Stills from the videos

The Briary River Way

The Briary River Way

            What do duck hunters do in the off season?  Well, for us there is no off season.  Different seasons bring about different chores.  Some of them are fun, some are not so much fun.  Usually the fun stuff gets done, and the not-so-fun stuff gets pushed to the side.  Then comes hunting season, and the not-so-fun stuff that got put aside comes back to light.  It then either stays to the side or gets done during hunting season, either way it’s not good.

            After hunting season this year the cogs in my mind began turning.  What can we do to make the time between hunting seasons more fun?  The results of these cogs turning has become the Briary River Way.  It’s been lots of fun filming all that we have been doing over the past few weeks.  We haven’t shared much with you yet, but it’s coming!   We are learning as we go and trying to make what we do as fun for you as it is for us.

            We have been working on draining the beaver pond.  This is not nearly as much fun as hunting ducks, so you may wonder why we take the time.  We drained the pond last spring with the intention of planting something for a fall food source for ducks.  I don’t remember now if we ran out of funds or time, maybe both.  It really does not matter.  We didn’t get the pond planted.  Our work was not in vain though.  With the water down more native plants grew.  Some of these plants had seed heads.  Others simply provided cover for wood ducks.  We had more ducks roost in the pond than we’ve had in years.  Draining the pond for the summer was a good thing even though we didn’t manage to get it planted like we had planned.

            This year the pond was easier to drain.  We went back to the same spot we busted the dam last year and busted it there again this year.  We didn’t have to chop roots out with the ax like we did last year.  We have lots of exposed mud flats this year.  We are going to plant Japanese millet and rice on the mud flats.  We want to see what grows best and we also want to see if we can draw more ducks into the pond.  Just the chance of that makes it worth our time.

            Besides draining the beaver pond there are many things we do between hunting seasons.  There are more blinds to be built and placed.  There are dogs to train.  There are decoys to be repaired and livened up.  There are waders and boats to repair, paddles to make, and of course there are shooting skills to be maintained and improved.  That’s only what we do to hunt ducks.  We hunt other things as well and enjoy fishing from time to time.

            Come back by, check out what we are doing.  You may be able to give us some advice, or get a few tips yourself.  You may even get a few laughs as we work between seasons, the Briary River Way.

Buckman              

Who we are.

Here at Brairy River we are not professional hunters.  We are average guys who are trying to take what we have and turn it into something better.  It is a long process and we are taking our time.  We have full-time jobs and we have to work when we get a chance.

The main characters in The Briary River Way are Bucky (the boss) he is the head of Briary river since he has been there the longest and he started all of it.  Joe (I dont know what you would call me)  I am like the right hand man.  I help with 95 percent of the pond work and do most of the technical work. Bernie (Bucky's brother)  Bernie is our builder, he designs our blinds and adds comic relief.  Coach (the old man)  Coach is a great friend and mentor to the rest of us.  He always has some story or comment to put things into perspective.  Tracy (another of Bucky's brothers) Tracy is our camera man.  He also helps with alot of the pond work and is doing some of the editing work on the videos.  Casey (the last of the brothers but older than Tracy by less than 20 minutes)  Casey is our musician.  He wrote our theme song and he does a little of the pond work.  And last but not lease Bo (Buck's son)  while he is only 5 he has been with us since he was almost 3.  He  loves duck hunting and is learning fast.  There is also a few others but i will hold off on them until we are more certain of their roles.

We have had a lot of great times at Briary River and we find that the fellowship is one of the elements that makes our sport what it is.   When we are not giving advice and updating you on what we are doing on the pond we will share some of our stories that we think you would enjoy.

We are trying to create a habitat that will bring more ducks to our pond so we can have great hunts and our children will have a place to hunt.  While one goal is great hunting we also want a place for the ducks that survive to have a place to thrive and reproduce.    We will be sharing all of this with you and welcome any ideas, comments and advice that you may have for us.  Please follow along with us on our journey and have a few with us and occasionally at our expense.

Joe