Landon Lartigue follows in the footsteps of his grandfather hunting teal

Hunting, in general, as always been a right of passage of resident of South Louisiana as fathers and grandfathers alike bring the younger generations into the woods.
For Ville Platte Chief of Police Neal Lartigue, it is no different for him as he often brings his grandson Landon.
The two Lartigues renewed their yearly traditions as the two teal hunting at Cazan’s Lake on the opening weekend this year.
Chief Lartigue said it was a slow day, but, “overall, we had a good time.” He added, “It was just me and him. Just the two of us.”
Landon has been going hunting ducks and deer with his grandfather every year since he was old enough.
“I love it,” said Chief Lartigue. “It’s a big deal to be able to bring him. He’s my only grandson big enough to hunt right now.”
Chief Lartigue said Landon enjoys hunting and being outside. “He rathers duck hunting,” the chief said as he let out a big laugh. “Deer is not too fun for him.”
Hunting at Cazan’s Lake is a way for Chief Lartigue to go back to his roots. That is where he was born and raised.
“Growing up, we’d use dogs to retrieve in the rice field,” he said. “As a kid, we lived on the farm. My backyard was 5,000 acres. I could go hunt wherever I wanted right there on the farm.”
“I’ve been hunting there my whole life,” he continued. “I was born and raised with hunting. That’s what we did when we were growing up. We’d fish, and we’d hunt.”
The chief has a camp there at Cazan’s Lake. “We hunt, fish, and camp on the same place,” he said, “so we don’t have to travel.”
Duck and deer hunting are equally pleasing for Chief Lartigue because of the peacefulness. “I enjoy the scenery, and it’s just a chance to get away and enjoy it,” he said.
Every now and then, however, the peacefulness is interrupted with the ring of a cell phone. “Sometimes my phone does ring,” the chief said as let out another big laugh. “It just depends what is going on. If there is not much going on, then it is good. Normally in the mornings, it’s pretty quiet.”
While he mainly enjoys hunting duck and deer, Chief Lartigues dabbles in squirrel hunting and uses dogs. As he said, using dogs to hunt squirrels is similar to using them to hunt rabbits. “I don’t have to walk around and try to find a squirrel in a tree,” he said. “The dog has it treed up already.”