I never thought that an idea I had while broadbill shooting would turn into such a fantastic Pocket Reference (aka: Hunters’ Bill of Rights). I remember whining at one of our meetings about the hassle Erik Tallbe and I received while gunning. While hunting, Erik and I had a run-in with a disgruntled homeowner and the police. They did not know exactly what the laws were regarding where shooting was allowed. My complaining at the meeting did not fall on deaf ears. In a joint effort between Captain Richard Otterstedt and Ron Sineo, they picked up the ball and ran with it. And boy did they run.
After months of drafts going back and forth between each other, and with countless man hours being used, the final draft was completed. Then Capt. Otterstedt continued on with the next step. He started up again and with a great amount of personal time and commitment, countless phone calls, and personal meetings with the right people, he got the approval and endorsement of the New York State DEC. Later on, after some conversations between Dan Rosenblatt and myself, our Logo and joint efforts were added to the card. And the icing on the cake came when Dan let me know that not only did we get our Logo on it, but the DEC would print up the Pocket Reference. The cherry on top is that it is on waterproof card and sized to fit in your back tag holder.
What a thing of beauty it is. The front contains the most common laws that we get hassled about (due to homeowners’ lack of knowledge of those laws). And the back is the Code of Ethics that all hunters should abide by. It shows homeowners that duck hunters are a group of conscientious and law abiding people who care about their sport, and doing the right thing.

We are trying to get copies of these into the hands of every police agency who has contact with problem homeowners. When they receive a call from concerned homeowners, they can present them with a copy of the laws to show the homeowner that we are perfectly legal in what we are doing. Hopefully, with the new knowledge of the law, the homeowners will stop calling the police or bay constables on law abiding hunters.
This document is such a huge feather in the SSWA’s cap. This shows that we are a dedicated group who will go to great lengths to keep our sport thriving, and educate people on the legal ways that we go about hunting.
Again, many thanks to Rich and Ron for a SUPER job on our Waterfowl Hunting Pocket Reference. We need to get as many copies as possible into the hands of all Long Islanders. I hope that this will help to eleviate some of the problems we have out in the marsh.

Curt Matzinger