Are the Rules Really "Unspoken"?

I have taken as much heat as I have received support for my stance on regulations. I support common sense legislation that is approved by the democratic process. I take exception when slap-knee regulations are put in place despite a lack of support from a majority of the constituents of which legislators represent. Whether this happens as a result of hurt feelings, or a small group of people with access to those in positions of power that most are not granted is not as relevant as the lack of the democratic process. There is no excuse in our age of digital capacity that a majority can not be found to determine if a regulation should or shouldn't be put in place, in my humble opinion. Once regulations are put in place however, it is our responsibility to follow those regulations.

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God" - Romans 13:1

There are various common sense principles that can be applied in most situations of our lives and spending time in the outdoors is no exception. While one can certainly argue a general lack of common sense these days, it is indeed still a thing and when we, as a group of outdoorsmen, neglect these common sense principles, legislators will get involved and put in place regulations that aren't always common sense in an effort to correct. These typically lead to more regulations to navigate the previous regulations and we are seeing this impacting use of public lands. We mention often in our podcast the importance of outdoorsmen being on the same team. Accepting this position doesn't mean we all have to agree, just that we can get along and treat each other with a high level of respect that will help us better navigate the public woods, potentially eliminating conflict and the need for more regulations. My friend Hunter Helms, who I met in the public woods, has worked with Ich Stewart and others from the team over at The Public Timber Project to develop a list of understood rules in the flooded timber hunting community. While Hunter is an exceptional caller of ducks, I honestly had no idea he could even read, much less contribute to such a solid write up regarding common sense practices in the outdoors. I hope you will take time to read, share and enjoy the following as much as I did. #enjoythejourney

Following Written by Hunter Helms

When people hear the mention of flooded timber duck hunting in Arkansas, they think of the epitome of waterfowl hunting. They can imagine the sound of whistling wings of mallards cruising the tree tops at first light while they search for a place to get down into the flooded timber to loaf and begin the pair bonding process. They can envision a group of mallards making their last swing and setting up to start their descent by breaking the trees while their wings are hitting limbs as they back peddle into a hole in the historic bottoms that was most likely cut by the pioneers of flooded timber hunting many generations ago. There is not another form of waterfowl hunting that is surrounded by more nostalgia and history than the pursuit of the mallard in the flooded hardwood timber of Arkansas. 

Along with this pursuit comes a list of unsaid but understood rules in the community of public flooded timber hunters. Many of these rules were instilled and taught to us while we tagged along with our fathers and grandfathers during our younger years. However there are many younger and even some older generations wanting to experience this nostalgic form of hunting that were not taught these understood rules of the welfare woods. These people may include in staters and out of staters both and are just wanting to experience what they have always heard and dreamt about. 

Going forward I want to discuss and educate people on what these understood rules are and why they are needed to be known. There is a non-profit organization called “The Public Timber Project” run by a good friend by the name of Ich Stewart. He is accompanied by other gentlemen that are already friends and some that I hope to soon call a friend and we all have the same mission in common. That mission is to educate and instill these rules to already established timber hunters as well as the new generations coming into it. Along with that mission we hope to gain traction with everyone to respect these public woods that we are blessed to be able to share and to leave them better than we found them. I teamed up with this organization as well as other guys and created what we like to call the “10 Commandments of Arkansas Public Duck Hunting”. They are as follows: 

10. Make Game Recovery a Goal: Recovering wounded and crippled birds should be a priority while hunting. Make it a goal to improve your recovery of downed birds. Make it a goal to reduce cripples. Remember that finishing birds decreases cripples and increases your chances of successfully recovering birds. Game recovery is the foundation of conservation. 

9. Respect the Wildlife: Honor the game we chase by showing them respect. Conservation is the goal, not followers on Social Media. 

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