The engine roars to life, disturbing the still waters surrounding it and exhaling soft blasts of smoke while the blades propel the small craft forward. Seated in the boat, several hunters sit in quiet anticipation of their destination – a duck blind tucked away on the west shore of Oneida Lake, or Lady O’, as they call it. At the helm?, Oakley “Oak” Clement navigates the boat cuts the engine when they reach the point from which they will launch their decoys – plastic ducks intended to lure living ones into their zone of fire. With the decoys deployed, Clement and his crew guide the slowly rocking boat gently to the marshy shore, disembark and place a camouflaged covering over it to avoid giving their prey any increased chance of spotting their position.

The hunters slink toward the cover provided by the blind [SMS1] they have used all season. Stools, snacks, and shotguns are unpacked as the group settles in for the long haul; for many of them, excitement swells from the imminent opportunity to shoot waterfowl. But, for Clement, peace washes over his spirit as he gazes into creation.

Clement has spent his entire life called towards nature, and to the water in particular.

“Water is my calm spot,” Clement said adding that as a young boy, he used to leave home with his fishing rod and boat, coming back only when it started to get dark. “It’s an addiction that you can’t really get away from. . .water has always been my addiction.”

When Clement moved away from Liverpool to the Adirondacks he was primarily a fisherman, but after his return home years later he inexplicably felt disconnected from nature – a connection that even fishing his “old spots” couldn’t restore. However, Clement’s passion for birds – which he attributes to his parents’ fascination with them – and an unresolved interest in hunting led him to pursue waterfowling.

A self-employed landscaper, one of the appeals of waterfowling over deer hunting for Clement has been the ability to “hunt ducks for two hours in the morning and still have a productive day.” Now, as the coronavirus has racked the world and Clement has taken to homeschooling his two daughters, the benefit of being able to hunt in the early morning and be home at a reasonable time has become even more important. However, due to this new responsibility, Clement not been able to go hunting as often as in previous years.

Another unfortunate effect of the pandemic is the decline of service members that Clement has brought with him on fishing and hunting trips. In 2015, Clement reached out in an outdoors focused Facebook group, Oneida Lake Diehards, to service members interested in joining his ventures.

 “Immediately I was getting family members, not even the guys themselves, recommending somebody and I would reach out to them. . .and they’d have a blast,” Clement said. Clement said he finds his joy from sharing experiences with others and building lasting relationships – not from shooting birds.

“I could care less if I shoot something,” Clement said. “If I get that little bit of time in nature with just me and another person, or a few other people, and that time spiritually with God, my day is complete, and I’m happier that way.”  

Never charging a dime, Clement believes that sharing his passion for the winsome wild is a reward enough.