup to go in, I rolled down the tinted window a little so that the pup could get some air.

The puppy was stretched out on the seat and I wanted to make sure that he knew that he should STAY exactly where he was in the pickup. I didn't want any fooling around with the stuff on the dashboard, no eating my nutritious beef jerky, no chewing on the seat belts!

I closed the pickup door and pointed at the window while saying "STAY" several times. The puppy thought this was a fun game that dogs got to play when they went hunting. So, he wagged his tail and looked ready to spring. When I got to the curb, I repeated my admonition to "STAY." "Do you hear me? I'm not kidding around! I want you to STAY!"

The driver of a nearby car, a lovely blond who was standing next to her car, gave me a strange, quizzical look and said, "Why don't you just put it in PARK?"

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