When it comes to hunting, I’m a big believer in Perspiration and Preparation, because if you prepare well, and work hard, you’ll usually enjoy good results.
The same principles apply at the David Denies lodges. We are making final preparations now for the season to come. I heard from Charlie Lanusse, operator of Jacana Lodge this week, and for the season set to open in May, he has about 95% of his duck blinds in the water, has his decoys painted and rigged, and he is making sure his house, staff, and vehicles are in order. He has plenty of water in his region, and great expectations for an excellent season. If you are traveling three or four thousand miles for your waterfowl hunting–that is the least you should expect, but Charlie and his crew get it right, and if you have not been to Jacana, get it on your bucket list.
Sometimes no matter how much you prepare, success can also often be determined by ”game day decisions”, as they call them on the sports networks. Sometimes you have a choice between two or three different spots, and it is up to you to decide which location is most likely to pay off that day. You might think it is luck that encourages you to pick the best location if it pans out, but it is usually your experience that guides you into making your choice to be in a spot the birds (or other game) want to be in.
Years ago, I worked at a sporting goods store in a midwestern city. It was a small store, with a gun counter, and a fishing and camping department. The building was in the suburbs, near a walking street, and a small creek. A customer came in and asked to buy a duck call. Since the store was so small, I suggested we go out on the back steps if he wished to blow the calls loudly. He told me he was not much good at duck calling and asked me to demonstrate. I blew a few notes into a wooden “Sure Shot” duck call, and just as I did, two mallard ducks came flying down the creek. They flew between two trees, flapped their wings, and landed on the roof about fifteen above where I was standing with the customer. His eyes were as big as saucers, and when I asked him if he wanted to buy the call, he said, ”I’ll take two!”
That my friends, is the definition of luck.
