Most people don’t get excited when their alarm goes off at 5 am (unless you are my dad) and they go outside to find that it is 45* and cloudy/raining. In fact, I think most would much rather jump back in their warm bed and sleep for another few hours. Not duck hunters! When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was even more excited than usual. It was one of those days I like to call “duck-y,” when the windy weather has moved in and it’s cool, extra cloudy, and looks like the sky could open up at any minute. I absolutely love the way ducks fly in the wind, even though it makes hitting shooting them a little more sporty! While the cloud cover made it too dark to see until nearly 10 minutes after legal hour, 6:47, I could hear the sound of ring necks (more scientifically, ring-necked ducks) flying all around us. Duck hunters- you know what sound I am talking about. Like a jet off in the distance, except its a duck 50 yards away. In the wind, when those ring necks set their wings and glide, they even look like little baby jets. Whether its a group of 4 or a group of 40, you can almost always hear them before you see them. Add that sound to mallards quacking, teal squealing, and a medly of other ducks squalking their breed’s signature tune, and you have yourself quite a morning symphony.

Over all, the hunt was a success. Between the 3 of us in the blind, we ended up with 6 ring necks, 3 blue bills, and 6 mallards. Not too shabby! Sorry for the lack of pictures… Between the ducks flying all around us, and the rain picking up towards the end of the hunt, my camera was hard pressed to make it out of the blind bag. Here are the few I was able to snap. Enjoy!

“Duck-y” morning view

That is one thick blanket of clouds

Part of our harvest

Ring-necked baby jets