2010-2011 Season....

The season’s over and it’s time to reflect...

For starters, this year I have been happier than ever with the group of guys who are Three Rivers Hunt Club. We were definitely energized by the guys who joined us this year. I’ve never seen a tougher, more gung-ho bunch of guys, and I'd be proud to hunt anywhere with anyone of you. The pre-season effort was one of our best ever with squeaky clean pits and Grover approved brush jobs. The Three Rivers vets were great as always, welcoming the new guys and showing them the ropes of the farm, club and local hangouts.

Stiles and his crew, John Bragg, and Rusty kicked the season off with an unforgettable bang at the opening weekend kick off barn party. Everyone who saw Herman strutting up the farm road, an entire parade by himself, gushing lights, BBQ smoke and midway music will never forget it. After Herman brought the party and fed every last morsel of a whole hog to the barn crowd, Rusty treated us to the world premier of, “Shoot ‘Em In The Lips”, an instant classic. There’s a LOT of people still trying to figure out how Rusty’s hat stayed dry in the music video.

All season long, everyone had such a good attitude despite one of the toughest seasons in 20+ years. Unless duck hunting means more to you than just killing birds, it was tough to keep your chin up while having several weeks of the season taken over by flood and hard freezes. This season we saw flooded roads, ALL the pits flooded, whole decoy spreads washed completely away and pit benches too. In early January, I was just waiting to see locusts fly into Poinsett County. We saw cold so fierce that even the real men decided to sleep in and wait for sun to rise before braving the field. It was rewarding to see the sheer force of will, persistent good attitudes and camaraderie that carried guys out to the the field.

Speaking of sheer force of will, who epitomizes that better than long-time T-River Bradley Wilford in his post, “Warning for the Ducks and My Manifesto,” from which sprang the immortal words, “I will carry their tiny green scalps with me...” and “I will write a heavy metal song titled "Death to Birds from Canada." While every season sees a harvest of creative blog posts, a low-duck season needs them most of all, and this year we had a bumper crop. I just can’t forget Andy Iceman Garrison’s string of chart-topping hits, like “From Josie’s NYE 2010”, “Good Times!!!!”, and “You Be Chillin‘ Dis Honkey Be Illin’”.

With Grover's direction and great effort by the deadly serious work crews, pre-season readiness of pits and decoys hit a new high point this year. Due to a very untimely drought, water wasn't readily available everywhere it was needed, but by opening day almost all pits were hunt-able.

Every season brings about challenges and adjustments that need to be made to the club. This year is no different, and we've learned some lessons that will result in good changes to come. For instance, this year we are adding a "Damage Report" feature on the web site (thanks to Bryan Aycock for the great suggestion!), which is where members can post pit, decoy, road conditions, club house, water issues, etc. to a single location that's visible to all, as well as the state of the fix. The club will have an assistant whose job is to monitor the Damage Report, manage fixes as needed, and update the Damage Report for all to see.

Other improvements to the club are still simmering, and we'll be letting everyone know about those in due time. While we're talking about fixes, please call, email, text or smoke signal me with any suggestions you may have for next season that will benefit the membership.