Ducks and My Dearest

As the end of September brought us fall, it also brought an open season on ducks and geese. The original plan was to have Dad come up and we would sit on the pothole slough right off of the road that we hunted last year. This was the 'pintail' slough and there were close to 100 ducks on it the day before opener. As things don't always hash out the way the playbook is written, Dad had to postpone his arrival to Saturday afternoon as work had piled up and he needed a night at home and some time to catch-up on paperwork. No matter, but I was not about to hunt the magic slough without him so I went to the drawing board. The only option that kept popping back into my head was Cottonwood where I had seen plenty of birds this spring and summer. With the water being WAY down, it would be a quick walk in and hopefully a productive morning.


I got out to the lake a little before dawn, and with it being public land, I was greeted by a hoard of trucks in the parking lot....


OK, so many not. I had not anticipated, I had the entire lake to myself.


There were about 30-40 ducks within eye sight in the menagerie of water pockets when we arrived. When we started our walk, they flushed up and out. Mocha and I made our jaunt to our spot, I dropped out decoys, and we waited for the ducks to start pouring back in.

I had low expectations going into this spot, but I knew there would be a few birds. The teal kept Mocha and I more than busy for the rest of the morning. It was by no means constant, but it keep us on our toes! I did shoot a shoveler that decoyed about as perfectly as they can, and I have no regrets in doing so, regardless of their 'shit-duck' status. There were plenty of big ducks on the lake, but for whatever reason, I really struggled to get then to work our set. I wanted something other than a teal, but that is a great problem to have. My last hoorah for the morning was flurried flock of teal that can in out of thin air, and were feet down inside of our decoy spread. I dropped the first one just at the water, the second 20 feet off of the water, and my itchy trigger finger decided to drop a third on the outside of the spread, dropping him in the grass to my right. I have never tripled on anything, and I was able to pull it off on some blistering teal.


After Mocha systematically piled all of the birds in one spot, she would go back and bring back one at a time until I had all three in hand. At this point I figured I should buckle down and wait for a big duck....A quick bird count told a different story. I was done for the day on my triple. The bonus teal thing is fantastic!

A quick pull of the dekes, and we had concluded the 2016 Duck Opener. This was not my original plan, but a decent Plan-B regardless.






Now, there is something more amazing about this day other than another duck opener. September 24th marked our 5th wedding anniversary. Now I could go into the fact that I duck hunted; on our 5th anniversary; without Rachel, but that makes me sound like a horrible person! Instead I will mention that Rachel has been my rock since Day-1. Not only was she fine with me going hunting in the morning, she encouraged it. I have lesson issues balancing the hunt/fish/life balance these days, and Rachel makes all of the difference in the world. We have had a GREAT 5 years, and we are just getting started. We took a trip to the Dells in honor of our anniversary, and the day before we finally we able to get our puppy. I wouldn't trade the life I have with Rachel for anything. We feed off of each other, and we make a great team. I find it is the simple things in life that I enjoy the most with Rachel, like having a quiet evening at home, or perusing flea markets. We are however, enjoying the insanity and new adventure that is Tallulah.

After my morning duck shoot, I was home for the rest of the day to celebrate the day. Rachel made another flawless batch of chicken noodle soup, and Dad came through and brought some Panara bread for the Mrs. We spent the rest of the evening having good conversation, and the occasional play or cuddles with the new pup. I must say, it is going to take a long time for Mocha to get used to this tyrant mutt that has invaded her space!




To my Dearest Rachel:


I will always love you, happy 5th anniversary, and I hope you can stick with me for many more duck openers!!!

Stay Tuned