The first thing you’re struck by as you crack the binding on YETI’s new book Ducks is that Americans love duck hunting. And the next thing is how wildly diverse our duck hunting is and our duck hunters are. From Puget Sound to Chesapeake Bay, we love to think of our republic as a melting pot of different backgrounds and experiences. Ducks brings that sensibility immediately to the fore.
The book is, by all common descriptors, a coffee table book. With a limited run of 3,800 copies, it is produced in partnership with Ducks Unlimited and is the fourth in a series from YETI Presents that includes the previous volumes Tarpon, Whitewater and Wild Sheep.
The book is simply arranged. After a foreword by Field Hudnall titled “The Call Maker” (Hudnall is the CEO and co-owner of Field Proven Calls and has been a top-five finisher in nearly 100 calling competitions.), Ducks is divided into North America’s four major flyways: Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic. Each section is roughly 25 pages and begins with a story about a prominent duck hunting figure.
The book captures the evolution—including a visual and narrative approach that can be defined as nothing less than “YETIesque”—of duck hunting. The endsheets feature black & white portraits of duck hunters, dog trainers and the tools of the sport. These portraits also grace the pages throughout the book and are sprinkled among National Geographic-worthy images of ducks and the pursuit of them.
Covered in a mallard-green cloth binding and printed and bound in Italy, Ducks is a luxurious homage to waterfowling. All in all, the book is short on words and long on images—probably requiring no more than 20 minutes to read the short profiles and admire the photos. The book is available for $100 from YETI.com.
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