Dularge Dynasty
Reader Paulette visited her old bayou home over Thanksgiving and emailed me this photo of her better half in a duck blind somewhere around Bayou Dularge. It’s a beautiful early-morning photo, taken from her I-phone, and I wanted to share it with you.
Below is the end result for this Bayou Dularge duck hunt for her son. This was his first duck hunt and what a lucky duck he was!! He bagged two beautiful wood ducks on his maiden hunt–almost unheard of!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Migratory Waterfowl Hunting Season, commonly called “Duck Season” opened November 10th and ran through last weekend. Since opening day, and mostly on the weekends, it’s been hard to sleep past daylight with all the “pow-boom-boom-pow” echoing off the marsh surrounding our home.
It’s all good, as they say, because it means delicious things like the duck gumbo we enjoyed a couple weeks ago, and ducks smothered down in onion gravy on the stove top, served with brown rice and French bread slathered in butter, like we enjoyed during a recent Sunday afternoon Saints game.
My second-oldest son had the opportunity to check out the shooting skills that his kid brother, Termite, has developed over the past couple of years. They hunted two weekends in a row with almost everyone in the hunting group limiting out, which means 6 ducks per man.
Termite took the above photo with an I-phone and called it Dularge Dynasty, a spin off of the now-famous A&E show called Duck Dynasty. Let me tell you something about Termite–he’s been “et up” with the duck hunting since he was a little boy and would sit for hours in front of the computer screen watching videos of the now-famous Duck Dynasty patriarch–Phil Robertson calling ducks and hunting BEFORE Duck Dynasty was a twinkle in any TV producer’s eye. That is how he learned to call ducks so very, very well. Those of you who are new here and don’t remember the story of his first Youth Hunt at the age of twelve should backtrack and do so!
Duck Dynasty has become one of my favorite relaxation shows. What entertains me most about the show is feeling a little connection to the cast and knowing a little background about Phil Robertso, the patriarch and founder of Duck Commander. When I was working at a paint brush manufacturing company up in Farmerville, LA, fresh out of college in 1977, there was a manager who walked around the plant blowing a duck call. His name was Harold Robertson. Turns out, Harold and Phil are brothers, and I guess Harold was trying out calls for his now-famous brother.
Another tidbit of information that helps me appreciate and enjoy the show is knowing that Phil and his sons are educated rednecks, who just happen to have beards like Z.Z. Top and hair about as long. Phil was a senior at Louisiana Tech (my alma mater) when, as star quarterback, he walked off the football field into the flooded timber for duck season, leaving the second-string quarterback to step up and fill his shoes. Guess who that was? None other than Terry Bradshaw. Just imagine. If Phil hadn’t been so “et up” with duck hunting, Terry Bradshaw might not be the football legend he is today. Phil went on to get his Masters of Education and was an English teacher. Just keep that fact in mind as you watch the show, and don’t be fooled: Rednecks in this case doesn’t mean “uneducated”, although they do some pretty outrageously dumb things on the show!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mornings are quiet now, as we are in what is called the break between the two “splits” of duck hunting season. I guess it gives the ducks a rest before the next go round. Termite has had some struggles of late, as you read in a previous post, so he hasn’t gotten to hunt every weekend. However, he did get to go this past Sunday morning, and his four-man crew took down their six-duck limit with ease. Hopefully, his focus will return to studying while dreaming about when the season opens again and producing the grades to allow him the privilege.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now for the winner of an original BW color 8/10 photo. There were 54 comments from a total of 17 people (not counting me). So, I let the random integer selector pick a number between 1 and 17, and that number is . . . .
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
3
Timestamp: 2012-12-04 16:09:40 UTC
And I do believe that is Louise Blakely! (Louise – please email me and we will go from there on selecting a photo.)
Coming soon – Introduction to another Bayou Artist.
BW
Great blog! I liked the background info on “Duck Dynasty” and your six degrees of separation story.
Glad you liked it Kelly!
Great story as always! Your Termite has gotten so big! How warm is it there its in the seventies here not at all like Christmas.
Way too hot and muggy for December!
I agree … I was playing Christmas music to try to jump start my mood, but it quickly faded when I walked outside to my car and broke a sweat.
It has been in the 80s here. Just as I read the above reply about it being too hot for December, the AC which is in the window beside me, kicked on. I have to carry a sweat rag while picking up pecans or else I get sweat in my eyes and can’t see a darned thing.
You get tired of those ducks, send some this way. It has been so long since I had a good meal of roasted duck or goose.
I sure hope the new readers go back a read about Termite’s first duck hunt. I remember it well. I actually started to giggle just thinking about it. When I get a minute, I’m going to read it again.
I read it again, lol!
Adam was quite the happy boy to get those ducks…..and was very surprised to find himself the topic of the bayouwoman blog!! Thanks Wendy!!
I’m just glad you took the time to tell me they hunted (did you go?) and that he had a good hunt AND you sent pics!!! Thanks again, and tell him this, “It’s a DULARGE thing!” That’s the new community slogan.
No Wendy, I didn’t hunt this time. I grew up hunting in that same pond with my Dad though. Now that I’m older, I don’t definitely don’t like getting up early enough for the morning hunt, and I don’t like to sit still in one spot for very long. I do LOVE to fish though!!!
Off subject…BW, Do you know that you are in an advertisement for WBRZ News? I saw it this morning. It’s a montage and you were shown for a split second.
Well, no ma’am I didn’t know that!!! Thanks for letting me know! PS Going to be on a show called LA Riders: American on 2 Wheels this Saturday and Sunday. You have to look at your guide and see if you get that show. Maybe you can catch it Saturday morning. I haven’t seen it yet—I missed the first airing of it because they didn’t let me know.
I know we get it, because we’ve watched it before. I’ll have to ask Hubby what channel it’s on. On second thought…Do you know the airtime? It may be easier for me to search for it. He’s always channel surfing and probably has no idea what channel it’s on.
On ION out of New Orleans, it comes on at 9 a.m. Saturday. Does that help? If you find out where and when it plays in BR, please post it here so I can share it elsewhere as well.
It will air at 9:30 a.m. Sat and Sun. on Eatel’s network channel 4 and HD 704.
I’ll set the DVR for tomorrow and next week. They were in Port Hudson today!
DID YOU SAY I WON A PRINT? MY COMPUTER HAS GIVEN ME FITS THIS WEEK SO ALL I HAVE HAD IS FACEBOOK. JUST EMAIL ME OF WHAT I SHOULD DO.
________________________________
Louise, yes you won! You need to write me from a contact box at the bottom of one of the pages on this blog and we’ll go from there. Congratulations!
School wouldn’t be so bad if they would do away with homework and grades. I am seeing more and more articles about new findings on homework’s real value. Then just make school like tee-ball, everyone gets a trophy! But till then, Phil had the right idea, get the school done so he had the option, option to do what he wanted.
You only have to duck hunt once to be hooked. People talk about deer camp, bow season. black powder, hogs or even turkeys, but just take them once duck hunting (with someone who knows what they are doing), and they will stand in line the next year begging to be invited again. Something almost spiritual about sunrise on the water.
AND there is nothing finer than watching a retreiver work, well maybe a duck gravy or fricassee, wild rice with good friends and cold beer and a LSU football game. /Chuckles
I bet you miss going to the blind with Termite.
Foamie, my dear fellow, did you know that students are not even issued text books any more? I can’t even help my child solve a math problem if I wanted to because there is no text book to show me what to do. So, how can you take a biology test if you have no chapters to read??? From lecture only??? So, it’s more like jumping from jr. high to college than to high school/college prep. I’ll be honest with you. I hate public school. If a student isn’t self motivated, then they flunk. And we wonder why La. is so low on the educational ladder? NO TEXT BOOKS. Are you kidding me? And homework? Let’s talk about that a minute. I know you’re just joking and I love your comment (and I’m not in any way upset with you) BUT this school is on a 4×4 system where they each have my son for 90 minutes a day. 90 MINUTES, and he STILL has to bring work home? Are you kidding me? There’s so much wasted time in the classroom, it’s unbelievable. Heck, I was a pretty good student in high school, but I do not remember hours and hours of homework. I even asked Lil Sis if she (three years behind me) remembers hours of homework, and the answer is NO. I know there are still a few good teachers out there, but I fear it’s come down to crowd control. Honestly, I can say I wish now I had never put him in public school.
I went to the blind with Termite–that’s where I took that bottom photo with my I-phone!!! He was “punished” and my going with him was the ONLY way I was letting him hunt opening weekend.
What? WHAT? What do you mean, no textbooks. Are they using only iPads or something? E-readers? Surely you don’t mean…. Well, maybe you do. The American educational system is completely off the tracks. It’s no wonder so many people are either footing the bill for private schools or homeschooling. It’s not just the lack of adequate instruction in what we quaintly called “course work”, it’s the political indoctrination increasingly taking place and the expectation that the school is to take the place of the parent. We’ve got another district now that is talking about banning lunches made at home because they aren’t “nutritionally adquate”.
OK. Nuff of that. The photo of Termite is just marvelous, and the top one is great, too. I don’t know – I don’t have any trouble with people fishing or deer hunting, but duck hunting leaves me a little queasy. I know, I know – I think it’s because I spend most of my day at work all by myself except for the mallards. They’re my friends! LOL
Linda, I didn’t stutter: NO TEXT BOOKS. No I-pads. No laptops. They get hand outs and worksheets and they are required to carry a planner, wherein they are supposed to write all their notes down. It’s like jumping into college-type study skills and I think it’s outrageous. He has one teacher who just talks anecdotal stuff the whole time and then he is pretty clueless as to what will be on the next test. If you have a kid like mine, who has very poor listening skills (can only remember 1-2 of three things I EVER tell him to do), then he’s lost. I can’t battle a whole system. The experts have decided this must be better somehow, and I’m just about ready to jerk him out and take my chances on homeschool the rest of the way. It’s not like I haven’t done it a couple times before . . . . .
PS Linda: You will be relieved to know that neither Termite nor Dan has killed either a female or male mallard this season.
Alrighty. Duck hunting. Not a friend of waterfowl but have at them…
Lived too long with lawn rats and know that treatment plants are their favorite places….
I WAS SO SHOCKED TO SEE MY NAME AND SO VERY PLEASED TO BE SELECTED. THANK YOU SO MUCH! TELL ME WHAT TO DO. WHAT IS GRAVATAR? AND IS IT SECURE?
Louise, just go to the bottom of the ABOUT page and send me a message. It will come to me as an email and then we can go back and forth via email about your photo choice.
Duck Hunters one hour Christmas special was last night!
AND…It was funny!! We did some laughing at Santa’s elf!
OY……
LOL… late posting in, as usual.
I never heard anyone in Dad’s family talk about duck hunting. It was dove, deer and the occasional quail hunt. Oh, I’m sure they’d all been duck hunting, at one time or another but their forte was dove or deer.
Now, Dad loved wood ducks. He thought they were the most beautiful things. He bought a huge Anne Worsham Richardson print of a male wood duck with a female and five ducklings back in the early 70’s. He gave it to me when he and his wife moved to a retirement community and had to downsize. It had faded a bit but I had it rematted and reframed and it’s hanging in my dining room.
As Dad got up into his 60’s, he hunted less and less. He’d take his jonboat out into Sparkleberry Swamp and spend hours in the backwaters, just drifting. Sometimes, he’d wet a line; others, he wouldn’t. He’d carry his binoculars and a cooler with a sandwich, maybe some boiled peanuts, a beer, a ripe peach to snack on. He luck up sometimes and spot wood ducks entering or leaving their nests, as well as various herons, egrets and other birds. No ivory bills, though!
He said he’d come back to the landing and hear guys fussing about not catching anything. He told me that he didn’t rate the success of his trip by the size of the string he brought back.
Well, I certainly got off the topic of duck hunting with that, didn’t I? LOL
Funny how your train of thought meanders around, isn’t it?
Now it feels much more like duck season! Chilly and wet.
Hey sorta where I grew up here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sKZQ772Yx6M#!
enjoy.
Hm, well, as sad as the tale of woe of the 90-mile ditch, it seems that Louisianians aren’t the only ones who dug canals without any regard for future negative impacts and ramifications. Somehow, knowing that fact doesn’t make me feel any better about the destruction here, or there. But thanks for sharing this vital history and testament to human greed and error.