Louisiana A True Sportsmans Paradise

Hard to beat the scenery,Terrebonne,Louisiana

It is what they say and more.My trip to Louisiana went by way to fast to take it all in.I will try hard to describe some of the outdoor adventure knowing that I will most assuredly temporarily forget some of it.My buddy picked me up from the airport with boat in tow and we headed to duck camp.Duck/deer camps are something I have little personal experience with and I had know idea what I was getting into.A few hours later we pulled up nest to a canal with a barge ties to the dock with a house built on it.Yes that is how they roll!Full power,electric,AC not what I expected.I was told that this was a cheap camp and this was just where we would be spending the first night.We quickly unpacked and then reloaded into the boat for a trip around the bayou within my friends hunting and fishing lease.We fished for about an hour and filled up a cooler with keeper size speckled trout,amazing.My buddy even caught a 12 pound tarpon,15 miles from the gulf in the middle of a bayou canal.He gave me the tour of the bayou,we saw alligators,moorhens,gallinules and DUCKS.The amount of ducks flying every direction just simply blew my mind.That night we ate the worlds biggest steak and called it an early night.I wanted to be ready for the main reason I went down there,duck hunting.

Jody,with a bayou tarpon

The morning came early and filled with anticipation.The boat ride was over 2 miles of winding,shallow bayou canals.I was amazed at how easily my friend navigated them.I guess that's part of growing up down there,it just comes with the territory.We set up in a nice boat hide after the decoys were placed out in no specific order.Lexi the wonder dog and grand retriever champion took her place on the dog stand.The weather on morning one was warm even by Louisiana standard at around 65 degrees with no wind and tons of marsh bugs.However within minutes it became evident that we were in fact on the X.Gadwalls,teal,mallards all flew over head and most seemed to want to commit suicide.We were dive bombed from every angle and were able to pick our shots.Most shots by me ended up being warning shots,my new nickname,steel slinger.I did manage to connect on a few key shots throughout the 1 hour of shooting before our limits were reached.I managed a double on greenwing teal.I had never even killed a single teal before that so it was a huge deal to me.My friend was not impressed by the situation however.I also took my first through fourth Gadwall that morning.As we picked up the decoys the birds kept coming and I just couldn't keep looking at the sky wondering why can't duck hunting in Virginia be like this?I don't have an answer for that but I did have another day to spend in the swamps and that was all I wanted to think about.

Two person limit of ducks by 730 AM

That afternoon while filling another cooler full of fish I spotted a helicopter low over the marsh.Now remember we are literally in the middle of nowhere.My buddy told me it was his good friend.I laughed,the helicopter came closer.The helicopter stopped over head and the fella started waving,odd.My buddy made some hand signals and the helicopter left.I asked what that was about and he said ok man we are going to a different camp tonight.So deeper into the bayou we went and we came upon what I can only call a beach house in the mud.Seriously a 2500 square foot house in the middle of the mud,two miles from any hard shoreline.The helicopter sat on a helipad in the "back yard".I couldn't believe it,what is this,some sort of awesome hunters heaven.We were greeted as we pulled up to the dock and I was quickly shown around.It was his friend and we were not only welcomed but apparently late at Camp Necessity.Yes that was the name,stickers,wood engraving said so.I asked whats with the name,it's because it is a necessity that you be there.I was shown to a 45000 dollar duck boat.Yeah a bit over kill but don't hate!Twin mud motors and a premium sound system are a necessity I guess.We ate great,we slept good and we woke up early for my last day of duck hunting in Louisiana.

Twin mud motors?Why not!

We headed to the same blind,with the same set up,same weather.This would be unheard of in Virginia.We don't have enough ducks to blow up a spot and come right back to it the next morning,the ducks simply wouldn't be there.In Louisiana though it is quite the opposite.We shot all Gadwalls the second day and were done by 8am.My shooting became worse somehow and I was constantly chastised for throwing steel and ducks and "littering" the marsh with pellets.I did however make a few decent shots and thanks to one of the nations best retrievers we made it back to the swamp mansion before breakfast was done cooking.The helicopter fella and his friend were done before us,again I heard of how my Virginia shooting skills were lacking.I tried to explain,I really did.In Virginia we have birds but very rarely do they come in 20-30 at a time like they do down there.It is extremely difficult to pick one out of a group and stay with it.I get way to worked up and hence I throw steel pellets into the marsh and not into birds.So that was it,we headed back into town for a hot shower and we crashed.We crashed hard,like at 6pm we were asleep.I woke the next morning and unwillingly got on a plane back to Virginia.My first true bucket list trip was in the books.I spend a good amount of time outdoors.That being said those 72 hours will always be stuck in my head as some of the best time spent taking it all in.I do have an open invite so what do you think,am I going back?Winning,duh!