Michael McCord1
New member
Down south we have youth days the next 2 saturdays after the season closes. We skipped out last weekend for a guided youth rabbit hunt and my son was lucky enough to get the only one. We did a little scouting on the way home and found 20 or so mallards on an old beaver slough. 
We set up this morning and first light was chaos. 30 or so decided to try to dump in right after the start of legal. I was still tossing the last couple decoys and hugged a tree while I blew the call. My son raised up on a mallard and she flinched on the shot but never fell. We had a few more opportunities but young nerves and restlessness cost them opportunities.
2 hours in, everyone had frozen their toes so we decided to stretch our legs to see if we could find where the last drake set down on the river. On the way back, I noticed an oddly duck-shaped depression in boot high weeds coming up through the unpicked soybeans. It was made by his duck. One pellet snuck through the vitals and she fell ~150 yards from the shot, stone dead. We never saw the fall because of the hills in the background and a dozen or more mallards in the foreground.
The thing that probably impresses me the most is the awe and reverence he holds for anything he is fortunate to take. I’m a little jealous of this new hunter as struggles but every now and then experiences a little success.
We shot over a mixture of wooden and canvas decoys I made through the years. I probably haven’t carved one in at least 7 years due to kids and work (mostly kids) but I think it’s about time to sharpen the draw knife and get after it. Here’s a quick clip of a few of them on my jerk rig. I usually go keel less so they move better on the protected waters I usually hunt.
We set up this morning and first light was chaos. 30 or so decided to try to dump in right after the start of legal. I was still tossing the last couple decoys and hugged a tree while I blew the call. My son raised up on a mallard and she flinched on the shot but never fell. We had a few more opportunities but young nerves and restlessness cost them opportunities.
2 hours in, everyone had frozen their toes so we decided to stretch our legs to see if we could find where the last drake set down on the river. On the way back, I noticed an oddly duck-shaped depression in boot high weeds coming up through the unpicked soybeans. It was made by his duck. One pellet snuck through the vitals and she fell ~150 yards from the shot, stone dead. We never saw the fall because of the hills in the background and a dozen or more mallards in the foreground.
The thing that probably impresses me the most is the awe and reverence he holds for anything he is fortunate to take. I’m a little jealous of this new hunter as struggles but every now and then experiences a little success.We shot over a mixture of wooden and canvas decoys I made through the years. I probably haven’t carved one in at least 7 years due to kids and work (mostly kids) but I think it’s about time to sharpen the draw knife and get after it. Here’s a quick clip of a few of them on my jerk rig. I usually go keel less so they move better on the protected waters I usually hunt.
