And long read...

As has been my modus operandi - I seem to have a knack for getting army buddies to get their hunting licences and come out waterfowling with me.

Not sure if its because I never stop talking about it and they get their licences just to shut me up - or if its because they never had anyone to go with and I am willing to walk them through the steps to come out hunting with me.

Either way, the hunt:

We got to the water with plenty of time to spare - and unlike most of my other army buddies - this guy moves faster than even I do for getting the boat ready. Before I had my waders on Ryan had my spare set of waders on, boat unstrapped, and goose decoys in the boat and was walking to the ramp to light it up for me.

After a slow boat ride the day before - I allotted an extra 20 mins to get to the blind but with a lighter decoy spread than yesterday - we hit 20mph in the boat with a tailwind and flew rather quickly to the blind.
We setup a small 12 decoy spread with the wind to our backs - the 'perfect' spot to be and before I knew it - all that was left to be done was wait for legal.... 66 minutes from now!! Needless to say - I overestimated the time it would take us to setup.

With legal drawing upon us - we listened to an ATV roll up 400yds away and start throwing decoys in the water - and aimed directly at us. I shone my spotlight at them to let them know where we were - they weren’t phased and I could hear them talking amongst themselves that we would be 'out of range' if they started shooting at birds in our direction =) sure...

Well, they never got the opportunity...nor did we. We watched all of 6 birds fly above us at 70 yds and they wanted nothing to do with us.... this of course at the same time the sky started to open up and rain started coming down rather heavily. 2 hours after legal I went for a walk to see where birds were - I saw next to nothing in areas that usually hold 20-30 birds... I was thinking that this hunt was going to be a bust. Not something I wanted to have since I felt pressure to get Ryan some trigger time for his first ever hunt.

Walking back to the blind - Ryan heard me unloading and grabbed stuff from the blind and came to the boat to see what the plan was.

The plan was simple - drive around - find the birds - setup where they want to be.

We did just that - not 1mile from where we had setup I put 40ish birds up and thought 'yeah, this looks promising'

We quickly drove the boat into a hide, threw out 12 decoys and waited for a few to come back.

We hadn’t heard more than 7 shots all day.... we knew it wasn't likely those birds would all come back but maybe, just MAYBE a bird or two would present itself for a chance to harvest it.

Well wouldn’t you know it....20 minutes later I was telling Ryan to take his shot at a lone Mallard Drake at 40 yds - *boom*boom* it goes down!

And without telling him he rushes out to chase it down - a wing shot. This mallard is MOVING! I ran to the boat to cut it off as I watched Ryan slug it out in the marsh for easily 200yds after this bird - the mallard getting ever so close to the marsh weeds and to be lost forever - once I managed to get the boat out of the mud I motored in front of it a mere 15yds from the marsh and of course, it dives. 3 minutes later I hear a *woosh* like someone clearing their nostrils after coming out of a pool. 20 yds in front of me - in line with Ryan - I see a little green head and yellow bill looking right at me...that’s it! He was covered in weeds and I had no shot. Ryan, who at this point has travelled 300+ yds in the marsh, is exhausted but as I moved the boat - a shot presented itself to him. He took it - and put his hands on his first ever mallard! FIRST BIRD!! And he was a beauty!

I was so relieved - I felt a lot of pressure to get Ryan some action - I didn’t want his first outing to be a bust - after all the work he's done to get his licence, and the investment he made to come out with me this season. It was a sigh of relief from both of us and the mood took a much lighter note.

High fives, laughs, and getting Ryan in the boat later - we headed back to the blind and waited for more to show up.

And they did!

I snapped a young Mallard Drake that came into 20 yds and I told Ryan - 'on your left - shoot it before it lands!'

He replied with 'Where?'

BOOM - I had to take the shot to avoid letting it land. I didn’t feel too bad for taking an opportunity away from Ryan - nor did he - he reminded me that since he had his bird - I no longer had to wait for him to take the first shot.


Fair enough.

We sat around and I told him it was our final 15 minutes in the blind when a group of Wigeon started to circle the spread at 100 yds...than 80 yds....than 60 yds....than 50... at 50 you could see the leader of the group heading off to another location. I heard a click, and followed faster than I could say 'NO' - BOOM - Ryan shoots....

I was going to give him a blast of crap but before I could say anything - The lead bird drops and I kid you not - this thing was probably more than +60yds away.

He goes running after it to finish it off - another wing shot. I grab the boat and watch yet another +300yd walk in the marsh to get the wounded Wigeon. I heard 5 shots ring out to kill it on the water and they missed each time - mostly because of the water depth and the wigeon was sitting quite low on the water.

I rolled up in the boat and at 20yds I finished it off well before it hit the marsh grass it was aimed for.

First hunt, Ryan manages to get 1 Drake Mallard and 1 Drake Wigeon.

3 shots to drop 2 birds to the water. Not too bad in my books.

And yes - I did end up giving him a blast of crap for shooting at birds over 60 yds away. Lucky shot for sure. But for a first outing, with my old 870 Pump with the new camo job - The 870 saw another persons first birds =)

Ryan and I had a lot of fun on the hunt - I look forward to taking him out again.

Pics of the fun:

Good Job!

You ever think about writing for an outdoor magazine? Awesome story. Very in-depth.

I enjoyed that as well!


36 PD EFI FPR 18x48 Stick Steer
27 PD FPR 16x36 Skiff

Good stuff buzz.. He'll never forget that.

Good stuff buzz.. He'll never forget that.

Good stuff buzz.. He'll never forget that.

hmm.. not sure why it just posted that 3 times

Lol

I just try to put you guys in the hunt. I find it an easier read if I write it that way too =)

Rite on buzz, that's awesome man.

If you can take some photos too and submit these types of stories, yes, I can see them getting published.

Awesome story!!

Thanks fellas

Maybe I'll look into that =)

Appreciate the feedback