What's Coming to DuckHuntingChat.com

By Chris Hustad
DHC Owner / Editor

"Eyes to the Sky" - Chris Hustad

Who is this guy?

Before I try to explain the direction that DuckHuntingChat.com is headed, I felt it would be helpful for our members to know a little bit about how DHC started, and why.

My obsession with waterfowling started like so many, with a helping hand from my father and friends. Some of my earliest memories in waterfowling date back to the golden stubble fields of NW North Dakota. My father's first waterfowl love was snow geese, and we pursued them the majority of our time afield. While ducks and small Canada geese bombed the decoy spread, we rarely got wet in the early days and spent most of our time field hunting.

As I grew into my teens and got my driver's license at age 14 (legal age in ND), I spent most of my time exploring the dusty gravel roads of North Dakota. I was always in search of the X and experimenting in various water hunting methods, and it was easy since I could go hunting on $10 gas (where have those days gone?). I am a pretty stubborn individual and wanted to learn on my own. I worked as many hours as I could doing many full and part time jobs as I amassed what was to be my first decoy spread, my first duck and goose calls, etc.

By the time I was in high school, I started dropping out of all of my extra circular activities as they interfered with my time outdoors. My parents were of course concerned, but later understood my obsession for the outdoors. I enrolled right after high school at North Dakota State University as I pursued my other passion; computer technology. Luckily, the school offered a very flexible schedule as 2 of my fall semesters had classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays (but a full load). I worked hard Tuesday through Thursday and enjoyed as many 4-day weekends as possible in the outdoors (enjoy your college years!). By the time I was out of college I took a job at a real estate software firm in my hometown of Fargo, ND – where I still work in sales today out of my home in Bismarck, ND. It was during my first year of employment where I started my interest in Web Development and started NodakOutdoors.com. And soon after came DuckHuntingChat.com. I had no idea at the time that this place would grow like it would, it's one of the strongest web communities I've ever seen.

Why the change?

There is no doubt that the Internet and hunting forums have increased the spread of information faster than any other media in history. I have been a part of the hunting world online since the old SPAV forum and Hoosier Jim's. If you recognize those names, you're an Internet dinosaur. And even today as hunting forums offer more neat options and features; it's still a forum. There has to be more and we're going to bring it to you over the upcoming years. We're going to be a monthly online magazine, similar to our sister site of Nodak Outdoors. The main difference will be our sole focus on waterfowl, offering more ways to learn and spread information in the world of waterfowling.

So what is the change?

The monthly waterfowling magazine will be created by you, the members of DuckHuntingChat.com. There will be articles, tips, recipes, ideas, etc. on everything surrounding the world of waterfowling. We encourage the members to contribute, and we're offering free shirts, hats, or gear from our sponsors to those who contribute. Some of the upcoming features cannot be released yet as they're in development, but it will change the way we share information on the Internet. We're going to be growing our features, little by little, to give the members a chance to use and learn what we're offering. Also, keep your eyes out for our production crew as we're continuing to document and film our entire 6-month hunting season. As they say, you ain't seen nothing yet!

If you'd like to contribute to the site – See Our Member Submission Area.

In the End

The downside to forums is after awhile it can get stale to many individuals. The “been there, read that” factor comes into play and many find themselves getting bored. Often people find themselves caught up in “this duck call over that duck call” or “this decoy over that decoy”, etc. And we lose sight as to what makes waterfowling so great, and the traditions and legends we share and create. I would like to see less bickering between waterfowlers over material things and more concentrated efforts in protecting the resource and our right to hunt and bear arms. If we can channel that energy, the passion that so many of us share; we're going to keep the tradition of waterfowling alive for generations to come. I hope that DuckHuntingChat.com will be able to help make a difference and give everyone a chance at showing why waterfowling is so important to who we are as waterfowlers.

I'll see you online and in the field...