Al Hansen
Well-known member
It has been quite a while since I have had an opener such as the one I witnessed on Monday morning. I got to my spot with plenty of time to spare, just because it has been a long time since I have dared to wade out into the Rio Grande to set up my decoys. It has been at least 2 or 3 years ago that I had tossed a few decoys out in a small stream of water which back then was still called the Rio Grande. I walked out on the sand to the edge of where the water was flowng and tossed some decoys without keels, a few of my teal decoys and or my Herter's #72 decoys that I think are some of my best all around decoys for getting the job done right. When I think about the river I guess now it has to be at least 6 or 7 years ago that I opened on the Rio Grande.
What made this all so uniquely different is that on Sunday, the 27th I was there when the river was flowing at around 300cfs. Chip was having fun running around out there and also giving me clues as to what to expect from the sand river bottom he was walking/running on. I knew exactly what direction I needed to go to head for that sand island where I wanted my decoy spread to be.
When I arrived on the 28th, Monday morning, the very first thing I noticed was that the sand bar I wanted to walk towards was now gone. The rising waters covered it up. So I got in my Mule and with headlights on and pointed it in the direction I needed to set up in. By the way, that seemed to have worked. I felt even better after my decoys were out there and I was finally back in my blind with Chip.
I need to mention this now. I hold with great respect, the river that I hunt. It is filled with spots that will test the most respected duck hunters around. Some of them are the deposits of clay based soils that when stepped on you begin sinking while all the time wondering if there is a bottom in the spot that you might reach. At my age, each step is critical so I carry my walking stick in one hand and pull my decoy sled with the other. I like quartering when I am wading in stronger currents and know exactly when to stop walking any further just because of the erratic behavior of the Rio Grande. So, when I had my 6 decoys spread out the way I wanted them to look, I turned around and headed for the lights on the Mule. As I approached the shore I placed my last decoy in a sheltered spot and that was my Higdon Flasher. It is the only motion decoy that I have ever owned that has passed the ultimate test. That test being this; not once so far have I ever seen a flock of sandhill cranes and or flocks of light geese flying overhead that have flared because of the motion decoy. Years ago I found out that motion wing devices were not doing the job just because it made these birds give such a wide berth to a decoy spread. When motion wing decoys were given the option for the hunter to turn on and off the decoy so as to not make these birds flare, I tried that also. That became a pain in the you know what. I have seen some new feeding decoys that float in the water and know some duck hunters who have given them a nod of approval. My only problem with that is saying that I really need that $250.00 decoy in my spread. I would much rather save that money and give it to my wife so she could buy some more paints and canvas for her art studio.
As for the opener all I could do was sit and listen more than watch because these older eyes don't see like I used to just 20 years ago. Two minutes into the season I heard their wings and listened to the calls of a small group of wood ducks that flew right past my nose. I was looking south for north bound flyers when these pesky bundles of sheer delight woke me up flying south bound. I did kind of see them---
3 minutes later a pair of woodies flew right by me again heading south. I never raised my shotgun. I quickly saw that I had a pair of ducks coming in from the north and without hesitation I drew a bead on the leader and both ducks dropped dead. The 3" #6 shot worked well. These guys dropped more into the current than I cared for them to do and Chip was out after the first one he came to. He then tried to scoop up the other but that didn't work. It was then that I began to fret. It was this particular scene that made me use two dogs when I hunted the river and I had forgotten it until this moment. Chip is a good retriever but not like Chili or Pepper that worked earlier with me. To my disgust I found out how quickly I was running out of steam when I tried to hustle around the bend and by that time that dead duck was a long ways out and Chip never did get to it. So I had two birds dead with only one to show for it. As far as I am concerned I had 2 of my 6 duck limit.
It was about 7:15 when I sat down in my chair again. In a split second a flock of widgeons came in from the north. They had wings cupped but cut it short and headed back north. I gave a couple of calls and they turned around and with reckless abandonment came right into my side of the blocks. I took out two of them and Chip was hauling butt to get out there. One had some kick left and he took that one first. When he scaled the 4 foot bank and dropped that duck, I headed around the trail to the south to intercept that dead duck. Chip spotted the duck immediately and in no time was back with it.
I looked at my 3 ducks and smiled but only briefly because I hate to lose cripples. It was my ignorance in not paying attention to the drop zone---my way of wanting to put down ducks in a certain area if possible. Hey, maybe I can blame it on this being my first hunt of the year. Back in September the ponds I normally hunt teal at were bone dry so I didn't hunt. The other thing that bothered me was the addition of water that changed my hunting here. Just the day before this area looked like a back water spot on the river with hardly any current at all and now with the addition of maybe 4 to 5 inches of water, things changed quite a bit.
It was quite the morning for me and I was thinking about how darn lucky I was to be here on the opener. Right about then another flock came whistling by and I gave a few lonesome hen quacks. I thought this small flock would fly right by about 25 yards out for some perfect shooting but that didn't happen. They decided to land just down stream from me, so I took a picture of them instead. When they finally got up they headed straight west and then swung to the south most likely heading for Bosque del Apache NWR.
I kept on checking my phone for the time because I knew I had to start packing up to go home by 8:30. Bev had a PT session to attend at the clinic and I promised I would not be late. I took a swig of water, set the bottle down and grabbed my Nova while looking straight west when another good sized flock of widgeons showed up. They were a bit too high for me to consider shooting at so I let them fly out and make their turn. That is when they came in a bit better for me and I squeezed off a shot at a nice single bird that by rights should have flopped dead on the ground behind the blind. I knew I hit him but it was one of the ugly shots where you know the hit made an impact but for the longest time as it flew away with the rest of the flock it almost made me think that I missed it. Well, I didn't because he began that death sail with wings set and slowly loosing altitude as he was now on the west side of the river. Then I watched him drop out of sight and into an area that I couldn't get to. The only way I could try to console myself was knowing in this area, there are a lot of coyotes and one or more of them would sniff it out for sure.
That happened to be my 5th duck shot for the opener. It was now a little past 8:00AM and I continued to look for ducks coming out of the north. For the most part that seemed where all my action was coming from. Then I saw another pair of wood ducks fly by not 10 yards from me and all I did was recognize the fact that. "Hey there are two wood ducks!" However there was something good that happened. Not 10 seconds later a lone bluewing teal followed the wood duck's path and this time I put it down. Chip made a nice retrieve and I don't think he was much more than 10 feet away from the shoreline. I grabbed my camera and took a few shots of him.
It was 65 years ago in October that I shot my first duck in western Minnesota which happened to be a bluewing teal. Little did I know back then as a 13 year old kid in 1954, what kind of duck hunts I would be on in my lifetime of hunting them. And to celebrate this 65th year since I shot my first duck, I put down another bluewing teal. This time I did something different which I have always done ever since knowing if what I shot was a bluewing and or a cinnamon teal. My biologist friend, Tim, told me to look at the bird's eye. If it is dark brown, the teal is a bluewing. If they have a red eye it is a cinnamon teal. Later on in the season when the cinnamon begin to change color in their plumage, it is so beautiful you can't help but notice it. But in September and October they seem to look all alike down here.
I shot 6 ducks on the opener with some really bad shooting. Next time I will make sure that I am shooting at just one duck at a time. Soon I will bring Sonora along with Chip and let him teach her a little of what to do. I ended up the first day with 1 spoonbill, 2 widgeons and a bluewing teal. Now all I have to do is figure out when I can go on another hunt. If I had only 4 ducks on the strap I would have stayed right until 8:30 when I needed to break camp. But since I lost two ducks, to me they made up part of my limit and I quit hunting. I have done this for some time now. When I was younger I did not do this but have changed as I grew older.
Al
I consider duck hunting one of the most wonderful gifts a person could ever be given. Once in your hands, it is up to each of us to take proper care and respect that this type of hunt allows us to have. Enjoy your next hunt!
I almost forgot what I did when I got home. I tossed one of the widgeons for Rico. I wanted to see what he would do. Well, he really impressed me with this being the first time he ever saw a duck. He even brought it back to me and put it in my outstretched hand. Good Boy, Rico!
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What made this all so uniquely different is that on Sunday, the 27th I was there when the river was flowing at around 300cfs. Chip was having fun running around out there and also giving me clues as to what to expect from the sand river bottom he was walking/running on. I knew exactly what direction I needed to go to head for that sand island where I wanted my decoy spread to be.
When I arrived on the 28th, Monday morning, the very first thing I noticed was that the sand bar I wanted to walk towards was now gone. The rising waters covered it up. So I got in my Mule and with headlights on and pointed it in the direction I needed to set up in. By the way, that seemed to have worked. I felt even better after my decoys were out there and I was finally back in my blind with Chip.
I need to mention this now. I hold with great respect, the river that I hunt. It is filled with spots that will test the most respected duck hunters around. Some of them are the deposits of clay based soils that when stepped on you begin sinking while all the time wondering if there is a bottom in the spot that you might reach. At my age, each step is critical so I carry my walking stick in one hand and pull my decoy sled with the other. I like quartering when I am wading in stronger currents and know exactly when to stop walking any further just because of the erratic behavior of the Rio Grande. So, when I had my 6 decoys spread out the way I wanted them to look, I turned around and headed for the lights on the Mule. As I approached the shore I placed my last decoy in a sheltered spot and that was my Higdon Flasher. It is the only motion decoy that I have ever owned that has passed the ultimate test. That test being this; not once so far have I ever seen a flock of sandhill cranes and or flocks of light geese flying overhead that have flared because of the motion decoy. Years ago I found out that motion wing devices were not doing the job just because it made these birds give such a wide berth to a decoy spread. When motion wing decoys were given the option for the hunter to turn on and off the decoy so as to not make these birds flare, I tried that also. That became a pain in the you know what. I have seen some new feeding decoys that float in the water and know some duck hunters who have given them a nod of approval. My only problem with that is saying that I really need that $250.00 decoy in my spread. I would much rather save that money and give it to my wife so she could buy some more paints and canvas for her art studio.
As for the opener all I could do was sit and listen more than watch because these older eyes don't see like I used to just 20 years ago. Two minutes into the season I heard their wings and listened to the calls of a small group of wood ducks that flew right past my nose. I was looking south for north bound flyers when these pesky bundles of sheer delight woke me up flying south bound. I did kind of see them---
3 minutes later a pair of woodies flew right by me again heading south. I never raised my shotgun. I quickly saw that I had a pair of ducks coming in from the north and without hesitation I drew a bead on the leader and both ducks dropped dead. The 3" #6 shot worked well. These guys dropped more into the current than I cared for them to do and Chip was out after the first one he came to. He then tried to scoop up the other but that didn't work. It was then that I began to fret. It was this particular scene that made me use two dogs when I hunted the river and I had forgotten it until this moment. Chip is a good retriever but not like Chili or Pepper that worked earlier with me. To my disgust I found out how quickly I was running out of steam when I tried to hustle around the bend and by that time that dead duck was a long ways out and Chip never did get to it. So I had two birds dead with only one to show for it. As far as I am concerned I had 2 of my 6 duck limit.
It was about 7:15 when I sat down in my chair again. In a split second a flock of widgeons came in from the north. They had wings cupped but cut it short and headed back north. I gave a couple of calls and they turned around and with reckless abandonment came right into my side of the blocks. I took out two of them and Chip was hauling butt to get out there. One had some kick left and he took that one first. When he scaled the 4 foot bank and dropped that duck, I headed around the trail to the south to intercept that dead duck. Chip spotted the duck immediately and in no time was back with it.
I looked at my 3 ducks and smiled but only briefly because I hate to lose cripples. It was my ignorance in not paying attention to the drop zone---my way of wanting to put down ducks in a certain area if possible. Hey, maybe I can blame it on this being my first hunt of the year. Back in September the ponds I normally hunt teal at were bone dry so I didn't hunt. The other thing that bothered me was the addition of water that changed my hunting here. Just the day before this area looked like a back water spot on the river with hardly any current at all and now with the addition of maybe 4 to 5 inches of water, things changed quite a bit.
It was quite the morning for me and I was thinking about how darn lucky I was to be here on the opener. Right about then another flock came whistling by and I gave a few lonesome hen quacks. I thought this small flock would fly right by about 25 yards out for some perfect shooting but that didn't happen. They decided to land just down stream from me, so I took a picture of them instead. When they finally got up they headed straight west and then swung to the south most likely heading for Bosque del Apache NWR.
I kept on checking my phone for the time because I knew I had to start packing up to go home by 8:30. Bev had a PT session to attend at the clinic and I promised I would not be late. I took a swig of water, set the bottle down and grabbed my Nova while looking straight west when another good sized flock of widgeons showed up. They were a bit too high for me to consider shooting at so I let them fly out and make their turn. That is when they came in a bit better for me and I squeezed off a shot at a nice single bird that by rights should have flopped dead on the ground behind the blind. I knew I hit him but it was one of the ugly shots where you know the hit made an impact but for the longest time as it flew away with the rest of the flock it almost made me think that I missed it. Well, I didn't because he began that death sail with wings set and slowly loosing altitude as he was now on the west side of the river. Then I watched him drop out of sight and into an area that I couldn't get to. The only way I could try to console myself was knowing in this area, there are a lot of coyotes and one or more of them would sniff it out for sure.
That happened to be my 5th duck shot for the opener. It was now a little past 8:00AM and I continued to look for ducks coming out of the north. For the most part that seemed where all my action was coming from. Then I saw another pair of wood ducks fly by not 10 yards from me and all I did was recognize the fact that. "Hey there are two wood ducks!" However there was something good that happened. Not 10 seconds later a lone bluewing teal followed the wood duck's path and this time I put it down. Chip made a nice retrieve and I don't think he was much more than 10 feet away from the shoreline. I grabbed my camera and took a few shots of him.
It was 65 years ago in October that I shot my first duck in western Minnesota which happened to be a bluewing teal. Little did I know back then as a 13 year old kid in 1954, what kind of duck hunts I would be on in my lifetime of hunting them. And to celebrate this 65th year since I shot my first duck, I put down another bluewing teal. This time I did something different which I have always done ever since knowing if what I shot was a bluewing and or a cinnamon teal. My biologist friend, Tim, told me to look at the bird's eye. If it is dark brown, the teal is a bluewing. If they have a red eye it is a cinnamon teal. Later on in the season when the cinnamon begin to change color in their plumage, it is so beautiful you can't help but notice it. But in September and October they seem to look all alike down here.
I shot 6 ducks on the opener with some really bad shooting. Next time I will make sure that I am shooting at just one duck at a time. Soon I will bring Sonora along with Chip and let him teach her a little of what to do. I ended up the first day with 1 spoonbill, 2 widgeons and a bluewing teal. Now all I have to do is figure out when I can go on another hunt. If I had only 4 ducks on the strap I would have stayed right until 8:30 when I needed to break camp. But since I lost two ducks, to me they made up part of my limit and I quit hunting. I have done this for some time now. When I was younger I did not do this but have changed as I grew older.
Al
I consider duck hunting one of the most wonderful gifts a person could ever be given. Once in your hands, it is up to each of us to take proper care and respect that this type of hunt allows us to have. Enjoy your next hunt!
I almost forgot what I did when I got home. I tossed one of the widgeons for Rico. I wanted to see what he would do. Well, he really impressed me with this being the first time he ever saw a duck. He even brought it back to me and put it in my outstretched hand. Good Boy, Rico!
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