I get it: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But having grown up hunting in the Deep South
and despite an exotic waterfowl species totaling about 100 huntable species world-wide,
the splendor of decoying greenheads remains one of the most fundamental
beauties in waterfowling - a heart-thumper every time.
A couple of guests from the
island-nation of Malta brought fresh perspective to things we might otherwise take
for granted. Malta, for those like me that
can't place it on a map without googling, is a small island-nation
situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Twenty-one by 14 miles in size, its
population is nearly a half-million.
Some of the oldest remains of human civilization, pre-dating Stone Henge,
are there. Through time it’s
been occupied by nearly everyone in that part of the world. Land, let alone hunting property, is scarce. Barbeque ribs, southern baked beans, fried
chicken and corn on the cob, I learned, are completely non-existent. But I’ve never met more zealous wildfowlers, more
competent hunters or better shots.
Hunters and bird collectors, GetDucks.com arranged their trip from the middle of the Mediterranean Sea to the middle of the Bering Sea to hunt King Eiders. They’re the first from their
country to have hunted them. An invitation to join us in Mississippi was
quickly accepted because it’s right here in Mississippi that their most-prized
species would be hunted.
