I'm not cutting my nose hair for all of duck season

Lol

Lol

I wear a thin beard the rest of the year and I let it grow out during duck season because I like to. It keeps me warm and covered up a little better and I just feel like it.

I spent a few years in the Marine Corps having to shave every day sometimes twice a day so I now hate shaving. I just let it grow a little longer this time of year than the rest of the year when it stays scraggly

Actually what you just described better fits what I always thought of as a topwater wonder.

Back in the early days of the internet regarding duck hunting I saw topwater used on rec hunting and posted on some early forums in the Arkansas and eastern US area, but it never really seemed to catch on around my area and it's use on the internet died out for a while. So though we all know what Barney means, but there was still a void in duck hunting slang to describe the seasoned hunter who does the same thing as a Barney. So "Topwater Wonder" came about. A Topwater Wonder would be the "Barney" that has declared himself an experienced hunter and now goes around telling everyone what an awesome hunter he is, e.g. they see themselves as a "Wonder". Wonder is defined in the dictionary as a person who arouses awe and admiration. A Barney is used by most hunters today to describe an inexperienced hunter that unintentionally disrespects and screws up other hunter's hunts. a Topwater Wonder is kind of like a Barney, but different in that though they have at least one year of hunting experience, sometimes several years worth, yet they still disrespect other hunters and screw up other hunters hunts. Only now they justify doing so intentionally because to them everyone else on the water is just an inexperienced Barney.

Wonder doesn't hunt???? But, but... but he was my hero

whoa...
one year...
wonder...
topwater...

I just figured out the mystery of the one year wonder. its john's alter ego! thats deep.

Wonder did not come up with Topwater. Topwater is actually old slang, much older than barney, but it was regional. Same meaning as barney, but it was applied to fishing, so he does not even have that right. Again, I had known it from Arkansas in the old days, but I am sure it was used in the states surrounding it. For example below is an 1870s example of the slang word being used in East Texas. so to give him credit, topwater is a real slang word, but on the other hand, one year constantly using such old outdated term over and over like an autistic only shows his attempt to show his saltiness. It is another symptom of what happens when a duck hunter progresses too far from a barney after that first hunting season and becomes a Topwater Wonder. He is simpley presenting himself as an experienced elder or an old salt as a way to hide his true barnified hunting roots.

Below I quote Shannon Tompkins from:
http://www.chron.com/sports/article/Know-your-Texas-outdoors-lingo-topwater-smacks-1690592.php
-------------------
In Wright's book, I finally found a solid insight into the origin of "topwater." Appropriately, it does have to do with fishing.

Here's Wright, writing about a fishing trip a brother and he made on Cypress Creek around 1870:

"The worms we brought along were to catch 'topwaters' with. Topwaters are a minnow-like fish from two to three inches long, shaped like toy alligator-gar, that stay on top of the water.

"People used to call a no-count boy a 'topwater' - I guess because he'd never get down to anything."

The "topwater" fish Wright wrote of were topminnows - probably the blackstripe or blackspotted topminnows still found in East Texas creeks and rivers. And they are none too bright. I used to easily catch the same species of minnows in Mason jars baited with bread balls and set in the edge of Menard Creek in Polk County. They made great bait for creek-dwelling bass, sunfish and catfish.

So "topwater" used as a term of derision appears to have been used by East Texas outdoorsmen for well over a century.

This is getting deep

Too itchy for me.

That's pretty interesting John.

The problem with the old fishing slang "topwater" as a replacement for barney is that most, not all, but most barnies by their very nature do not have a boat and thus seldom on the water. Barney is not some new word duck hunters came up with and as old as it is I can't see how it could play out now. It was in use by duck hunters long before it was associated with a purple dinosaur. Barney was 1800s Irish slang for trouble. Barney Rubble was named after London slang that is just as old, something derived from double trouble you might say. Surfers even picked it up years before duck hunters did as slang for tourists or inexperienced surfers who created trouble for everyone on the beach. Those inexperienced surfers and tourists just like first time duck hunters often have no idea what they are doing and don't know the local unwritten rules. There are always going to be those few barney surfers who go over the edge after a year or two of experience to become topwater wonders that annoy everyone on the beach. In both sports Topwater Wonders typically talk the talk on how great they are in the sport and considers anyone they do not know entering their turf to be a Barney. Topwater Wonders are those guys that may have actually excelled once and been a wonder to their peers, but they seldom if ever surf or go duck hunting anymore, so bragging and complaining about the Barneys is all they have left to show off as a way to stay in with the brahs. The cultures are as similar as the slang.

Just to be clear for those of you who may see me on the TFF.....my handle is TopWaters.......because my last name is Waters and I am awesome.....not because of any of the stuff mentioned in this thread......LOL!

John, stop trying to give us actual information in an attempt to cover up the fact I cracked the One Year Wonder/Sniper John para-dime.

Please go read my post about duck dynasty I think that show is doing nothing but causing problems

Please go read my post about duck dynasty

i have been hunting ducks for 5 years now and grow a beard for every opener. i didnt start watching the show till this summer but it didnt stop me. Why when something is shown on TV do people think that everyone else is now copying them? Who gives a crap what other think or do. Do whatever you want, as long as you own it!

I grow a beard every winter. I keep it short. It is my winter look. Summer I keep a stache and teet. I also am a new Duck Hunter, Barney, and future Topwater Wonder. (except I dont think I will ever pretend to be better than others) I was a pretty die hard bass fisherman but have burned out. One thing I have learned this year, is the self proclaimed professional Duck Hunters are just as bad as the weekend bass fisherman that treat every week night tournament as though they are in the classic.

Like the internet was started by Al Gore. Not.

on this forum... FACT.

3 years ago the hot term was "barney". then it changed to "topwater" thanks to the wonder. both are stupid.

NO! I don't wanna.

I never heard the term topwater or barney and I have been hunting the cypress and black cypress for 35 years. Didnt hear those derogatory terms till I ventured in here. I treat new hunters the way I was treated. I try to teach and cultivate a passion for our sport. Every damn one of us was a "topwater" at one time.

This forum? I say every forum wonder visits, more so other forums I would say. I never use the word, specifically because I know it is wonder's favorit word. There is a bunch of wonder wannbes I guess.