Cheech Kehoe
Active member
This has been a good year. We moved to Kansas in July from Burlington, Vermont and I was pretty worried that I wouldn't know where to go or be able to get my boys out hunting. Miles 11 and Brooks 9 have been hunting with me for several years now and this was going to be their first year shooting. I have a Winchester 1400 20 Gauge that I bought as a kid and David Diefenderfer was kind enough to give me a youth stock for it some years ago. I picked up a shorter barrel with a Modified choke and the kids have been shooting it for a couple years.
We took the boat out just after first light on a good size reservoir named Lake Perry. I had heard there were several hundred Godeneyes on the lake and I thought we might have some luck. I had scouted a good spot for that days wind and we put out 2 lines of 6 Goldeneye decoys each with a 10 yard hole in the middle. Considering I had the 2 boys and myself I wanted to keep it as simple and safe as possible. Miles is the older and more experienced boy so he was going to get the first try. We had only the one gun out so I could supervise the shooter and I was stationed between the 2 boys.
A few minutes after we were set up a group of Whistlers appeared upwind. I pointed them out to Miles and got ready to give it a go. 1 shell in the gun he was going to have to make it count. The Whistlers headed right to the hole and as the feet started to come down, I called the shot. Boom, and one Goldeneye Drake dead in the hole. Much congratulations all around. We motored out and picked up the bird and got the boat set up for another try.
Now it was Brooks' turn and he was just big enough so his shoulder was above the blind rail on the boat. We sat for a few minutes and talked about not shooting the decoys and how to wait for them to hit the hole when that familiar sound of wings cutting the air turned my attention to the black and white wing-beats of about 10 Goldenyes headed our way. I handed the gun to Brooks who was already standing because his head didn't stick up hardly at all. He shouldered the gun and waited to of me to call the shot...Just as the whole group was feet down I said "Take em" and the gun went BOOM. I was paying great attention to Brooks and not so much to the Ducks. All I saw was Goldeneyes hitting the water and diving. Brooks handed me the gun and I reloaded and shouldered the gun hoping to get a shot off as they sprung to the air, but as usual, they all popped up and took off outside the decoys. I looked at Brooks and said "good try, we will get them next time" and Brooks replied "what about that one floating in the middle of the hole". And there was as big a Drake Goldeney as I had ever seen. And more celebration all around. We ended up with 3 that day when miles scratched another out of a group. It was the kind of day Dads hope for and a day I will never forget.
Later in the year Miles was able to drop his first Greenhead and first Canada. Out of the 11 geese that we brought home with us that day, 4 of them had #4 bismuth, so I guess the little man was holding his own as there were 11 more that went home with the other half of the hunting party.
Thank you Eric and all those who have contributed over the years to make this the best forum I have ever seen. I hope you enjoy the pics and the story.
Lastly a special thanks to ML Bob who sent out some Awesome duck calls to the kids several years ago. Those calls have gotten a workout! Also, thanks to John Bourbon who donated some 2-3/4" Bismuth to the cause and helped both boys learn to shoot.
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We took the boat out just after first light on a good size reservoir named Lake Perry. I had heard there were several hundred Godeneyes on the lake and I thought we might have some luck. I had scouted a good spot for that days wind and we put out 2 lines of 6 Goldeneye decoys each with a 10 yard hole in the middle. Considering I had the 2 boys and myself I wanted to keep it as simple and safe as possible. Miles is the older and more experienced boy so he was going to get the first try. We had only the one gun out so I could supervise the shooter and I was stationed between the 2 boys.
A few minutes after we were set up a group of Whistlers appeared upwind. I pointed them out to Miles and got ready to give it a go. 1 shell in the gun he was going to have to make it count. The Whistlers headed right to the hole and as the feet started to come down, I called the shot. Boom, and one Goldeneye Drake dead in the hole. Much congratulations all around. We motored out and picked up the bird and got the boat set up for another try.
Now it was Brooks' turn and he was just big enough so his shoulder was above the blind rail on the boat. We sat for a few minutes and talked about not shooting the decoys and how to wait for them to hit the hole when that familiar sound of wings cutting the air turned my attention to the black and white wing-beats of about 10 Goldenyes headed our way. I handed the gun to Brooks who was already standing because his head didn't stick up hardly at all. He shouldered the gun and waited to of me to call the shot...Just as the whole group was feet down I said "Take em" and the gun went BOOM. I was paying great attention to Brooks and not so much to the Ducks. All I saw was Goldeneyes hitting the water and diving. Brooks handed me the gun and I reloaded and shouldered the gun hoping to get a shot off as they sprung to the air, but as usual, they all popped up and took off outside the decoys. I looked at Brooks and said "good try, we will get them next time" and Brooks replied "what about that one floating in the middle of the hole". And there was as big a Drake Goldeney as I had ever seen. And more celebration all around. We ended up with 3 that day when miles scratched another out of a group. It was the kind of day Dads hope for and a day I will never forget.
Later in the year Miles was able to drop his first Greenhead and first Canada. Out of the 11 geese that we brought home with us that day, 4 of them had #4 bismuth, so I guess the little man was holding his own as there were 11 more that went home with the other half of the hunting party.
Thank you Eric and all those who have contributed over the years to make this the best forum I have ever seen. I hope you enjoy the pics and the story.
Lastly a special thanks to ML Bob who sent out some Awesome duck calls to the kids several years ago. Those calls have gotten a workout! Also, thanks to John Bourbon who donated some 2-3/4" Bismuth to the cause and helped both boys learn to shoot.
View attachment IMG_9540.JPGView attachment IMG_2541.JPGView attachment IMG_1611.JPG
