Poot McFarlin: Making Connections

Saint Francis of Assisi, arguably one of recorded history’s first wildlife conservationists, said, “He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.” Depending on the needs of the day, Patrick Hampton “Poot” McFarlin has been, or is, all three. But whether the Tennessee native and University of Tennessee graduate was laboring as a landscaper, carpenter, or sporting goods clerk; or is now recognized as a craftsman, a faux painter of wood, rock, and bone elevating Jackson, Wyoming’s luxury homes for people who wait months for his services; or is keeping rhythm as the upright bass player in his band, PTO Bluegrass, the “why” of it all is found in how an audience responds to his efforts. Because when it all comes together, “it’s the moment you did something right. It's very gratifying to be thought of as good at your trade, you know?”

McFarlin’s truth about an audience response is one he has reinforced for himself over a lifetime as a waterfowler. He says, “You get a pretty good endorphin rush when you're playing on stage or at a party, and they're really paying attention. So it is when a flock of ducks flies by, and you're making the right noise on a call, and they circle and come in. I just find that really, really gratifying.” 

McFarlin first discovered that moment as a boy, hunting for the first time, at Dale Hollow Lake on the border between Tennessee and Kentucky. “I killed a ringneck, and I was really excited, and my dad was really proud. I thought I was a waterfowler before that, because I read anything about Louisiana or Arkansas or duck hunting, but to have it all come together then was a moment.” McFarlin already considered himself a waterfowler, but that “moment” at Dale Hollow Lake gave birth to a conservationist. “I joined Ducks Unlimited and started going to banquets. I just loved the magazine; I read every page.”

McFarlin’s commitment to conservation did not flag when he departed Tennessee for Wyoming three decades ago. McFarlin spent the first nine of the thirty duck seasons since in a Louisiana duck camp, first plucking ducks, then guiding hunters. “A childhood fishing buddy called and said, ‘I've been guiding duck hunting in Southwest Louisiana, near Lake Charles. I can't do it anymore, but they like me, and they trust me, and that's taken a while, and if you want to, come down,’ and I was like, ‘That's been my dream job since I could read!’ At the end of the year, two other guys and I had plucked 8,700 ducks. I learned when to call and not to call, how to set your decoys up, and what the prevailing winds usually meant.”

With a wife, a successful business, and a mortgage, for McFarlin getting older means becoming more rooted in a place. He generally hunts within the Pacific flyway, but PTO Bluegrass supports local conservation efforts with their music and McFarlin continues to attend DU banquets in Jackson. Though he doesn't travel to Louisiana or Arkansas to hunt as much as he once did, McFarlin sees the effects of Ducks Unlimited efforts. “Understanding the importance of foresight, I love how many projects they've done nationwide to supplement the government's efforts to keep some wetlands intact. If you just leave it up to the forces of the market, our wetlands will probably be drained. To have an organization with as much history and tradition as Ducks Unlimited, working hard out there to keep our breeding grounds healthy, and paying attention to research and science, and making good decisions, it's awesome what they do.”

As the lifelong hunter looks towards the future, he speaks to his hopes for future days hunting waterfowl. But his words could just as easily be directed at the criticality of DU efforts to build public and private support for ducks and their habitat. “I'm hoping that the wind blows right and that when we get the opportunity, we're hidden well enough, and our decoys are set up well enough, and we use the right calls to blow, and that we win. With ducks, you win by influencing them to come in. And that's the rewarding part, I think.”

 “Influencing them to come in” is what Ducks Unlimited does every day: influencing legislators, donors, and potential conservationists to support the cause; influencing millions of Americans, who may not even yet know the importance of our wetlands, about their criticality; and influencing supporters to get their hands dirty and help implement beneficial projects for habitat protection and restoration. That’s all the rewarding part and with people like Poot McFarlin in the blind, the likelihood of a win goes up. 

 Look to the skies and keep your calls close to hand.