Al Hansen
Well-known member
On Saturday morning early, after all was checked and ready to go, Preston made this statement. "Al, there is no way I could ever have a better day duck hunting than that first one of mine four days ago." I smiled when I thought about that knowing how quickly times can change when duck hunting. I opened my cell phone to check the time and announced that we had just 3 minutes to wait.
There is no doubt in my mind that this young man is a duck hunter. He is saavy in so many ways. I guess we sat there for a while when all of sudden we saw a small flock of mallards to the south of us that decided to head for the Rio Grande. I got on my call and persuaded them to come over for a look at our spread. As they made a circle to come in, I told Preston that I would wait for him to shoot first. When he did, we really woke the countryside up with a volley of 6 shots. With all that shooting I noticed that my hunting partner put down a duck. Habi was after it in a second.
I met her as she came back with it and all I could think was "OMG"! "Here you go, Preston," as I handed him the duck. "She sure seems to be another fine fat one for supper." I then watched him handle the duck like he always does. Very thoroughly, by the way.
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He kept on checking her over and then I got that look from him. "Is this possible? he asked. All I could do was smile.
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I asked him to take off his face mask so I could see that smile.
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"You know, Preston, I started hunting ducks in 1954 and my first banded duck came 48 years later in 2002! Yours came 4 days later on your second duck hunt. Do you realize how lucky you are?" I asked. He just smiled!
We waited for what seemed to be an hour or better when all of a sudden we had a group of 3 gadwalls come from behind us heading south. I gave them a couple of very soft lonesome hen calls and like a gigantic electric magnet had been turned on, they made a 180 and never hesitated. I told him that I would wait for him to shoot again. He picked out a nice drake and it folded instantly on his shot. I followed suit by pulling down the other drake. He missed his second shot and then had to contend with the sun. I pulled on her and we both watched this duck head for the ground on the other side of the blinding sun. That was cool.
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Preston looked up as I was taking this shot and said, "Hey, Al, this is another first! It is my very first gadwall."
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Another hour of time flew by as we talked and he inspected his very first gadwall. He was enthralled with its beauty. It was about then that a single gaddie drake flew right over the top of us, put his brakes on in mid-air and head straight for the spread. I watched Preston as he followed this guy and when he was about 4 feet off the water, he pulled the trigger. It was a perfect shot. Habi dashed out there to pick it up. When we got it back, my hunting partner then started to talk about getting some ducks mounted. This one was a good looker!
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We pulled up stakes and headed for Acosta's restaurant. What a fantastic morning. As I was enjoying a bite of breakfast burrito smothered in green chile I heard him say, "You know, Al, I'm thinking that I rushed into things when I said that no other hunt could compare with that first one." I had to agree with him.
Al
There is no doubt in my mind that this young man is a duck hunter. He is saavy in so many ways. I guess we sat there for a while when all of sudden we saw a small flock of mallards to the south of us that decided to head for the Rio Grande. I got on my call and persuaded them to come over for a look at our spread. As they made a circle to come in, I told Preston that I would wait for him to shoot first. When he did, we really woke the countryside up with a volley of 6 shots. With all that shooting I noticed that my hunting partner put down a duck. Habi was after it in a second.
I met her as she came back with it and all I could think was "OMG"! "Here you go, Preston," as I handed him the duck. "She sure seems to be another fine fat one for supper." I then watched him handle the duck like he always does. Very thoroughly, by the way.
He kept on checking her over and then I got that look from him. "Is this possible? he asked. All I could do was smile.
I asked him to take off his face mask so I could see that smile.
"You know, Preston, I started hunting ducks in 1954 and my first banded duck came 48 years later in 2002! Yours came 4 days later on your second duck hunt. Do you realize how lucky you are?" I asked. He just smiled!
We waited for what seemed to be an hour or better when all of a sudden we had a group of 3 gadwalls come from behind us heading south. I gave them a couple of very soft lonesome hen calls and like a gigantic electric magnet had been turned on, they made a 180 and never hesitated. I told him that I would wait for him to shoot again. He picked out a nice drake and it folded instantly on his shot. I followed suit by pulling down the other drake. He missed his second shot and then had to contend with the sun. I pulled on her and we both watched this duck head for the ground on the other side of the blinding sun. That was cool.
Preston looked up as I was taking this shot and said, "Hey, Al, this is another first! It is my very first gadwall."
Another hour of time flew by as we talked and he inspected his very first gadwall. He was enthralled with its beauty. It was about then that a single gaddie drake flew right over the top of us, put his brakes on in mid-air and head straight for the spread. I watched Preston as he followed this guy and when he was about 4 feet off the water, he pulled the trigger. It was a perfect shot. Habi dashed out there to pick it up. When we got it back, my hunting partner then started to talk about getting some ducks mounted. This one was a good looker!
We pulled up stakes and headed for Acosta's restaurant. What a fantastic morning. As I was enjoying a bite of breakfast burrito smothered in green chile I heard him say, "You know, Al, I'm thinking that I rushed into things when I said that no other hunt could compare with that first one." I had to agree with him.
Al