Al Hansen
Well-known member
This past Thursday, 1-24-19, I was able to get out for a hunt. All our pups were gone with the exception of one, so I headed for the ranch. Just one month prior to this day, is the first day that water came to the honey hole that I hunt, so this season was really cut short for me. I am still thankful that we finally got some water flowing in the Rio Grande.
Habi and I arrived at the honey hole around 10:00AM and then put in our time waiting just to see a duck. We never saw anything flying but hung on for that one chance to get into some action. It came in a round about way. My blind is facing south and I guess I was just about in that day dreaming time of the day when I all of a sudden coughed. My cold is not over but doing what I did just seemed not right. For some reason I glanced westward, where the drain empties in the pond. I was staring at 3 mallards made up of one hen and two drakes. They now had reason to look towards the area I was concealed in.
In an instant I stood up and the mallards did what I thought they might, which was catapult their way skyward straight above me. I totally missed the first shot but some how connected with the second shot. I'm thinking that they were much more than 30 feet if that from me. The drake I hit came down at a slight angle and Habi was after him in a heart beat. From what I could tell, I knew one wing was hit but not hard, but for the life of me I could not tell why it came down like it did.
Over the years I have found myself grabbing for my camera as fast as possible to hopefully try to get some decent shots of Habi making a retrieve. In just a short few seconds I could tell my 8 year old girl had lost a step somewhere in the aging process. I laughed a little knowing how many steps I have lost now at the age of 77.
The mallard scrambled upstream some and that is where the two of us worked and worked trying to find that duck. I guess it was not to be. Habi put forth a concerted effort for 30 minutes. I called her and we went back to the blind to sit for a while. I guess it was around noon when I decided to pack it up and head back to the ranch house.
When we arrived at the truck, I thought about the 3 decoys I had in another section of the ditch. This spot was a good one for wood ducks and I really love being able to shoot them especially in the desert. Who would have thunk it?
Going to this spot is a touch longer than the honey hole. When we arrived I got my retriever stick and began picking them up. While there I just happened to see Habi jump into the pond and begin swimming towards the west side which has a lot of foliage like tree branches etc. As I pulled in the last decoy I thought I heard the distinctive snorting sounds that Habi makes when she is swimming back to me with a bird in her mouth. When she broke out in the open I stood there speechless. She had the greenhead that I shot at the honey hole. The only difference was the time and the fact that we were exactly one mile north of the honey hole. I made a dash for the Mule to get my camera for another shot. This one was taken at 1:26PM.
It was a wonderful hunt because Habi finally caught up with that greenhead. Never in my duck hunting life has anything like this ever happened before. It almost doesn't seem like it is possible but it did happen.
Al
The first three pictures were taken at 11:24AM. The picture of Habi bringing me the mallard was taken at 1:26PM. What I found out was this. When the mallard was flying upward my shot hit the wings when they in front of his body maybe--- The right wing had all the flight feathers missing and the left wing had one bb in the last wing joint with more flight feathers shot out.
View attachment _MG_4720.JPGView attachment _MG_4722.JPGView attachment _MG_4732.JPGView attachment _MG_4763.JPGView attachment _MG_4798.JPGView attachment _MG_4808.JPG
Habi and I arrived at the honey hole around 10:00AM and then put in our time waiting just to see a duck. We never saw anything flying but hung on for that one chance to get into some action. It came in a round about way. My blind is facing south and I guess I was just about in that day dreaming time of the day when I all of a sudden coughed. My cold is not over but doing what I did just seemed not right. For some reason I glanced westward, where the drain empties in the pond. I was staring at 3 mallards made up of one hen and two drakes. They now had reason to look towards the area I was concealed in.
In an instant I stood up and the mallards did what I thought they might, which was catapult their way skyward straight above me. I totally missed the first shot but some how connected with the second shot. I'm thinking that they were much more than 30 feet if that from me. The drake I hit came down at a slight angle and Habi was after him in a heart beat. From what I could tell, I knew one wing was hit but not hard, but for the life of me I could not tell why it came down like it did.
Over the years I have found myself grabbing for my camera as fast as possible to hopefully try to get some decent shots of Habi making a retrieve. In just a short few seconds I could tell my 8 year old girl had lost a step somewhere in the aging process. I laughed a little knowing how many steps I have lost now at the age of 77.
The mallard scrambled upstream some and that is where the two of us worked and worked trying to find that duck. I guess it was not to be. Habi put forth a concerted effort for 30 minutes. I called her and we went back to the blind to sit for a while. I guess it was around noon when I decided to pack it up and head back to the ranch house.
When we arrived at the truck, I thought about the 3 decoys I had in another section of the ditch. This spot was a good one for wood ducks and I really love being able to shoot them especially in the desert. Who would have thunk it?
Going to this spot is a touch longer than the honey hole. When we arrived I got my retriever stick and began picking them up. While there I just happened to see Habi jump into the pond and begin swimming towards the west side which has a lot of foliage like tree branches etc. As I pulled in the last decoy I thought I heard the distinctive snorting sounds that Habi makes when she is swimming back to me with a bird in her mouth. When she broke out in the open I stood there speechless. She had the greenhead that I shot at the honey hole. The only difference was the time and the fact that we were exactly one mile north of the honey hole. I made a dash for the Mule to get my camera for another shot. This one was taken at 1:26PM.
It was a wonderful hunt because Habi finally caught up with that greenhead. Never in my duck hunting life has anything like this ever happened before. It almost doesn't seem like it is possible but it did happen.
Al
The first three pictures were taken at 11:24AM. The picture of Habi bringing me the mallard was taken at 1:26PM. What I found out was this. When the mallard was flying upward my shot hit the wings when they in front of his body maybe--- The right wing had all the flight feathers missing and the left wing had one bb in the last wing joint with more flight feathers shot out.
View attachment _MG_4720.JPGView attachment _MG_4722.JPGView attachment _MG_4732.JPGView attachment _MG_4763.JPGView attachment _MG_4798.JPGView attachment _MG_4808.JPG
