About Us

  
“The Crooked Slough Duck Hunting Company” was legally created as a limited liability company.  Hello, my name is Art Rodenberg, property owner and operator of this business. I named the company in honor of the “Crooked Slough” that winds through our property in the Mississippi river bottoms near Pleasant Hill, IL. This where I shot my first duck when I was ten years old.

Growing up in the suburbs of St. Louis, I would go to our farm with my dad every weekend, especially during duck hunting season. My love for waterfowl hunting began then. While I worked in the corporate world as a sales person or sales manager, I thought about when I retired and the possibility of finally being able to give as much time to duck hunting as I wanted. The time is now and I’ve been working for years building levees, putting in pits, relocating pits, pumping water, and the list goes on; to create a place to hunt ducks that will remind you of days past by creating an environment that will hold ducks for as long as they wish to stay. 

What Duck Hunting has become

This last season was my fiftieth (50th) hunting season. It scares me to think where all those seasons have gone since Dad gave me a L.C. Smith side by side in 20 gauge early in my 10th year so I could join him when he went hunting later that year. Preparation for that first season (as all the others) usually started during Dove season. Before going out to the dove field we usually worked on one of the duck blinds for a few hours. This way I could get my share of Poison Ivy and mosquito bites plus plenty of chiggers to remind me of all the fun yet to come.

The first day in the blind as well as all the rest of the days was filled with anticipation of what the next few hours would bring. It did not take long for a few Wood Ducks to appear and introduce themselves with their famous whistle. If we saw them soon enough we would take a few. Back then you were allowed only one. With the smell of the willows and oak branches in my nose I thought this had to be heaven. We always spent the day regardless of the weather or lack of action.

I would then watch and I would be told to look out over the blind at ducks going down the river always hoping for that gentle tug at my arm which meant slowly get down ducks are near by. Then dad went to work softly blowing what call needed to be used to entice the ducks into our spread. If at this point I had not spotted the ducks I could hear the wind roaring through their wings. Back then we tried to get the ducks into the decoys. When we shot a duck, our yellow lab would bring it back to us and we would then place it on the bench where we could admire it and the others that were taken through out the day. Yes, that was a young man’s heaven.

This was my fourth year of running a pay buy the day hunt club. I am dismayed to say that there is very little of what I have previously mentioned in the new millennium duck hunter. The hunter of today is not interested in sitting in a blind very long, he is not really too interested in seeing the sun come up, he doesn’t smell the willows or the cornstalks, he has only one mission (he truly looks at it as a mission). That mission is to kill ducks as fast as he can and get out with his limit. He has no respect for the life that he taken (when referring to the ducks they are usually sworn or cursed at) and the duck (ducks) is thrown down into the pit where it lands in the mud and the duck is kicked under a chair or bench. He is even a bit happier when he can use and show off some new gimmick or trinket that supposedly helped him get his birds. 

I find this behavior in the majority of hunters. There are a few that still enjoy all the elements of the hunt. Usually these are people that own dogs. For them the hunt is the love of seeing their dog work well. 

Another factor of this sport that seems to be so important to hunters and it galls me, is “the kill”. All the clubs around me reported astronomically high kills of well over a thousand ducks. I’m sure these numbers were inflated because I was within range of hearing them shoot. Some of these clubs or groups of hunters did not shoot a thousand times much less take that many ducks. With all this being said, I will not be taking hunters this year at the Crooked Slough. Furthermore’ I’ll probably not ever take another pay hunter. This is one old duck hunter that is now and always was on the side of the duck.

The Crooked Slough is still manufacturing high quality acrylic calls as has in the past. Please go to our buy online section of this website to see the calls and to purchase. The calls are also available in some Gander Mountain Stores.

All my duck calls are high-end Acrylic calls tooled (not injection molded) on CNC equipment. I have one model called the "Guide Series" that comes in eleven different colors. They are a single reed call that can be made into a double reed call. Just specify that you would like your call to be single or double reed design when ordering. All duck calls are personally tuned by me.

Art Rodenberg
Owner
The Crooked Slough duck hunting CO