Al Hansen
Well-known member
I was so excited about going duck hunting this morning that I was awake 40 minutes before the alarm was to ring and that was 4:00AM. Season opens at 6:10AM so with the dogs in the kennel to feed, then make my drive with the truck and trailer, unload the Mule, then finish the last 3 miles, I needed almost every minute. Life is full of challenges as you get older so I just make sure I have more time to take care of each one.
I set out one motion wing on a timer along with the Higdon Flasher so that I had a total of 11 decoys. I won't get into why I love odd numbers but I do. As soon as the season opened I had 3 big ducks come in. Just as they settled in to swim about they were joined by 2 wood ducks. I knew about where they were because I saw the splashes of water when they landed. So I decided to sit and be patient while waiting for just a little bit more light. Well, Chip, decided to do something he hasn't done in over 3 years and that was dash out to see if he could get closer to those birds swimming about. I know he could see them a lot better than I could. Well, it didn't take long for them to be gone and it was about that time that Chip came back and I decided to have a chat with him. It wasn't that kind by the fireside!
It was a bit lighter in the eastern horizon and in came a pair of what I thought were mallards but ended up being gadwalls. Chip made quick work of the two retrieves and i sat down to check out the first gadwalls I have taken this year. In fact, it was the first time I had seen any here. Normally they are always here but hadn't arrived until now. Over the southeastern side of Broken Pond, three big ducks flew by. I watched Chip intently because he was following their flight. I used about 4 soft quacks and in they came. Two of them stayed with us and Chip was busy doing his thing again. Another pair of gadwalls to be added to the strap.
The sun had risen and there was getting to be some good light when another pair of gadwalls came in. When they made a turn to come in on final, I took out the drake and grabbed my camera to try and get some pictures of Chip retrieving. It was a wonderful morning with 5 beautiful gadwalls on the strap.
I had already taken off my jacket just because it was a little too much. My down vest worked out the best, so I gathered up all the things I needed and got Chip up on the seat next to me and we headed for the truck and trailer only 3 miles away. What a great way to start out a day. It was good to see that the gadwalls had returned.
Al
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I set out one motion wing on a timer along with the Higdon Flasher so that I had a total of 11 decoys. I won't get into why I love odd numbers but I do. As soon as the season opened I had 3 big ducks come in. Just as they settled in to swim about they were joined by 2 wood ducks. I knew about where they were because I saw the splashes of water when they landed. So I decided to sit and be patient while waiting for just a little bit more light. Well, Chip, decided to do something he hasn't done in over 3 years and that was dash out to see if he could get closer to those birds swimming about. I know he could see them a lot better than I could. Well, it didn't take long for them to be gone and it was about that time that Chip came back and I decided to have a chat with him. It wasn't that kind by the fireside!
It was a bit lighter in the eastern horizon and in came a pair of what I thought were mallards but ended up being gadwalls. Chip made quick work of the two retrieves and i sat down to check out the first gadwalls I have taken this year. In fact, it was the first time I had seen any here. Normally they are always here but hadn't arrived until now. Over the southeastern side of Broken Pond, three big ducks flew by. I watched Chip intently because he was following their flight. I used about 4 soft quacks and in they came. Two of them stayed with us and Chip was busy doing his thing again. Another pair of gadwalls to be added to the strap.
The sun had risen and there was getting to be some good light when another pair of gadwalls came in. When they made a turn to come in on final, I took out the drake and grabbed my camera to try and get some pictures of Chip retrieving. It was a wonderful morning with 5 beautiful gadwalls on the strap.
I had already taken off my jacket just because it was a little too much. My down vest worked out the best, so I gathered up all the things I needed and got Chip up on the seat next to me and we headed for the truck and trailer only 3 miles away. What a great way to start out a day. It was good to see that the gadwalls had returned.
Al
View attachment _MG_9436.JPG
View attachment _MG_9437.JPG
View attachment _MG_9438.JPG
View attachment _MG_9439.JPG
View attachment _MG_9441.JPG
View attachment _MG_9445.JPG
View attachment _MG_9448.JPG