Once again WOW’s Waterfowling workshop defied the wet Spring weather and March 23rd dawned clear, sunny and with only a slight breeze. By the afternoon waders and coats were shed and the blue skies facilitated excellent waterfowl identification! On site, participants from 13 different Washington cities joined six WOW instructors and five Ducks Unlimited (DU) instructors along with WOW’s Logistics Team to round out a perfect day of hands-on education!
First on the agenda was a power point presentation by Graham Peters, a Biologist with DU, on the history of duck hunting, its legalities, the conservation ethic and the beautiful variety of waterfowl we see here in the Northwest. He was assisted by Sara Peters, a Pacific Coast JV Biologist. The shotgun station allowed a warm-up phase whereby women could get the feel of live firing a shotgun before stepping up to shoot moving clay targets. Decoys and Blinds dealt with proper protocol in a blind and for setting overwater decoys. At station #3 Labrador retrievers charmed everyone with their eagerness, ‘birdiness’ and stamina. Everyone visited actual duck blinds on the way to an adjacent lake to scare way several species of duck with novice calling!
The day ended with a ‘Hunt-to-Table’ session and a chance to pluck a cleaned Mallard and then, coming full circle, to taste delicious Duck Kabobs a la Rory. WOW’s future duck hunters left with a bigger picture of Waterfowling, its ethics, its traditions and its techniques. With enthusiasm and determination the WOWomen vowed to put their education into practice come Fall…
