Fall Family: Top 5 Takeaways from a Manitoba Waterfowl Hunt
If you ask any American citizen what America’s past time is, they’ll say it’s baseball. And although that’s correct, I like to think hunting is a close second. Sure, by the numbers this might not be technically correct, but culturally, all of our family trees one way or another connect back to hunting and harvesting. Here in 2026, we as hunters value the camaraderie of hunting and what it provides to both friends and family.
A Social Hunt
Although all types of hunts differ in their own ways, there is one form that stands alone for more reasons than others. You don’t do it alone, it doesn’t take all day, and you don’t need to be quiet. Waterfowl hunting provides a social element than nearly no other type of hunting possesses, making it the ideal form of hunting if you’ve got camaraderie in mind.
Now, if you’re looking for the ultimate environment to gather as waterfowl hunters, look no further. Birdtail Waterfowl, which is a place I’ve spent a lot of time, shines in ways no big game hunting operation could ever dream of. Sure they’ve got geese galore, duck paradise, and sandhill crane euphoria, but you know what’s truly priceless? The time spent with the other hunters in your group. Father/son duos, lifelong friends, and work colleagues turned friends all gather at this central meeting place and it’s waterfowl hunting that brings them all together.
The true beauty of waterfowl hunting from a social perspective is that you truly do everything together. You travel together, hunt together, eat together, enjoy the evening together, and as a result, have a social hunting environment that is unmatched. And trust me when I say this, Paul Conchatre, owner of Birdtail Waterfowl knows the value of this environment and has dedicated his career to facilitating the ultimate waterfowl gathering place.
On my last trip to Birdtail, I had the pleasure of being there at the same time as some of Paul’s longest standing guests. A group of good ole Louisiana boys who love waterfowl hunting just about as much as they love anything else. Some time ago, a father/son duo decided they wanted to travel to Canada to go to a waterfowl hunting lodge. Some 20 years later, that group has grown and added both friends and work colleagues into the mix for what looks to be the most fun week a waterfowl hunter could ever ask for.
Top 5 Takeaways
I had the pleasure of hanging out with this Louisiana crew for the week at Birdtail and here’s my top 5 takeaways:
1: Pass the Torch
Witnessing one of the original members of the Birdtail trip, whose age no longer starts with a 7, still pursuing the thrill of waterfowl hunting next to his middle-aged son is one of the most desirable and special moments I’ve ever seen in a hunting blind. In order for those cherished moments to live on, it is our duty as hunters to pass the torch to the next generation.
2: The Value of Time
I think it was Randy Meisner from the Eagles who said “You can spend all your time making money, you can spend all your love making time” and it’s that last bit that rings truer than ever with priceless moments like laughs in the waterfowl blind. It’s those moments where you really hope you have the foresight to sit back for a second and remind yourself that those moments are numbered so cherish every darn second of them.
3: The Value of Time, Part 2
Relatively speaking, I’ve spent a lot of time at waterfowl lodges and I’ve always appreciated the schedule and timeline of the whole operation. It creates such an amazing environment where you get to spend such a high amount of quality time with the people you travelled there with and as a result you’re left with a bonding hunting experience that I’ve never seen anywhere else. This last trip with the Louisiana boys bolded and underlined not just the value of that time but the sheer quantity as well.
4: Family Isn’t Always Family
These are words that Paul said to me after a morning hunt when describing what he called Birdtail being a “Fall Family”. He explained how every September, all the guides and staff come together from across Canada for just a couple month season the fall and due to working so closely, become family. This metaphor was also applied to the Louisiana crew. They aren’t all technically family, but when you’re friends with someone for so long, we all know the feeling of when a friend seems like more than just family and that’s exactly what that crew of guys are.
5: Chase the Experience, Not the Limit
“It’s not chasing limits, it’s literally chasing the experience”, were the words Paul said to me when describing how he runs his business. This comes from Paul understanding that although he operates a hunting lodge, what he’s truly facilitating more than hunting itself, is the experience. What is accompanied with the hunting is what is priceless. The start to finish, sun up to sun down memories that are made with your hunting group.
The most fascinating part of my time at Birdtail with the Louisiana crew was Paul explaining to me Birdtail’s concept of Fall Family and how it compares to the Louisiana crew’s Fall Family. A group of staff from across the country connecting at a hunting lodge for a couple months to create a one of a kind waterfowl experience in the heart of Canada. And then, at the same hunting lodge, you’ve got a group of passionate hunters made up of friends, work colleagues, and family that over time, came together as a Fall Family of their own. These families meeting at the same place and time, all in the name of waterfowl hunting is, and there’s no other word for it: poetry.