Blog 2.1
Throughout my life I’ve been lucky to meet a variety of people from all walks of life. I’ve learned that the more people we meet, the more we get to discover all the interesting jobs, hobbies, or ways of life that exist in the world. Always inspired by the stories I hear, I wanted to shift my camera towards some of the interesting things my friends do.
I’ll be kicking off this new series having a chat with Mike Wickberg. I met Mike through the music scene and have known him for years, but it was only recently I discovered he’s an avid duck hunter. Where I grew up, hunting is pretty common, but its not as common a pastime in Vancouver (or at least not in my circle). I reached out to Mike and was able to tag along for a hunt while also asking him a few questions about being a hunter, while living in a major metropolis.
JSandsPhoto: How long have you been hunting?
Mike Wickberg: By myself with my own interest in it, and doing it myself, probably 6 or 7 years.
J.S: What sparked your interest in hunting initially?
M.W: I went deer hunting a couple times over four or five years with my uncle and my cousins. I never had a license or anything but I’d just kinda go and spectate
J.S: What type of meals do you prepare with the ducks?
M.W: We make a lot of sausage, pepperoni, jerky, roast a whole duck if it’s a nice Mallard, you can smoke it, treat it kinda like a chicken ya know?
J.S: You’ve got two kids. Do you think you want to introduce them to hunting at some point when they’re older?
M.W: My kids know I hunt, every time I get home they ask me how I did and all that. But you know, they’re their own people and they’re going to feel their own ways about it, all I can do is kind of show them. My daughter, my oldest, she’s actually watched and then helped me butcher ducks, she’s been OK with that. I haven’t taken her hunting yet, they’re both quite young, maybe when they’re ten or eleven I might introduce it to them a bit more.
J.S: Are there any obstacles to being a hunter in a major metropolis?
M.W: There’s definitely obstacles. I need about four different licenses on top of my possession license just to have a hunting gun. You also need insurance to hunt in the Fraser valley/lower mainland. You need 2 million liability insurance that you can get through B.C wildlife, they supply that if you sign up with them for a year. Other obstacles are just limited space. Less and less areas/less and less farm areas are allowed to be hunted in Richmond. In Delta its the same thing, It’s getting harder and harder to find landowners that are local, where you can ask permission to hunt.
