T. EdwardNickens

T. Edward Nickens

Contributing Editor of Ducks Unlimited magazine

T. Edward Nickens is a North Carolina-based freelance writer who has a passion for the outdoors and conservation. You can learn more about him by visiting his Instagram @enickens

All articles by T. Edward Nickens

Image for Cupped Wings: That Sinking Feeling
Cupped Wings: That Sinking Feeling

Hunting ducks from a North Carolina curtain blind transports the author back to waterfowling’s storied past

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Image for Cold Colorado
Cold Colorado

Hunting late-season ducks in the heart of the Rockies is an extreme sport

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Image for Cupped Wings: Halftime
Cupped Wings: Halftime

The best hunting of the year might be in front of you; here’s your midseason pep talk

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Image for Hot Spots for Late-Season Ducks
Hot Spots for Late-Season Ducks

When birds vanish from traditional areas, you can often find great hunting in these out-of-the-way places

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Image for Cupped Wings: Closing the Circle
Cupped Wings: Closing the Circle

Preparing your game for the table can be a satisfying and meaningful part of the whole hunting experience

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Image for Cupped Wings: The Swamp Goose Lottery
Cupped Wings: The Swamp Goose Lottery

Hit the jackpot once and you’ll be hooked for life

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Image for Cupped Wings: Greenhead Magic
Cupped Wings: Greenhead Magic

There is something about mallards that stirs a waterfowler's soul

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Image for Five Foolproof Waterfowl Recipes
Five Foolproof Waterfowl Recipes

You can’t miss with these delicious preparations

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Image for Cupped Wings: Buried Treasure
Cupped Wings: Buried Treasure

There is no limit to what a hunter will do to recover a lost duck call

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Image for Cupped Wings: Riding Around
Cupped Wings: Riding Around

With the right company, you can learn a lot about ducks—and life—simply by taking a drive

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Image for The Mallard Report
The Mallard Report

An update on the conservation challenges facing the ever-popular greenhead and the status of its populations across North America

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Image for Duck Camp Cocktails
Duck Camp Cocktails

Five spirited recipes for after-the-hunt-celebrations

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Image for Wood Ducks: Play-By-Play
Wood Ducks: Play-By-Play

Follow the author’s game plan to bag more woodies this season

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Image for One Acre at a Time
One Acre at a Time

How Ducks Unlimited delivered a record 1 million acres of conservation in the past year

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Image for Cupped Wings: The Radius of Truth
Cupped Wings: The Radius of Truth

When it comes to protecting a honey hole, you shouldn’t lie, but you don’t have to tell the whole truth either

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Image for A Big Win for Green Bay
A Big Win for Green Bay

With help from the legendary Packers franchise and grassroots DU supporters, this historic hunting and fishing hot spot has made a remarkable comeback

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Image for Cupped Wings: Friends
Cupped Wings: Friends

Whether you’ve just met or have known each other for decades, good hunting buddies are worth their weight in shotgun shells

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Image for Rescuing the Great Salt Lake
Rescuing the Great Salt Lake

Conserving vital habitat and raising public awareness about this iconic western ecosystem

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Image for Delta Blues
Delta Blues

The author travels to south Louisiana for a rendezvous with blue-winged teal in the rich coastal marshes at the mouth of the Mississippi River

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Image for Cupped Wings: Gotta Go
Cupped Wings: Gotta Go

You can’t shoot’em from the couch

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Image for Cupped Wings: Lost
Cupped Wings: Lost

The ducks deserve our best efforts to reduce crippling losses

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Image for Time Traveler
Time Traveler

A master decoy carver and creator of painstakingly accurate scale models and dioramas, Tom Boozer is keeping history alive from his workshop in South Carolina's Lowcountry

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Image for Cupped Wings: Afterglow
Cupped Wings: Afterglow

Between getting skunked and getting a limit, there's a lot to appreciate about a duck hunt

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Image for A Waterfowler’s Retirement Plan
A Waterfowler’s Retirement Plan

Sage advice to help you prepare for the opportunities and challenges of hunting in your golden years

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Image for Opening Day Odysseys
Opening Day Odysseys

It’s the most anticipated day of the year . . . and often the most memorable too

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Image for The Golden Years
The Golden Years

Hunting with an aging retriever can be simultaneously joyous and heartbreaking

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Image for How Duck Hunters are Saving the Planet
How Duck Hunters are Saving the Planet

By supporting efforts to conserve wetlands and broader landscapes across North America, waterfowlers are doing their part to make the world a better place

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Image for Cupped Wings: Another Sunrise
Cupped Wings: Another Sunrise

There are many different ways to measure waterfowling success

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Image for Can We Save the Great Salt Lake?
Can We Save the Great Salt Lake?

On a waterfowling trip to Utah’s famous inland sea, the author gets a firsthand look at the crisis facing one of the most important wetland ecosystems in the arid West

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Image for Cupped Wings: Breathing Life into Wood
Cupped Wings: Breathing Life into Wood

Making a duck call by hand is a unique combination of art and science

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Image for Cupped Wings: The Quest
Cupped Wings: The Quest

There’s a duck hole out there with your name on it

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Image for DU Special Report: Pintails on the Brink
DU Special Report: Pintails on the Brink

With a record-low breeding population surveyed last spring, pintails just missed the threshold that would have required a closed season. Following is an update on the status of these highly admired birds

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Image for Cupped Wings: Silhouettes
Cupped Wings: Silhouettes

Powerful images inspire memories of past hunts and influence the shape of things to come

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Image for Modern-Day Waterman
Modern-Day Waterman

On Maine's Merrymeeting Bay, boat-builder and decoy-carver Frank Middleton has immersed himself in the customs and traditions that define this unique region

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Image for Cupped Wings: Gobsmacked
Cupped Wings: Gobsmacked

You know that getting skunked is part of the game, but that doesn't make it any easier

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Image for Photo Essay: Fall is in the Air
Photo Essay: Fall is in the Air

A photographic tribute to the fall migration

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Image for The Duck Chase
The Duck Chase

After a two-year pause, the dedicated men and women who survey North America’s most important waterfowl breeding grounds were back in the field this spring

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Image for Ducks at a Distance
Ducks at a Distance

This classic ID guide, first published nearly six decades ago, is still a go-to resource for waterfowlers

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Image for Cupped Wings: Blind Ambitions
Cupped Wings: Blind Ambitions

Whether ramshackle or regal, duck blinds represent the hopes and dreams of their builders

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Image for This Land is Your Land
This Land is Your Land

Ducks Unlimited and its partners are working to improve waterfowl habitat and hunting access on public lands across the United States

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Image for The Camp
The Camp

With apologies to Thomas Wolfe, you can go home again

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Image for Crosswinds: The Flush
Crosswinds: The Flush

This thrilling moment is a float hunter’s ultimate rush

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Image for Crosswinds: The In-Between Times
Crosswinds: The In-Between Times

The lull before the final act serves as a time to prepare

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Image for Crosswinds: Picked Clean
Crosswinds: Picked Clean

The author reflects on the simple pleasure of plucking a fat duck for the table

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Image for Crosswinds: Going Crazy
Crosswinds: Going Crazy

The chaos of duck season can force hunters into unusual tactics

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Image for Crosswinds: Saskatchewan Feels
Crosswinds: Saskatchewan Feels

A sense of calm and belonging amidst the chaos of a Saskatchewan goose field

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Image for Crosswinds: Wood Duck Complex
Crosswinds: Wood Duck Complex

This beautiful, acrobatic species is the symbol of early fall for many hunters

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Image for Crosswinds: Of Teal . . . and Excuses
Crosswinds: Of Teal . . . and Excuses

These aerial acrobats can serve up humble pie for shotgunners

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Image for Crosswinds: The First Taste of Duck Season
Crosswinds: The First Taste of Duck Season

The author details his unique early-season reminder that ducks are on the way

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Image for Ducks and A Lot More
Ducks and A Lot More

A multitude of wildlife species benefit from DU's work in addition to waterfowl

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Image for Lessons for the Late Season
Lessons for the Late Season

The author self-evaluates and revamps his approach for the final weeks of duck season

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Image for Crosswinds: Waiting
Crosswinds: Waiting

Patience is a virtue that waterfowlers have learned to accept

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Image for Hunting the Freeze Line
Hunting the Freeze Line

Magic can happen when you are on the edge

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Image for Crosswinds: Smells Like Duck Camp
Crosswinds: Smells Like Duck Camp

Some smells are difficult to forget

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Image for Crosswinds: Christmas Breather
Crosswinds: Christmas Breather

Enjoy a Christmas break from the duck blind

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Image for Science of Waterfowling
Science of Waterfowling

Four DU biologists, who are also hard-core waterfowlers, share their proven tactics for a successful day in the marsh

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Image for Crosswinds: I See Spots
Crosswinds: I See Spots

The author's retriever senses that change is in the air

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Image for Crosswinds: Back in the Groove
Crosswinds: Back in the Groove

The many “firsts” of the season are soon upon us

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Image for Crosswinds: Christmas in September
Crosswinds: Christmas in September

The author revels in the beginning of hunting season

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Image for Fall Break on the Prairies
Fall Break on the Prairies

On a freelance hunting adventure in North Dakota, a father and son find themselves at the intersection of waterfowling dreams and reality

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Image for Crosswinds: Cool Breeze
Crosswinds: Cool Breeze

Even the slightest shifts of wind are noticeable to those who are paying attention

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Image for Crosswinds: Turn the Page
Crosswinds: Turn the Page

The author’s end of summer isn’t based on the calendar

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Image for Crosswinds: Road Tripping
Crosswinds: Road Tripping

Fall road trips begin as a glimmer of hope in the author's mind

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Image for Going Alone
Going Alone

When you're all by yourself in the duck woods, every moment is yours to treasure

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Image for Crosswinds: Dog Days of Summer 2020
Crosswinds: Dog Days of Summer 2020

The author’s Labrador retriever is living her best life, but change is coming

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Image for Crosswinds: Making Plans
Crosswinds: Making Plans

Even in these uncertain times, we can all look forward to a glorious fall

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Image for Crosswinds: Two Kinds of People
Crosswinds: Two Kinds of People

Those with an obsession with waterfowl are easy to identify

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Image for Crosswinds: Nesting Time
Crosswinds: Nesting Time

Across the breeding grounds, ducks and geese are getting down to the business of procreation

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Image for Crosswinds: Spring Cleanup
Crosswinds: Spring Cleanup

Sheltering in place gives waterfowlers time to sort through gear and relive memories from last season

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