Al Hansen
Well-known member
This year's teal season was slow because the powers to be opened it a week earlier than normal. I do realize that nowadays nothing seems to be normal but if you looked at the calendar---
The teal did arrive but right at the last 4 days. My normal spot for hunting teal had no water in it this year so that made me darn happy that I had a farmer's pond to hunt. Chip and I did have some good action at the end of that 8 day season that we had been given.
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Our regular duck season began right at the end of October with this year starting on a Thursday. Normally we have always started on a Wednesday. It was a fantastic opener for me because it marked the very first time that I hunted my teal area. It had good water in it and I used it for over a week.
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My blind was facing east which I don't like but it was advantageous in the early morning. I also liked being about 15 feet above the water and found myself shooting down instead of up some of the times. As I have mentioned in the past I just won't shoot until ducks have committed to my spread. So if the shot isn't quite like I would want it I will opt to let the ducks go and see if I can coax them back with some soft quacks for another attempt. Most of the time it works so I don't mind if once in a while I watch them fly away. How many times in your life have you ever said, "Maybe I should have shot?" I care not to cast steel willy/nilly! Why take a chance to injure the birds if you don't have a good shot?
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When the pond dried up I had to move to the private ranch where I have a key to a locked gate. Years ago I was given permission to hunt there. Because the Rio Grande was flowing at rates that were not normal for this time of the year, I could not hunt the river however the pond at the ranch was beginning to fill up.
The first thing I did was build my duck hunting chateau. For this picture I told my dogs to "Stay" and then went about taking this shot. My pups will sit there for hours if they need to.
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Here is what it looks like where I am set up. The action when it occurs if basically called "in your face" because my normal shot is between 20 and 25 yards. If it is beyond 30 yards I don't shoot and will once again wait for the birds to make a second or third attempt to come into the area where my blocks are.
On one hunt I decided to take just Habi. She had a litter of yellows in the fall so Chip was my go to duck dog. As Habi recovered from Whelping a litter *normally that means drying up), I took her out one day. She loved every second of it and we did have fun. You will notice that I do use black duck decoys. The closest black duck has to be a thousand miles to the east of me but after some experimentation I found out that even desert ducks like to see black ducks in a pond.
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I know I have told you this before, but this is the only shell I shoot during the duck season. I am patient and will wait for "just the right shot". If it isn't there, I won't shoot. I have to take that back. During the first week of the regular season when I was shooting ducks at my old teal spot, I used a 3" 4 shot for my 3rd shell. Two times I used that combo. Once it worked. Very seldom will I ever take three shots at ducks.
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Funny how your priorities change as you get older. When I was a kid hunting (up until I was maybe 35, I would only shoot 3" 2 shot and that was out of my A-5, 3" magnum with a 32" barrel that I bought with my paper route money back in 1956. In 2003, I decided to buy a Benelli Nova with a 28 inch barrel and that gun changed my whole life in shooting ducks of which I am thankful.
Another thing I did this past season was finish up my third year of sending in duck wings. I loved doing that. For me it was almost like opening a Christmas present when I would get that letter from the program telling me of the ducks that I shot. I like knowing what I shoot and will try my hardest to classify them as juveniles and adults. Some times when it is a hen mallard or maybe a hen Mexican duck and all I can go on would be the color of the speculum then I need to wait for the results because of being colorblind.
My season was short lived this year because we had some litters that required someone to always be around. Since my wife always goes to Wisconsin for Christmas with her family, I stayed home from Dec. 15th through to the end of duck season down here which was on January 31st of this year. In that time I went out 3 times, shot one duck and that last day of the 3, picked up my decoys at the ranch. My dogs had no ducks to retrieve so I pulled the bumper out of the storage unit in my Mule. All in all, we had fun. Chip and Habi keep me company and love doing what they were bred for. I couldn't be luckier.
Al
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Now all I have to do is keep telling myself that duck season is just around the corner. Still fresh in my memory bank is this.
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The teal did arrive but right at the last 4 days. My normal spot for hunting teal had no water in it this year so that made me darn happy that I had a farmer's pond to hunt. Chip and I did have some good action at the end of that 8 day season that we had been given.
Our regular duck season began right at the end of October with this year starting on a Thursday. Normally we have always started on a Wednesday. It was a fantastic opener for me because it marked the very first time that I hunted my teal area. It had good water in it and I used it for over a week.
My blind was facing east which I don't like but it was advantageous in the early morning. I also liked being about 15 feet above the water and found myself shooting down instead of up some of the times. As I have mentioned in the past I just won't shoot until ducks have committed to my spread. So if the shot isn't quite like I would want it I will opt to let the ducks go and see if I can coax them back with some soft quacks for another attempt. Most of the time it works so I don't mind if once in a while I watch them fly away. How many times in your life have you ever said, "Maybe I should have shot?" I care not to cast steel willy/nilly! Why take a chance to injure the birds if you don't have a good shot?
When the pond dried up I had to move to the private ranch where I have a key to a locked gate. Years ago I was given permission to hunt there. Because the Rio Grande was flowing at rates that were not normal for this time of the year, I could not hunt the river however the pond at the ranch was beginning to fill up.
The first thing I did was build my duck hunting chateau. For this picture I told my dogs to "Stay" and then went about taking this shot. My pups will sit there for hours if they need to.
Here is what it looks like where I am set up. The action when it occurs if basically called "in your face" because my normal shot is between 20 and 25 yards. If it is beyond 30 yards I don't shoot and will once again wait for the birds to make a second or third attempt to come into the area where my blocks are.
On one hunt I decided to take just Habi. She had a litter of yellows in the fall so Chip was my go to duck dog. As Habi recovered from Whelping a litter *normally that means drying up), I took her out one day. She loved every second of it and we did have fun. You will notice that I do use black duck decoys. The closest black duck has to be a thousand miles to the east of me but after some experimentation I found out that even desert ducks like to see black ducks in a pond.
I know I have told you this before, but this is the only shell I shoot during the duck season. I am patient and will wait for "just the right shot". If it isn't there, I won't shoot. I have to take that back. During the first week of the regular season when I was shooting ducks at my old teal spot, I used a 3" 4 shot for my 3rd shell. Two times I used that combo. Once it worked. Very seldom will I ever take three shots at ducks.
Funny how your priorities change as you get older. When I was a kid hunting (up until I was maybe 35, I would only shoot 3" 2 shot and that was out of my A-5, 3" magnum with a 32" barrel that I bought with my paper route money back in 1956. In 2003, I decided to buy a Benelli Nova with a 28 inch barrel and that gun changed my whole life in shooting ducks of which I am thankful.
Another thing I did this past season was finish up my third year of sending in duck wings. I loved doing that. For me it was almost like opening a Christmas present when I would get that letter from the program telling me of the ducks that I shot. I like knowing what I shoot and will try my hardest to classify them as juveniles and adults. Some times when it is a hen mallard or maybe a hen Mexican duck and all I can go on would be the color of the speculum then I need to wait for the results because of being colorblind.
My season was short lived this year because we had some litters that required someone to always be around. Since my wife always goes to Wisconsin for Christmas with her family, I stayed home from Dec. 15th through to the end of duck season down here which was on January 31st of this year. In that time I went out 3 times, shot one duck and that last day of the 3, picked up my decoys at the ranch. My dogs had no ducks to retrieve so I pulled the bumper out of the storage unit in my Mule. All in all, we had fun. Chip and Habi keep me company and love doing what they were bred for. I couldn't be luckier.
Al
Now all I have to do is keep telling myself that duck season is just around the corner. Still fresh in my memory bank is this.
