Brad Taylor (NC)
Well-known member
You guys may remember that I have been taking a previous student on youth waterfowl day for the last 14 or so years. Long story short, coupled between not having any kids that really stood out as good selections and a few buddy's kids not being able to go I had not planned on taking anyone. My son Cole is 8 and while he has had a BB gun and shot .22s for quite some time, his 48 lb tall and skinny frame is still just a little small for the youth 20 gauge Wingmaster that was my first gun.
Fast forward to last Sunday, I started thinking about a buddy who had one of the little Mossberg .410 Bantams and asked if he still had it as his son had moved on to a 20 gauge. Sure enough he did, and not only that was on his way back from Lowland and could meet me off the interstate in an hour or so. I was in Lowe's when I got the text, you should have seen Cole's face when I said, "you know anybody that wants to hunt on youth day?"
Regardless, his Mom doesn't come from a hunting or gun family so I wasn't quite sure how well this news would go over. He's been with me on goose hunts, dove hunts, pond hunts and she has watched him shoot the .22 but I was still a little curious as to her response. Honestly it was good and quite comical but in the end she was excited for him.
Next up I needed to see if he could shoot it. After hitting up 3 different stores to find shells, I finally found some 2.75" No. 4s. Looking at the little shells just made me smile in comparison to the big 12s. We walked outside Tuesday afternoon, slapped up one of his zombie shoot 'n see targets he had for his bb gun, and stepped back to 20 yards. I told him to put it on his head. I was a little apprehensive about the recoil on his little frame and steadied him a bit from behind. The little .410 went "thwack" and resulted in this...
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He looked up and at me and said, "that kind of hurt...can I shoot it again?" All smiles from me! I said if you can do the same thing Saturday morning, you'll kill a duck.
Anyway, we scouted the little hole that has always produced well for youth day on late Thursday afternoon. As we stopped the boat, I saw a few woodies pitch in and there were a few woodies on the edge. I couldn't see the whole thing because of a few little islands/peninsulas but there were no mallards to speak of as I looked around. As I'm standing there looking here comes a pair of mallards and I start hearing the ones on the water chatter. The pair makes 3 tight loops and drops right in. We slip out and head to the house!
Fast forward to Friday night, talk about one excited kid, the big one and the little one! I knew it was going to be pretty dang cold for a skinny little 8 year old so we laid out all his clothes, rounded up the handwarmers/toewarmers, and made sure the Mr. Buddy had propane. Fortunately, I have some great friends in BPS slayer and a previous student who said they'd love to come along and left early enough to insure we got the spot.
I was a little worried about the amount of ice on this relatively small tucked away hole, but as luck would have it, it was open right in front of where we wanted to sit. By the time I get him settled it is mere minutes before legal and we already had a good number of birds working. A group of 8 or so birds circled twice with the hen leading them down to the water. As she hit about 15 yards from us, I told him to focus on her as she was the first he saw and focus his gun on. I watched the little .410 barrel dance and wave as I told him to shoot when he thought he had it lined up. Again, the little gun went "thwack" and she immediately went head down with a few death kicks! I threw my arms into the air and was whooping and hollering! I can't recall the last time I have been so excited to be part of a hunt. Anyways, he had chances at few more but he either didn't connect or shifted and moved causing them to jump off the water before he could get a shot off. We even had a group of pintail join in with 15 or so mallards that worked us a good 3 or 4 times, easily shootable had this been an adult hunt. Unfortunately, they didn't ever sit down.
While he would have loved to have shot more ducks, it was by far the best one duck day for me that I have every had!
Fast forward to last Sunday, I started thinking about a buddy who had one of the little Mossberg .410 Bantams and asked if he still had it as his son had moved on to a 20 gauge. Sure enough he did, and not only that was on his way back from Lowland and could meet me off the interstate in an hour or so. I was in Lowe's when I got the text, you should have seen Cole's face when I said, "you know anybody that wants to hunt on youth day?"
Regardless, his Mom doesn't come from a hunting or gun family so I wasn't quite sure how well this news would go over. He's been with me on goose hunts, dove hunts, pond hunts and she has watched him shoot the .22 but I was still a little curious as to her response. Honestly it was good and quite comical but in the end she was excited for him.
Next up I needed to see if he could shoot it. After hitting up 3 different stores to find shells, I finally found some 2.75" No. 4s. Looking at the little shells just made me smile in comparison to the big 12s. We walked outside Tuesday afternoon, slapped up one of his zombie shoot 'n see targets he had for his bb gun, and stepped back to 20 yards. I told him to put it on his head. I was a little apprehensive about the recoil on his little frame and steadied him a bit from behind. The little .410 went "thwack" and resulted in this...
He looked up and at me and said, "that kind of hurt...can I shoot it again?" All smiles from me! I said if you can do the same thing Saturday morning, you'll kill a duck.
Anyway, we scouted the little hole that has always produced well for youth day on late Thursday afternoon. As we stopped the boat, I saw a few woodies pitch in and there were a few woodies on the edge. I couldn't see the whole thing because of a few little islands/peninsulas but there were no mallards to speak of as I looked around. As I'm standing there looking here comes a pair of mallards and I start hearing the ones on the water chatter. The pair makes 3 tight loops and drops right in. We slip out and head to the house!
Fast forward to Friday night, talk about one excited kid, the big one and the little one! I knew it was going to be pretty dang cold for a skinny little 8 year old so we laid out all his clothes, rounded up the handwarmers/toewarmers, and made sure the Mr. Buddy had propane. Fortunately, I have some great friends in BPS slayer and a previous student who said they'd love to come along and left early enough to insure we got the spot.
I was a little worried about the amount of ice on this relatively small tucked away hole, but as luck would have it, it was open right in front of where we wanted to sit. By the time I get him settled it is mere minutes before legal and we already had a good number of birds working. A group of 8 or so birds circled twice with the hen leading them down to the water. As she hit about 15 yards from us, I told him to focus on her as she was the first he saw and focus his gun on. I watched the little .410 barrel dance and wave as I told him to shoot when he thought he had it lined up. Again, the little gun went "thwack" and she immediately went head down with a few death kicks! I threw my arms into the air and was whooping and hollering! I can't recall the last time I have been so excited to be part of a hunt. Anyways, he had chances at few more but he either didn't connect or shifted and moved causing them to jump off the water before he could get a shot off. We even had a group of pintail join in with 15 or so mallards that worked us a good 3 or 4 times, easily shootable had this been an adult hunt. Unfortunately, they didn't ever sit down.
While he would have loved to have shot more ducks, it was by far the best one duck day for me that I have every had!
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