Al Hansen
Well-known member
I didn't realize how busy I could be now less than 6 months from being 80! Good grief, but it is challenging which makes it exhilarating and I don't know how else to say it. I watched
half the litter of pups leave our home on Saturday and then on Sunday I saw the last of the chocolates from Jalapeno's litter go to their new homes. For a fleeting second I did think of duck hunting and where I would like to go but that didn't last long.
On Monday of this week I just laid low because I was spent---very tired and needed that down time. Well, now I just remembered that on Monday evening I brought in Cayenne, our other chocolate female who is getting that very big look of a female about to have her pups. My short rest worked wonders and Tuesday was a good day getting things together for my planned Wednesday hunt. I already knew that the pond looked like it was half the size I had remembered from my last hunt. Not only that, when I checked out the Wednesday temps I found out I could be looking at ice on the pond besides. Well, that proved to be correct.
Wednesday I pulled up with Chip at my side in the Mule. To my north I noticed headlights at the side of the chopped corn field maybe only a 1/4 mile away. Way too close for me but I continued to drive to the spot where I would toss in the decoys. I used two black ducks that broke skim ice when they hit. Both of them were only 15 feet from shore because I knew I had to use my decoy retrieving stick to get them back. I then set up my Lucky Duck on dry land looking as if it was coming in towards the two decoys. Once done with that I headed over to the north side where I planned to sit with Chip.
Putting up the blind for him was easy because he was now to my left and totally covered except for his head. It looked good to me. I sat on a folding stool with my butt off the ground no more than a foot but it was just fine because I used Chip's blind to break up my silhouette. I had a couple of wild sunflower stalks to also help me out. Other than that I sat in the wide open like I much prefer to do. I just don't move and was well camo'd including the gaiter black mask that I bought from Costco about two months ago. I was going to use that on occasion when going to town but quickly found out that I could blow out a candle with it on my face. I had heard that was a product to stay away from. I was going to return it to Costco but opted to keep it because it worked so darn well as a duck hunting mask for my face. Heck, I could use the soft quack of a hen mallard like I almost had nothing on my face.
I knew from the get go that there wasn't going to be much happening just because I never heard the whistling of wings let alone see any flights of ducks traversing the Rio Grande corridor. I guess the sun was just about to peek over the eastern horizon when I had a pair of shovelers come in. One plunked down and broke through the ice as the other flew maybe less than 50 feet, made a quick turn and came in towards the one on the pond. When he was about 3 feet above the water I shot. I still don't believe what happened. I ended up killing the bird in the water and watched the one I shot at fly away. I kept following it because Chip decided to follow that bird,also. When he broke up above the level of the pond the duck was nowhere to be seen so he came back and retrieved the one in the pond. I found that whole event very interesting. I never saw another feather anywhere other than hundreds of sandhill cranes heading for the chopped corn field that was just to the north of me. I broke up camp, carried camo burlap and my seat up to the road and then headed for the spot that I had last seen the other spoonbill at. It was about 2 city blocks from the pond.
As we walked over that way, I kept on telling Chip, "Dead Bird" and he began doing what great upland bird dogs normally do in their sleep and that is work back and forth with their nose to the ground. All of a sudden I saw him get a whiff, yes the whiff of a duck and he barreled towards the source of it. In a thick spot of cocklebur plants he grabbed the juvenile spoonbill that was deader than a doornail. Never in my 66 years since shooting my very first duck, have I ever taken a Scotch double like this one. Holy cats! I fired one shell and got two ducks.
We got up on the trail and walked back to the Kawasaki Mule. I had two ducks and it had been a great morning. What made it so special is that I felt so darn good about making sure about that duck that I saw flying away. I never saw it fall but then again, I never saw it fly away. I just had to go investigate the area. Once again it paid off. I think I have told you more than once, I really hate losing ducks. I was darn proud of Chip and everything added up, making this a fantastic hunt. Oh, by the way, our last rain was at the end of July.
Al
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