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Put your hands together for Taylor Carlyle from North Carolina.

Taylor hunts small swamps and large lakes around the area and has been at it for about thirteen years.

His first duck killed on a refuge was a drake lesser scaup, and found it amazing to see this bird for the first time.

He was also a victim of a hunting accident that nearly took his life on December 23, 2005.

From this experience, he has made it a priority to help educate others about safety through North Carolina's Wildlife Resources Hunter Safety classes.

Give a big welcome to Taylor, a Refuge Rat at heart.

Passion, Variety, Adaptability

My passion has always been for ducks.

I usually try to hunt at least five times a week, primarily on large public refuges. I like hunting public lands because there is always something different happening. Sometimes it can be tough to find and hunt ducks, but I am always up for the challenge.

While hunting, I've learned a lot about the way ducks react to different situations. At one of my spots, the birds will flare off of boat blinds or spinning wing decoys. They have been used way too much, and the ducks have been shot at enough times that they have become smarter, realizing that these things are danger. As a result, I set up on the shore instead, and hide my boat away from where I'm hunting. I also utilize brush to conceal myself. I have had great success using this strategy.

Also, it's often a numbers game when it comes to decoys since the birds we usually see are divers. Here you have to many times put out more decoys than everybody else to be successful.

Favorite Hunt

One of my favorite hunts on the refuge was when I took two of my good friends out that had never killed a duck.

We arrived at four forty on a very cold morning. Our anticipation for the hunt was high. We set out three dozen decoys and slid the boat into the cattails.

As we waited for legal shooting time, ducks began landing in our spread. We watched, waited, and kept checking the time. At LST a huge flock of ringneck and lesser scaup circled us and lighted into our decoys. The party started and in short order my friends killed their first ducks. It was an awesome hunt and by eight o'clock that morning we had our limits.

I had never seen anybody as happy as my two buddies. We packed up our gear, put our birds in the boat, and headed home for breakfast.

A Life Changing Experience

My dad, little brother, some friends, and I planned a deer drive. It was on a Saturday, two days before Christmas. I had just turned twenty years old.

We traveled to another farm and started pushing the woods and cutovers. There were a lot of deer and we took a few shots. The last drive of the day would be the one that changed all of our lives forever.

I was told to walk up the hill on the other side of the new cutover and find a spot to stand.

I got to the top of the hill and then the rest of the crew started to push. I stood there for maybe five minutes before I heard a gunshot ring out.

My body went numb. I was thinking to myself that something is wrong. I felt weird and blood started running down my face. I realized I had been shot in the side of my head with buckshot.

I yelled at the top of my lungs that I had been shot, and then my medical training kicked in. I knew I needed to stay calm. I got down on to my knees and when my family and friends arrived, I told them to take me to the hospital because I knew there was no way an ambulance would ever find us.

Once at the hospital, I passed out. I woke up eight days later in a hospital room. I was told I had an emergency craniotomy and recovered there for another few days.

When I finally came home, the Game Warden visited my house and gave me the accident report. I had been shot from downhill about 175 yards away with a shotgun. I never would have thought a shotgun could shoot that far.

I have now recovered almost 100% with little memory loss and few headaches.

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