Al Hansen
Well-known member
It seems like I have been waiting for this day for all of my life. Our duck season opened this morning at 6:52AM under severe clear skies with no wind. Down here, folks, that is called a perfect day to hunt ducks.
After Chip and I had gone to set out decoys and by the way, the magic number was 9, I checked out my blind one last time. Satisfied with what I saw, I celebrated being there by pouring a hot cup of decaf. Ever since A Fib, I'm now thankful that I can still drink coffee even if it is decaf.
While sitting there on my stool facing directly east, I started seeing ducks coming in. Chip was now on high alert and I kept on waiting for the shooting time. Already there was a drake pintail swimming around just to the south of my decoys. Finally that time in which it was now legal to shoot came. I was not disappointed at all. In came a small flock of mallards and I picked out the largest one, hoping it was a drake. I missed the first shot but nailed him on the second shell.
This season makes it 61 years ago that I was the wide eyed kid wearing a Jones duck cap and in jeans much too short but I was growing a lot. Every duck hunter back then wore the same color camo---Tan! It worked just fine.
In came another small flock of mallards and this time I shot a hen mallard. I didn't have but a minute to wait after Chip had retrieved this bird, when a flock of 20 pintails came in. This time I got lucky and dumped a good looking brown duck which quickly reminded me of what it was like shooting ducks in Alaska back in the 60s. This was one of those drakes that we see a lot of down here. They sometimes beat the bluewings down here. I am referring to the eclipse plumage drakes.
I sat there looking at my three ducks knowing how darn lucky I was just to be here for another year. Well it was that time to start frustrating Chip. I missed and missed again. It seems as if I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on a golf course. Even Chip gave a yelp, showing his displeasure.
[/URL]
The sun was getting much higher in the sky and boy was it hard to see looking into it. I had the best spot in the area but needed to put up with it. Glancing over at Chip I noticed him looking behind the blind and slowly I turned my head to catch an incoming flock of mallards. Two hens landed in the decoys and I pulled on an incoming drake. This made the fourth bird to bite the dust.
Not too much longer a pair of mallards came by looking the spread over. They made a wide circle then began to lose altitude. I noticed that the were back pedaling into the spread and took the largest duck again. Down it crashed into the millet. Chip was on it in a flash. As he came back I began saying, "Oh, no, another hen!" He came into the blind and then I began to smile when I saw its beak. This was a dandy looking drake Mexican duck.
My blind partner and I sat there maybe another 20 minutes before a half dozen big ducks came winging by. This group seemed like they had just arrived at home. There was no hesitation whatsoever. I picked out a nice drake since he was mostly due south of me. That was a fun one for me to shoot just because I could easily tell what it was. Upon getting back to the blind, I gave Chip a big hug and then checked my birds over.
It was a great way to begin this 2015/16 season. When I had tiptoed out of the bedroom, it was Bev who said, "Now don't forget to bring home some meat for the table." I am one lucky man to have her as my bride!
Al
Bev took this shot of us when we got home. That will teach me to forget my camera in the Mule. I'll blame that on first day jitters!
[/URL]
After Chip and I had gone to set out decoys and by the way, the magic number was 9, I checked out my blind one last time. Satisfied with what I saw, I celebrated being there by pouring a hot cup of decaf. Ever since A Fib, I'm now thankful that I can still drink coffee even if it is decaf.
While sitting there on my stool facing directly east, I started seeing ducks coming in. Chip was now on high alert and I kept on waiting for the shooting time. Already there was a drake pintail swimming around just to the south of my decoys. Finally that time in which it was now legal to shoot came. I was not disappointed at all. In came a small flock of mallards and I picked out the largest one, hoping it was a drake. I missed the first shot but nailed him on the second shell.
This season makes it 61 years ago that I was the wide eyed kid wearing a Jones duck cap and in jeans much too short but I was growing a lot. Every duck hunter back then wore the same color camo---Tan! It worked just fine.
In came another small flock of mallards and this time I shot a hen mallard. I didn't have but a minute to wait after Chip had retrieved this bird, when a flock of 20 pintails came in. This time I got lucky and dumped a good looking brown duck which quickly reminded me of what it was like shooting ducks in Alaska back in the 60s. This was one of those drakes that we see a lot of down here. They sometimes beat the bluewings down here. I am referring to the eclipse plumage drakes.
I sat there looking at my three ducks knowing how darn lucky I was just to be here for another year. Well it was that time to start frustrating Chip. I missed and missed again. It seems as if I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn on a golf course. Even Chip gave a yelp, showing his displeasure.
The sun was getting much higher in the sky and boy was it hard to see looking into it. I had the best spot in the area but needed to put up with it. Glancing over at Chip I noticed him looking behind the blind and slowly I turned my head to catch an incoming flock of mallards. Two hens landed in the decoys and I pulled on an incoming drake. This made the fourth bird to bite the dust.
Not too much longer a pair of mallards came by looking the spread over. They made a wide circle then began to lose altitude. I noticed that the were back pedaling into the spread and took the largest duck again. Down it crashed into the millet. Chip was on it in a flash. As he came back I began saying, "Oh, no, another hen!" He came into the blind and then I began to smile when I saw its beak. This was a dandy looking drake Mexican duck.
My blind partner and I sat there maybe another 20 minutes before a half dozen big ducks came winging by. This group seemed like they had just arrived at home. There was no hesitation whatsoever. I picked out a nice drake since he was mostly due south of me. That was a fun one for me to shoot just because I could easily tell what it was. Upon getting back to the blind, I gave Chip a big hug and then checked my birds over.
It was a great way to begin this 2015/16 season. When I had tiptoed out of the bedroom, it was Bev who said, "Now don't forget to bring home some meat for the table." I am one lucky man to have her as my bride!
Al
Bev took this shot of us when we got home. That will teach me to forget my camera in the Mule. I'll blame that on first day jitters!
