Getting Ready for the Sea Ducking Season...

Okay, I'll be honest... I've got this sea duck hunting thing down to a science...

Seriously, I've spent my entire life involved in what I call a lifestyle. I've been brought up by one of the local duck hunting legends and educated about the importance of weather, wind, tide, and the geography of the land & water. I've been trained in quality shooting, decoy making along with effective setup strategies, maritime navigation with a cautious respect for mother nature, and most of all the importance of connecting it all together. You can't employ only part of the previous qualities and consistently produce sea ducks, it takes time, effort, understanding, trial, error, reflective practice, discussion, and a passion for this ball game.

Now before you think I'm putting some tung oil varnish on my soapbox, let me transition to the focus of my article... Good hunters, particularly for sea ducks, should have their act together and I would suggest that before anyone delves into this intensely insane aspect of duck hunting, you'd might want to go with an acclaimed guide to get your feet wet...

Worming like a rockstar...

This morning my father, duckhammer (the maine outdoorsman), and myself hit the flats at low water to get our limit of 1000 sandworms used primarily for salt water fishing. This was the first opportunity to have this segment of our lives documented on photo.



My father has dug sandworms his entire life and can credit at least 50 years of tenure in the industry. It would be fair to say that he might be one of the all time greats having harvested millions of sandworms. As retirement nears, I anticipate that I'll quit when he does...



But it is great to say that I have worked with my father and have been able to participate in an industry that is quietly phasing out as the number of worm diggers has steadily decreased over the last thirty years. Nevertheless, when it's right the money is astronomical and when it's not, you hope to walk off the flats with $75 bucks in your pocket. I've seen tides when I've made $350 in two hours time and others where three hours of labor would produce $50...

Have a great day,
Downeast Duck Hunter

The Rabid Outdoorsman Hits the High Seas...

So I got the rabid outsdoorsman, my hunting buddy and co-founder of Duckpower, onto my lobsterboat for a day on the ocean. The weather was absolutely grand and the lobsters looked decent. I look forward to his post on his blog and it was great to share a little bit of what I do during the summer months. Tomorrow we will hit the flats for sandworms and bloodworms. There is a small limit on order and it will allow us to document the other career I pursue during the offseason from education. Till then have a great one!!!

The Downeast Duck Hunter

The Dawg Days of Summer

As some of you may already know, summertime is my crazy time... A year's worth of work in three months while I'm on summer vacation from my career as a high school history teacher and all of a sudden it's back to school. So far I've managed to dig 29 worm tides, including 8 during the week of the 4th of July, set over 400 lobster traps, and now, dig more worms and haul more traps. My wife has left me with the kids for Boothbay Harbor and now I get up about 4 a.m., spend the bulk of the day laboring, and come home to make a sandwich before bed. So for those who do read my blog, I apologize... I will get working on my 1100 update and do a showcase on the duck boat modifications...


I did manage to get to southern Maine with my good buddy the rabid outdoorsman and check out Cabelas... Even though I could have easily spent about $5,000 dollars there I am very disappointed with its lackluster appeal... I could spend $5,000 at Walmart if I wanted to...

So be patient and I'll get to blogging in the near future...

DowneastDuckHunter out

A new video from the existing footage...

I'm getting ready for a new upcoming season, here's a video I made for an old duck hunter who can't get out anymore