Happy Sunday, all! This weekend was such a fun one in terms of hunting. Saturday morning was chilly and beautiful, and, despite a slow start, turned out to be a great hunt for everyone. There were definitely a lot of firsts. There were 3 others with us who had never been hunting, and it was a great experience for them. We all bundled up and headed out, separating between two ponds. Like I mentioned, the morning started off pretty slow in our pond, but the other blind ended up knocking down 4 teal by about 8:30. Not too shabby for 3 newbies! I know it was such a good feeling for each of them to come away with some birds. On the other hand, we only had 1 blue bill by then, and I had yet to pull the trigger. I guess that’s why they call it hunting! My trigger finger was getting antsy, so I wasn’t quite ready to call it a morning. Luckily, several big flights of ducks came over around 8:45, and we had our opportunity to get in some good shooting. Prine, pictured here, is only about 7 months old, so we have been trying to get him as much hunting experience as possible to keep up his training. Yesterday morning was no exception, and he really impressed us. I knocked down a duck that landed about 65 yards away, and, with a little direction, Prine made a great retrieve. And, what do you know? It was my first red head! Even though it was a hen, I was super excited.

After the hunt, we walked over to another pond that is never shot, but instead used as a reserve for the ducks. It is such a beautiful setting, and is a great sanctuary for them. And let me tell you- there is no shortage of ducks over there, as you can see below! I could stand there all day and watch them, listening to the different sounds of the different ducks. From whistling widgeon to quacking mallards, its an amazing sight and a treat for the ears, whether you hunt or not!

Such a pretty sunrise

Hidden in the phragmite

Prine pup

Hen red head

Old duck blind

Look at them all