[Note: This post was supposed to go up last Friday, but was delayed due to some epic technical issues… All fixed, now!]
This weekend. This weekend marks the end of duck season. And what a duck season it has been! I have two hunts, maybe three left, and plan on getting the goody out of each one! We had some slow times thanks to an (unusually) balmy winter, but right into January the cold weather finally arrived. My next two hunts were in some chilly, chilly weather, and they were… Awesome.
It was strange to go from hunting in only cotton T-shirt to needing just about every layer I own, but that’s South Carolina for you, right? My dad, a family friend, and I hunted on what is certainly the chilliest day we’ve had so far. Typically, on super cold mornings it takes me a few minutes to really get my groove going. There is something about having more than one pair of gloves on and constantly trying to warm up your fingers that just inhibits you’re shooting abilities.
So. Many. Layers.
But, for some reason, I was just on it this morning. Maybe it was my body’s subconscious way of telling me, “hey! It’s cold outside! Let’s do what we can to get back to that hot pot of coffee and some warm biscuits and gravy,” but within 15 minutes of legal shooting time, I had 4 ducks on the water (including an almost fully-plumed drake shoveler) and had fired my gun exactly 4 times. Heyyyy now!
I will admit to being a decent shot, but that almost never happens (particularly early on a cold morning). The hunt may have started off pretty fast and furious, but it slowed down quick enough and we were left to huddle in our layers to try and keep warm. A handful of more ducks came in, and in my next two shots I knocked down one more. After another hour or two, things really hadn’t picked up, but the temperature has definitely dropped. We had to make a decision: try and eke out one or two more birds, or save our fingers head on in. We decided on the latter.
3 ring necks, 2 mallards, and 1 shoveler
The following week maintained it’s colder temperatures, but giving us a slight reprieve from the really really icy winds. Don’t get me wrong, it was still below freezing and there was ice on the duck blind, but it wasn’t that freeze-you-to-your-core-do-I-have-frostbite-yet kind of cold. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as “on” as the previous week, but we still had a great hunt.
Towards the end of the season, ducks always become incredibly wary – flying close to the blind is a rarity. We had to take a few long shots and really make them count! On one pass in particular, a drake bluebill decided to swing a little too close to our decoys…
Success! This was actually my first bluebill of the season. Last year brought a nice handful throughout my hunts, but not this year! It was nice to have another semi-mixed bag, to say the least: 4 mallards, a ring neck, and ol’ Mr. Bluebill.
I’ll take that kind of hunt any day of the week!
Just 3 hunts to go until we’ve wrapped up the 2015 -2 106 duck season. And then?
The video.