Two magic moments---

Al Hansen

Al Hansen

Well-known member
Back in 2002/2003, which was my last year of teaching, I happened to be blessed with a great boss who understood my disease/addiction to duck hunting. When I would come to school for the day, my truck was packed with all the necessary ingredients to go on a duck hunt right after the kids left at the end of the day. Frank always told me to not take advantage of this privilege so I would only go 3 times a week. It took me exactly 46 minutes if I drove 80mph on I-25 south and from the exit if I didn't slow down on the gravel then dirt roads, it was my fault.

I had found a spot where the water was coming into a huge pasture like area not too far from the low flow channel and the mallards were loving it. I carried 7 decoys and then would hunker down waiting for them to come in. I was darn lucky because I had 50 minutes to hunt.

On this one particular evening as I stood by the tree I had a flock of at least 75 pintails fly by. As I checked them out I could see only 1 hen in this huge group. What a display of beauty. I got on my call and by golly they made a huge 360 and as they came in, whiffling like only pintails can, I watched these beautiful puddlers get almost to the point of committing to land but then make a decision to fly on. My gosh I could not believe the sounds that came from their wings along with their PEEP calls they made. As they did, they flew right over me with the setting sun gleaming off of their white breasts. I was so wrapped up in that moment with what I was looking at that I forgot to shoulder my Browning A-5.

I'll never forget that day because it was one of the most exciting times I have ever had while duck hunting! In my lifetime of hunting most of my memories are of times when I never came home with anything yet had the most wonderful hunt. Not only was this true for water-fowling but in my 8 years of big game hunting in Alaska.

This is the picture that reminded me of that day.

Closest decoy at 15 yards and those full body dekes in the background were at 35 yards.

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I have been hunting the Rio Grande for years and in all of that time I have only had two flocks of pintails come by me within shooting distance. Both flocks came by on the same day. The first flock that buzzed my spread, I took out a Scotch double. This was the first year that we were allowed to shoot two pintails.

I'll bet that not 15 minutes went by when the second flock flew by heading up stream. I got on my call and persuaded them to come by for a good look. My little point in shoot was in my hands and I was ready.
Al

Chili had fun, also.

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Al, great story & pics.
You are only one up on me. I've only ever seen one big flock of pintails here on Mobile Bay, and that was after I had killed my one bird for the day.
A flock of about 15 came right over the boat, in clear daylight, beautiful sight.
It was the only day I can remember where me & my partner both killed drake pintails and could have killed more.
Usually if we see one or two per season we talk about it until the next year!
 
Beautiful shots as always. I wish I could one up you, but as you know from your days in Minn pintails are hard to come by. Probably haven't shot more than a handful in fifty plus years of hunting. Just don't see any mature birds in our area.
 
Great story Al. Pintails are my favorite bird to hunt. We don't get a ton of them here in Jersey, but we get enough that you can get a few every year if you pursue them. They are also my favorite table bird. I only got to hunt a few times this year, but on one of the trips I did manage to bring in a flock of around 15 and got a double on two nice sprig, which was a first for me. And it is a fine hunting day out here anytime you get a brace of pintails.


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Good morning, Al~

Wonderful story - about an exceptional species. I have not shot at a Pintail in many years - almost 20 now ? When I lived on Long Island, I would get an opportunity once or twice per season. Almost every time I went to pieces and had trouble focusing on the task at hand as they would drop down from on high as only they seem to do.

Their grace and beauty never ceases to astound me - and Pintails will always be one of my favorites to carve and paint.

All the best,

SJS
 
Al,
A great story thanks for sharing.....a couple things come to mind.
It's not surprising that for many of us duck hunters that our best memory has nothing to do with our bag limit. The wildlife scenes in the marsh, including the waterfowl we pursue, have a way of leaving imprints on our memory.
My second thought is how we've changed. You would not be able to bring a gun on school grounds in our current social mess. As a HS student in Michigan in the late 60's, I would have my shotgun or rifle in the car to also head out after school chasing game.

I'm blessed with great memories, now if I could only remember why I came down to the basement!

Steve
 
Hey Carl, I'm just glad you had that opportunity to shoot even though it was just one of them that could be in your bag limit. Those gorgeous bull sprigs have a way of making one's duck hunting day very complete when going home.
Al
 
Oh, Fred, it sure looks like you had some moments darn near like being in Heaven. What a great day to be hunting ducks! I love the fact that you had some hens. That made me feel better. I always seem to connect with them easier than shooting at a drake.
Glad to see you doing so well this past season.
Al
 
I fully understand what you said, Jim. I, can remember being out in those western Minnesota potholes and looking at so many of those "brown" ducks when our season opened. Saying that, I think you should try shooting pintails in Alaska when the season opens on Sept. 1st. Now that is a real challenge!
Al
 
Glad you enjoyed the story, Greg. I'll bet your were thrilled with that day when you took a double on the pintail drakes. That is one for the memory bank that will bring smiles for decades to come.
Al
 
Hi Steve---When you said this, "Their grace and beauty never ceases to astound me - and Pintails will always be one of my favorites to carve and paint." I wholeheartedly agree. I am glad you liked the story.

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We are so lucky that this specie has made a comeback in numbers that we are now allowed 2 within our bag limits. When I moved down here I have had guys tell me about the point system back in the 80s. Since they were a 10 point duck, some of my friends had hunts beyond my imagination and would come home with 10 drake pintails.
Al
 
Thanks so much, Steve. I sure enjoyed reading what you had to say. We are lucky that we were part of that group who could make a wild dash for the car in the high school parking lot (for us it was on the street side) when school was over so that we could get out into the countryside to hunt.

Steve, I have talked about this before. When I flew to Cordova, AK to give the local basketball referees their test to certify them, I was walking down the high school hallways when the dismissal bell rang. Well, the basketball coach and I stepped aside to watch the mass exodus. The one kid that caught my eye was a boy who ran to his locker, grabbed his cased shotgun and bolted out the door. He only had to drive a few miles to where there were thousands of ducks and geese. Oh, he had a motorcycle! I think this was around 1971 or so.

Glad to know that someone else forgets why they went somewhere!
Al
 
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The one kid that caught my eye was a boy who ran to his locker, grabbed his cased shotgun and bolted out the door. He only had to drive a few miles to where there were thousands of ducks and geese.
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Can you imagine the chaos that would erupt if that happened in the lower 48 these days????

Back when I was in high school, 82-86, we used to keep our rifles/shotguns & field clothes in the trunk of the car/behind the truck seat all the time at school. If you didn't have a small pocket knife with you 24/7, you were the odd kid. Teachers would ask to borrow them. No one saw them as weapons, pocket knives were tools.

One year, I even left my pack full of traps & gear on the bus so the driver could let me off at the marsh a few miles from the house after school so I could set my muskrat & mink line before dark. Don't see that happening anymore either....
 
Al-how the heck do you get such beautiful pictures!? You know they say that mallards are so fantastically colored, and they are, but that pintail drake rates right up there at the top. I think of some of the other dralkes:bull cans, red heads, widgeons, and even shovelers, what magnificent birds.

On the other note, I remember having guns, cloths, and all our gear in our cars in the school parking lot from the start to the end of the season. Heck, most of our teachers did to. Many wild, high speed runs after the bell to get to our "honey hole".
 
Makes for some memorable moments, Carl. Thanks for that info on what you were able to do.

Back in the 80s I walked towards a high school in a small town adjacent to Oshkosh, WI. One of the students was carrying his sturgeon spear that he made in shop class to his truck. The spear season was fast approaching and he was one proud young man who could hardly wait to try it out.

Too bad those "old" days aren't still with us.
Al
 
Thanks, Jim. I think that is one of the perks of hunting waterfowl, especially towards the end of the season. Like some of the guys have mentioned already on this thread, just to be able to take one mature drake during the season would make most hunters' highlight reels. Mine for sure.
Al

PS
You mentioned something that I can sure relate with and that was all of the teachers that we had in Junior and senior high school who loved to hunt as much as we did. Yes, and we used to compare notes. Two teachers I remember well who were hunters were the basketball coach and the typing instructor. They would be asking us in class how we were doing and then of course wondering what farmer's harvested corn field was being used by the mallards.
 
I am reminded of a toast given often by a much older hunting companion who is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge now. " Here's to us and them like us, damn few left". Those two teachers and the doc were all good men. BTW Jim Karcher died a while back and his daughter is running the Independent now.
 
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