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Al Hansen

Al Hansen

Well-known member
Our teal season opens tomorrow and even after beginning my duck hunting career 63 years ago when I shot my first bluewing teal in Big Stone county of western Minnesota, I still get very excited. What a rare treat just to be able to get out there and enjoy the environment.

I received a call from the farmer where I hunt two days ago and it went like this; "Hey, Al, I am sitting on my tractor looking at maybe 25 teal in the pond. Here comes some more!" He does know how excited I get when getting a phone call like that.

From what I have seen so far the timing of our opener is about perfect. The ducks began coming down here at the beginning of the week. Not only that but our morning temps have now dropped below 60F, so that will also help in making it a bit more comfortable when hunting.

Now if we could only get some more rain however that doesn't look so good. The Rio Grande is flowing at 3.4cfs. If you can visualize what a river that is down to a "trickle" looks like, that would say it all.
Al
 
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This is the third year of the experimental teal season here in Michigan, unfortunately it sounds like it was a flop. I'm heading to the point moulle duck hunters tourney tomorrow I think I will here the same. Best of luck on your season.
Robert
 
Thanks for the well wishes. I never shouldered my shotgun yesterday for the opener. Called a bummer! However, it was wonderful being out there again to start another year. I loved it and so did my companions.

Al

I only brought one bumper along, so Habi and Chip had to share.

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I tried, Dani, but no luck. The ducks just weren't there. Now I am waiting for you to post some pictures.
Al
 
Steve, that is a great shot and I appreciated you posting it. Thanks so much. Best of luck for the rest of your teal season. What is the name of your pup?
Al
 
That was appreciated, Greg. I did bring Sonora along. She was in my truck waiting for us. I figured she could handle two hours by herself and she did. I brought some of her toys along.

I decided to see what she would when watching my duck blind companions. It didn't take long. First of all she has never been near water until yesterday.

Chip and Habi went out to retrieve the bumper I tossed and she decided to do what they were up to. Sorry I didn't have my brain in gear for the first time in her life, when she leaped off from the edge of the pond.

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Well, an Olympic swimmer she is not but sometime soon I hope to see better form than the doggie paddle. It was still fun to see. I was very impressed with her because this didn't scare her. She did it again!

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Thanks, Robert. Sorry to hear about what might happen with the 3 year experiment.

To wrap up yesterday, I was thrilled to see my pup, Sonora, very engaged in what was happening at the pond. She loved it. Here she is waiting for Habi to come back with the bumper. Habi loves to play tug of war with any dog and Sonora just happens to love the same game.
Boy, did my pup ever sleep well.
Al

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Good Morning Al,
I did manage to harvest 3 nice Blue Wing's yesterday up North in NM, you should be seeing them in the next few days.


Leaving for Canada on Wednesday, have a great season and have fun and be safe.


Dennis S. (Rio Rancho, NM)
 
Al, I was waiting to hear about your day. Hopefully you are out today. They dogs look like they had a blast despite the lack of ducks.

Brad
 
Thanks Al, great looking tribe you got there.
This was my today, you know, here today gone tomorrow.
That red dog is Jack (4yr old), he's really starting to get it together. His biggest weakness is me being his trainer, but we have a blast!
Have a great and safe season.

 
Al,

It looks like a lot of the BW teal are still up here. Drake retrieved five BW and four mallards this morning. He is still learning the ropes but making progress. He experienced his first diving duck this morning. I helped him herd it to shore were he picked it out of shallow water. Amazing how they can swim with just the tip of their bill exposed.

Good to see Drake's parents out even if there were no ducks.

Paul
 
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Sadly Al, I did not go. Dr said no to teal season (wading and hauling boats) and the walk in places near me for wood ducks where I would've been ok to actually hunt aren't open for teal season. Soooooooo I'm sitting this teal season out sadly.

Hopefully you got birds today and I can live vicariously through you and others....
 
In New Mexico, the biggest problem we have durng the duck season, either early teal or the regular season is relying on water. When you come from the land of 10,000 Lakes it is difficult to put into perspective.

I found a spot that really looked good and decided to try it yesterday. Two days before which was Monday there were lots of ducks there. The 5 Mexican ducks/mallards were the only birds that were seen. The teal seem to have left for Mexico or have found other parts of the state that have more water than we do here.

Maybe next year will be better.
Al

Here is my spot that was conveniently located just 25 to 30 yards from the water. Chip was sitting next to Habi but needed to move a tad when I did. They held well when the 5 ducks flew right past us. I could almost hear my dogs saying, "Shoot, shoot!" What was fun was to bring them back for a second inspection of the area. That is when I took the pictures of them.

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Not much light because of the clouds. Very unusual to see clouds here in the morning.

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Here is my spread. The second shot will show you that I was just lucky to have any water at all. I would imagine that it has evaporated by now. A good sized tarp would cover it all easily. Having the sled there gives you an idea of the amount of water there. The other thing I noticed was the lack of food/seeds in this spot. It was all gone.

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This is my shell of choice during the early season and the regular season. If the ducks don't come within 20 to 30 yards of me I don't shoot. I have found out that it is much more fun to try and call them back for a second look if things aren't just right.
Al

Federal ammuntion's Dove Load.

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Well at least you got some good photos!
Are y'all getting any rain out of this tropical system?
 
Nice photos Al. Hope springs eternal I guess. Hard to imagine any water evaporating that fast, then again we don't ever see humidity in the single digits. Have you ever tried "fake" water? Big blue or black tarp with decoys spread out on it? Haven't tried it myself but heard it works sometimes.
 
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