Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander

Asks of You)
    F or the first twenty-eight years of my life, I didn’t know the gospel and I didn’t know Jesus Christ. Now I’m trying to make up for lost time. Jesus said all the authority was given to Him, and He told us to go preach the gospel and make disciples of all the people we baptize. Basically, Jesus is telling me to go forward and share with people what I didn’t know until I was saved. So I’ve been sharing everything I’ve learned since I was converted. Nowadays, I get asked to speak to churches, colleges, hunting clubs, and other groups around the country. The Almighty has put me on the road, but some of my best work still occurs on the Ouachita River right in front of our house.
    When I was still a commercial fisherman, I sometimes had over one hundred hoop nets and trotlines stretching all the wayacross the Ouachita River. But these pirates on the river kept stealing my fish. Now, people have been shot in Louisiana for taking fish out of someone else’s nets or off their trotlines—which might make sense when you realize someone’s livelihood is being stolen.
    When I saw people stealing my fish, I’d run them down with my shotgun and scare the daylights out of them. It didn’t do much good, though, and they kept stealing from me. But I kept scaring them, and I was making enemies up and down the river. People were probably saying, “That ol’ sucker down there is about as mean as a junkyard dog.”
    I kept reading and studying my Bible, while the stealing continued unabated. I read Romans 12:17–21, where it says:
    Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
    “If your enemy is hungry; feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
    In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
    Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
    I read the verse and sat there thinking, There ain’t no way that’s going to work. No way! Be good to them. But, Lord, they’re stealing from me! But then I had a revelation: Hey, wait a minute! I’ve never tried that. I keep running them off with a shotgun .
    It honestly made no sense to me, but I was going to try the Lord’s way. So I decided the next time I saw someone lifting one of my nets, I would initiate the biblical way of dealing with them. I was going to be good to them. Sure enough, I walked out one day and heard a motor running. I looked and saw some guys pulling up one of my nets. I stood there and watched them for a few minutes. My boat was parked right on the riverbank, and I took off running and jumped in it. I had my shotgun with me. I was going to try God’s way, but my faith was still a little weak, so I had my shotgun as insurance! I was going to try to be good to them, but if they wanted to get mean, I was going to have to survive.

    It honestly made no sense to me, but I was going to try the Lord’s way.

    So I ran out on the river, and these guys were still coming up with my nets. I cruised right up on ’em. They saw me coming, dropped the net, and threw the float back into the water—and started fishing.
    “Hey! What are y’all doing?” I shouted.
    “We’re just trying to catch a few fish,” one of them told me.
    “What were you doing with that net in your hand?” I asked him.
    “Well, you know,” he said as he started to stutter and mumble. “What is that? Is that what that is?”
    “Is that what that is?” I repeated. “Y’all know what’s on the other end of that float!”
    Then I changed my tactics. In a cheerful and exuberant voice, I shouted, “Good times have come your way!”
    They looked at me, wondering exactly what I was up to. I still had my hand on my Browning A5 shotgun.
    “What?” one of them asked.
    “Good times have come your way,” I said again. “I’m going to give ’em to you. You were going to steal my fish. Evidently, you’ve planned a fish fry, but y’all aren’t catching any. But you want a fish fry. Since you didn’t catch ’em, you’re going to steal ’em. Well, here’s the good news: I’m going to give you what you were trying to steal—free of charge.”
    “Nah, we were just going to—” one of them started to say, but I cut him off.
    “Nope, you