Unleash your inner duck hunter

I've never been much of a duck hunter. Something about driving to the local — or not so local — hotspot and setting decoys before the sun even thinks about peeking over the horizon just never seemed to excite me like walking the uplands. Toss in that ducks — and therefore duck hunters — like cold, overcast, wind-driven rainy days, and you'll soon understand that there's an amount of peculiar dedication required. Of course, that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed some good waterfowl hunts, and each of them holds a special memory. Typically, these aren't solo affairs. They usually involve a few good friends, a dog to do the wet work of retrieving, and several Thermoses of hot coffee. Conversations will circle around the best duck guns, favorite dogs, preferred decoys, choice of calls and their families until it hits upon current weather conditions. At that point, an "I remember when ..." contest of who has hunted in the worst weather will inevitably be bandied. Brian Banbury is one of those devoted early risers. He loves to hunt ducks more than anything that doesn't live in his house. Even so, over the past 20 years, he's had little opportunity to hunt on the opening morning of the season. He was still in the marshes, still watching ducks and still talking to hunters, but that was his job. Brian, an Ohio wildlife officer, was working on those opening days. His duties had to come first. This year was going to be different. After more than two decades as a county officer, Brian had taken a job in the Division of Wildlife's Columbus offices. He suddenly found himself available for an opening day duck hunt. The waterfowl season for Ohio's north and south zones kicked off Oct. 24, slightly later than the Lake Erie Marsh Zone which opened Oct. 10. Brian was more than excited. Toting his favorite Benelli shotgun — a gift from his wife more than 20 years earlier — and accompanied by a couple of good friends and a yellow Lab named Papa, he crept into the predawn-darkened shallows of the marsh and flooded timber of Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area to set decoys. Finishing the work, the hunters settled in for the wait, shotguns loaded and calls ready to herald passing ducks. It was time to check his watch. It would soon be a half-hour before sunrise, when the teal season would begin. Maybe there'd be time for one more eye-opening cup of coffee, though the excitement was far more energizing and the coffee would serve best as a hand-warmer. The wind, decoys and luck brought them a mixed bag of blue- and green-winged teal, wood ducks, mallards and a northern shoveler. Limits filled and the hunt over, they shared the kind of tired contentment that few understand as they gathered their equipment. Trailed by Papa, the group made their waterlogged way to their trucks while daydreaming of roast duck dinners and spending more beautifully uncomfortable days in the dark, damp, cold mornings huddled in the marshes. Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area helps make up the largest inland marsh complex in Ohio. It encompasses 1,536 acres in the glaciated central hills of the state, with flat to moderately rolling topography straddling Wayne and Ashland counties. The majority of the area consists of seasonally flooded moist soil meadows and bottomland hardwoods. The area is popular with both hunters and bird watchers. Learn more about waterfowl hunting regulations, find maps of Ohio's wildlife areas and plenty of other useful hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing information by visiting wildohio.gov. You can also learn more about ducks and duck hunting by visiting Ducks Unlimited's website at www.ducks.org. Maybe there's a duck hunter inside you just waiting for a wet, windy morning in the marshes. You know, while writing this, I remembered when a friend named Bud and his dog Brandy, a golden retriever, and I had set up decoys in a marsh in Seneca County. It was raining so hard that we ended the hunt early with two more dogs and three cats. "Still in waders, with the string of ducks across his shoulders, he stood hesitating on the sidewalk in the cold November wind. ... Today, all day, he had been alive; now he was back, ready to be dead again." — Wallace Stegner Along the Way The Ohio Wildlife Council recently passed several new regulations. Beginning Nov. 1, certified Ohio taxidermists and venison processors can accept legally harvested-out-of-state whitetails and other cervid carcasses. Information about properly handling carcasses will be distributed to limit the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal disease affecting cervids. The council also approved a six-walleye daily limit across Lake Erie from March 1 to April 30, 2021. A separate walleye daily limit for the Sandusky River and Sandusky Bay from March 1 to April 30 has been rescinded. This change aligns the walleye daily limit with the rest of the Lake Erie Sport Fishing District. Another change was that the six-fish daily limit of channel catfish on inland lakes and reservoirs less than 700 acres has been removed. The statewide daily limit of one channel catfish 28 inches or larger remains in place. The changes don't include Hoover Reservoir, which has site-specific rules. It's hoped that this change will increase angler opportunities, promote harvest, increase growth rates of remaining fish, and improve the overall health of populations. A final regulation change concerns how bullfrogs, green frogs and their tadpoles are handled at aquaculture facilities. This regulation defines the American bullfrog and green frog as Class A aquaculture species, allowing the aquaculture operation to take naturally occurring bullfrogs and green frogs for sales, propagation or rearing. Tadpoles are required to originate from the aquaculture facility and may not be taken from the wild. Step Outside • Help keep Ohio's wild deer herd free of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is an incurable fatal neurological disease that affects members of the deer family including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, moose and caribou. There's no strong evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans, but hunters should follow standard precautions when handling deer, including: wear rubber gloves when field dressing and butchering, and thoroughly wash hands afterward; minimize the handling of brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils and lymph nodes; don't consume meat from any animal that appears sick or tests positive for CWD. Hunters have the option to have their deer tested by the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for a fee. Call 614-728-6220 for more information. Dispose of carcasses by double bagging all high-risk parts (brain, spinal cord, eyes and lymphoid tissue) and setting it out with household garbage for trash pickup. Those without trash pickup can double bag the carcass and take it to a municipal solid waste landfill or bury the carcass at least 3 feet deep on the property of harvest. • Tomorrow: Trap shoot, 1 p.m. Mount Blanchard Gun Club, 21655 Delaware Township 186. • Tomorrow: Turkey shoot with knockdown targets, Black Swamp Muzzleloaders, 8762 Township Road 19, McComb. Patched round-ball only. Contact: Kevin, billythekid86402@gmail.com. • Thursday and Friday: Trap and skeet, open to the public, 5 p.m., UCOA, 6943 Marion Township 243. • Friday: Turkey shoot, 5 p.m., UCOA. There will be 25-bird trap rounds, trap and skeet games and five-stand. Winners take home a turkey. Contact: Sandy Thomas, 419-722-2441. • Nov 15: Turkey shoot, traps open at noon, Mount Blanchard Gun Club. Gun raffle winners will be drawn at this event. Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via email at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com.