Matt Masters
Active member
So I started scouting for our opener a couple of weeks ago to see what kind of birds we had around and in what areas. Well the first spot I checked had a nice size group of mallards and a Cayuga..LOL
I was watching the dang Cayuga and didn't even notice a bird that was mixed in with the group of mallards. Once I saw this bird I knew I had to keep an eye on it to see if I could hunt it. I watched this bird at least every other day for two weeks before work, and her patterns changed some but stayed in the same area. I was starting to get worried because the group of mallards started to slowly dwindle off, and I was afraid she was going to leave with her friends.
I got up early Thanksgiving morning to see if she was still in her routine before the family festivities began that day, and she was there like clockwork. My mind was made up that I was going to give it a try knowing this would probably be the only bird I killed for the opener because there was not much else around in the area.
I went home and got the boat ready and hooked up to the truck, so I was ready to go early the next morning. My lovely wife hunted with me and I'm glad she went with me, because the plan came together!
There were four mallards that came in about 3 minutes before shooting time and landed by the decoys and started feeding hard, and she was in there! Several more dropped in around shooting time and shortly after, but there were two that short stopped the decoys and stayed on alert the whole time. I was afraid these two birds were going to bust and ruin my opportunity to get this bird. About 5-6 minutes after shooting time the two alert birds decided it was time to leave because of all the shooting in the surrounding areas, I had been watching this one bird and the two on alert because I knew if they left then the other bird would shortly follow. As soon as the two alert birds flushed, I grabbed my gun and by the time I shouldered it the one bird took off and I shot. I thought I had missed and used my other two shots on another bird I thought was the one I was going after and missed. I looked back to where the bird originally was and there was one on the water, but I didn't think it was her. I jumped up, waded out there to see which one it was, and it was her! I told my wife it was her and she was so excited for me! We picked up the few decoys we put out and headed to get breakfast (her favorite thing about going to hunt with me, it's like and early morning date she says).
After breakfast, I took the bird to a good friend of mine that is a world class taxidermist because he knew what I had been watching. He skinned the bird out so I could freeze it and have it mounted at a later date and time. He was pretty excited to see this bird and even more excited to see she was more than likely a migrator instead of a local bird because of the body size and little to no fat on her.
Anyways enough rambling on and time for the pictures.....here's the Blonde
I was watching the dang Cayuga and didn't even notice a bird that was mixed in with the group of mallards. Once I saw this bird I knew I had to keep an eye on it to see if I could hunt it. I watched this bird at least every other day for two weeks before work, and her patterns changed some but stayed in the same area. I was starting to get worried because the group of mallards started to slowly dwindle off, and I was afraid she was going to leave with her friends.
I got up early Thanksgiving morning to see if she was still in her routine before the family festivities began that day, and she was there like clockwork. My mind was made up that I was going to give it a try knowing this would probably be the only bird I killed for the opener because there was not much else around in the area.
I went home and got the boat ready and hooked up to the truck, so I was ready to go early the next morning. My lovely wife hunted with me and I'm glad she went with me, because the plan came together!
There were four mallards that came in about 3 minutes before shooting time and landed by the decoys and started feeding hard, and she was in there! Several more dropped in around shooting time and shortly after, but there were two that short stopped the decoys and stayed on alert the whole time. I was afraid these two birds were going to bust and ruin my opportunity to get this bird. About 5-6 minutes after shooting time the two alert birds decided it was time to leave because of all the shooting in the surrounding areas, I had been watching this one bird and the two on alert because I knew if they left then the other bird would shortly follow. As soon as the two alert birds flushed, I grabbed my gun and by the time I shouldered it the one bird took off and I shot. I thought I had missed and used my other two shots on another bird I thought was the one I was going after and missed. I looked back to where the bird originally was and there was one on the water, but I didn't think it was her. I jumped up, waded out there to see which one it was, and it was her! I told my wife it was her and she was so excited for me! We picked up the few decoys we put out and headed to get breakfast (her favorite thing about going to hunt with me, it's like and early morning date she says).
After breakfast, I took the bird to a good friend of mine that is a world class taxidermist because he knew what I had been watching. He skinned the bird out so I could freeze it and have it mounted at a later date and time. He was pretty excited to see this bird and even more excited to see she was more than likely a migrator instead of a local bird because of the body size and little to no fat on her.
Anyways enough rambling on and time for the pictures.....here's the Blonde
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