TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
BLIND LIVING BY CHRISTI HERRINGTON
R yan Yarnell was born and raised in Texarkana, Texas, by parents William Yarnell and Jeanette McLeod. Like many in northeast Texas, the outdoors began calling his name at a very early age. When he was eight or nine years old, Ryan’s dad took him hunting for the first time in the green timber woods of East Texas. His dad and uncles were the first people to show him the ropes, and he has been a fixture in the sport ever since. In a blessed nation full of grocery stores, well stocked with a variety of quality meats, hunting is not like it was for the hunters of generations past. Today’s average hunter does not find himself in the deer stand or duck blind out of necessity, and for many men, it is not necessarily the hunt that matters most. It is the fellowship that makes each outing unique, laughing and exploring with friends. Quietly observing the morning fog as the sun peeks
over the horizon, noticing the leaves, grass, and overall beauty of nature working together in harmony, is what hunting is all about, and Ryan knows this all too well. As an outdoorsman, Ryan hunts deer and elk and claims he will “basically chase anything with feathers.” While he loves to hunt it all, Ryan firmly believes duck hunting has always been in his blood. “It is what I know best,” he said. “It’s what I was raised doing. I just love watching the ducks work.” “Duck hunting is what my dad did,” he said. “It made my dad my best friend. When we are in a blind, we may all have different views, but there’s no bickering in the blinds. Duck hunting brings people together around a passion for the outdoors. We all respect each other, and I get to spend time with the people I love most in this world. It centers me. The only time I’m actually quiet is when I’m in the woods.”
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