Their Final Migration

“Their final Migration”
This is a hard picture to see and even harder is the fact that they call this a ‘Recreational Sport’. You are inside the ‘Cleaning Hut’ at a ‘Sportsman Resort’ I stayed at last week on Reelfoot Lake in the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge in NW Tennessee. This hut is used by the guest to dress-out fish and ducks during their respective seasons. Obviously it is duck season now and the feathers along with assorted body parts laying about on the floor show that a percentage of the day’s kill was processed for food consumption. I have no problem with responsible hunters who are out practicing their skills and putting food on the table. I think a plump, juicy roast duck with a sweet orange glaze sauce is a meal of exquisite delight. What intrigued my curiosity is why 35 to 40 perfectly fine, outstanding individuals of the Mallard Duck species lay dead and stacked in a 35 gallon plastic trash container.

Later that evening after all the ‘Sportsmen Hunters’ had retired to the lounge for drinks and to brag of the day’s exploits, a young man from the resort with the title of ‘Guide’ arrived to clean the hut from the day‘s activities. Upon inquiring as to the status of the barrel of deceased Mallards, I was told that they where to be disposed of into the dumpster and where birds from hunters who had killed more than the allowed limit or from out of town guess who had no means or intentions of processing and refrigerating their kill. The matter of fact, business as usual manner this young man had about it all was very unsettling.

It seems this sport has a catch and release ‘Shot Gun Style’ policy which makes one wonder: ‘Is this the same reasoning of the people who throw litter out the car window while driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway. How is it that these people . . . . Just Don’t Get It?'

The attached picture that follows depicts what 35 to 40 Mallards look like on a rainy, foggy afternoon before their final migration to the ‘Cleaning Hut‘. Aerial picture was taken the next day on Reelfoot Lake in an area away from the duck blinds. This is a major migratory route for all types of waterfowl.