By Wade Hanks

As every committed waterfowler knows, our web-footed friends are smarter than we think they are, and getting smarter all the time. Haven't you noticed it? While duck numbers are up, the birds are harder to get at. We have to go greater distances to find them, and when we do, they fly higher than they did once upon a time. Why? Because in the school of very hard knocks that ducks must fly through each fall - which includes your duck blind and mine, they are being educated by some very good teachers you, me and technology.

We have shotguns that shoot straighter, quicker, jam less, come in camo, are glare-free, and accept loads in multiple sizes and lengths We have shot that flies faster, hits harder and doesn't pollute. We have duck calls loud and tonable and tapes to learn to blow them by. We have 4x4's of every conceivable kind and size to get us to the ducks in comfort. On the water we have boats that were unthinkable a generation ago. And there has been a revolution in protective coloration to graphics to give us photocamo and picture decoys. Awesome. If mother nature had emotions she might almost be jealous of our new-found mimicry and hideability.

Yet with all of this our fine-feathered prey is getting harder to get. Because we are good teachers, and because ducks pay attention and learn, they are backing off from us yard by yard and mile by mile. It's simple duck arithmetic - if we shoot at 70 yards instead of 30, they learn to fly over at 80 instead of 35. As for detection, the better we hide from them, the keener their eyesight becomes. Blowing a duck call too much (or too much like a duck-calling contest) produces only one result: an empty pot. And the better the fall fashions in decoys that we show circling ducks, the more discriminate they become to the way they might float or how they are arranged. Woe to the hunter who leaves his decoys out untouched for a few days. His pond and spread become permanently imprinted to all but the dumbest duck, which, by the way, won't be flying around long enough to contribute to the new, smaller duck gene pool.

So what's an aggressive duck hunter to do? It's simple. Learn from ducks instead of teaching them. Be patient. Let them get in a little closer before you shoot. Don't skybust 'em. They're bright enough already. Pick up your decoys often. Change them with the wind and weather. Keep the ducks guessing. If it takes time to learn when to blow your call, it takes even more time to learn when not to blow it. What good is all your camo if you show them your upturned face? You don't want to always be up against the smartest ducks on the flyway, do you? Well you don't have to.

Duck intelligence, like our own, is fragile and reversible. If we quit hammering them with our teaching, they'll start to forget what they've learned. If we take it easier on them, they'll make it easier for us. If we let them, they'll fly closer to us. And if we remember to have fun, we will do just that. Duck hunting, like everything else, is always better if it's enjoyed. And we do want to enjoy it, don't we? It satisfies cravings we can't explain: suspense, excitement, the call of the wild, handling a gun. It exposes us with rare, elusive things like whistling wings and quiet arrowy ghosts splashing down in the pre-dawn light. If we want to keep on duck hunting for its beauty and its fun, we have to try to remember this: easy does it - in spite of all our competitive hunting technology - is the fun and beautiful way to go.

For rice field duck and goose hunting contact Josette Hanks at Louisiana Flyway