Al Hansen
Well-known member
Yes, I’ll admit that I’m a loner when it comes to hunting. I think in the past 10 years I can count the number of guys I have hunted with on one hand. In the first seven years I was averaging at least 75 days a year out in the duck blind.
About 4 years ago, I was substitute teaching in a third grade classroom and by chance happened to meet Preston White who is a second grade teacher at Parkview. Right away we hit it off because we both enjoyed hunting. I listened to him tell me of the mule deer, elk, turkey, and doves that he loved to hunt so much. The more I listened to him the more I was impressed. I then asked, “Hey, Preston, have you ever killed a duck?” He looked at me and said, “That is funny you asked because, yes, I have, but I really don’t like hunting the low flow ditches.” I didn’t think much of it because I know guys who have lived here all their lives and the only way they know how to hunt ducks is to drive along the low flow ditches until you spot some ducks, then make a sneak attack and try to jump shoot them. Preston was no different. Oh, I guess I should mention that a normal low flow duck hunt usually starts around 10:00AM and might last around 3 or 4 hours.
That is when he asked me if that was how I hunted ducks, also. I then began to tell him what I do. I talked about getting up at least by 4:00AM to make sure I was at my hunting spot so that I could set out my decoys, get my blind prepared so that I would be ready at opening shooting hours which were 30 minutes before sunrise. I could tell by the expression in his eyes that this was sounding quite exciting to him. He then asked if he could come along some time to hunt with me and witness all of the things I was telling him about.
When you live in the desert southwest, you are at the mercy of water and in how much you don’t have or do have. It dictates how you hunt here. About a week ago,I called Preston and we talked about going on a duck hunt. I knew that he was on his Christmas break and might have time to go on a hunt. We finally settled on today, Christmas Eve day. He was at my home at 5:30AM and in a jiffy, all his gear was either packed in my truck and or the Mule. It didn’t take us long to get to the ranch and before you know it we were in the Mule, through the locked gate and heading for the honey hole.
Once there I helped get Preston situated, then went about getting my decoys in place and free from ice. I noticed that this morning was colder than most and the ice had doubled in size around the small pond we were set up on.
“Al, this is absolutely fantastic. Look to the east where it is getting light and listen to the sounds out there,” he said. He was referring to the geese we could hear in the distance. I happen to know of some Canadas that like to roost on a sand island in the middle of the Rio Grande not too far away. I glanced at my cell phone and said, “Get ready, young man, only 4 minutes to go.” That made me chuckle when I referred to him as a young man because if I remember correctly Preston is either 41 or 42 now.
Like the opening bell of a boxing match, when it was time to shoot, he woke up the world with 3 quick volleys out of his SBE. I happened to see, just barely, the two mallards that came in and left post haste! “Hey, Preston, what kind of shells are you shooting? I asked. He then told me he was using Hevi Shot 3 inch #4s. “How close do you think they were on that last shot? I have never taken a shot at a duck when it has been so dark outside,” he said. “Well, Preston, to answer your first question it was about 25 feet and secondly it takes some getting used to,” I replied.
He had just reloaded when in came a single hen mallard, almost in Kamikaze style and he fired a quick shot but missed. “Boy, this is going to get some getting used to,” he said. Well only 10 minutes went by when in came a small flock of mallards, that made one of those perfect swings and came right over us. I watched Preston shoulder his Benelli and fire. There was no doubt in my mind when I watched that duck get hit. It was DOA! I was holding Chip and making sure that this young boy of mine didn’t do anything dumb like dash out to greet the ducks or something wild like that. Poor Habi hurt her foot somehow and I had to leave her in the truck because she was limping so badly on it. I then took Chip and we headed in the direction of where the duck landed and Chip made it look easy. No words could describe the jubilation felt by Preston. He simply said, “Oh, man, this is great!” He then turned that greenhead over in his hands and looked it over very carefully almost like giving it a thorough exam. What an exhilarating moment for me to observe.
My partner in the blind happened to look up and he motioned towards the Rio that more ducks were heading north. I got back on my duck call and got them to come over and take a look at our spread. They made a wide swing around and then on the second circle came back to head straight up the channel which was directly behind us. Preston shouldered his shotgun again and took out another fat drake from this bunch of maybe 15. Once again, Chip and I headed towards the kill and this time Chip brought it to Preston. To say that this young pup was excited would be an understatement.
More ducks flew today than I have seen all year at this spot. It was amazing. I would imagine that no more than 20 minutes went by when we had a pair of mallards swing by. This time he selected the hen because as he told me, it presented him with the better shot. Of the three ducks that he took today, the hen and one drake were adults and the other greenhead was a juvenile.
Only the smile on Preston’s face can come close to telling you what kind of a day this was for him. We chatted maybe another hour and then when I noticed that my left rear tire on the Mule was going flat, did we finally decide to go home. All we talked about on the way home was the next time we could go. I told him I was free and to just let me know. This marks the very first duck hunt that I have ever been on where I never picked up my shotgun. My gosh I had fun!
Al
