It was a great season. From freezing rain to muggy fog, from abundant ring necks to big bull canvasbacks – I’d say we had an excellent run.
What better way to go out than with a bang?
At last, the widgeon and gadwall were here. Friends, family, kids, and adults – blind bags packed and itchy trigger fingers all around – we were ready to make the most out of our last few hours in the duck blind until November.
Spread out across 4-5 ponds and fields, set up in blinds or hunkered down in the marsh grass, we all loaded up and anxiously awaited legal hour. I set up with our friend & neighbor Travis and his son Foster, and brought Esther along with us (Angus was still in school, and John had Prine). They hopped up in the blind, and I carved out a spot in the marsh grass about 15 yards away. Those new birds were working even before legal shooting time, whistling by and hovering above our decoy spread. Just like they were supposed to.
Less than a minute after legal, I glanced over my shoulder and saw a widgeon above me, just within range. I stood up, pulled the trigger, and Esther ran out to pick it up. Not a bad start, right?
Things slowed down for the next 20 minutes or so, then… Ohhhmahhhgahhhh.
Those big flights started working, and it. was. on.
Gadwall and widgeon by the dozens were coming in, circling the pond, and swinging in at perfect range. Foster stood up to shoot and knocked down a widgeon with a great shot. Esther hurried out to retrieve it, and then it was back to work. We never had more than a few minutes at a time when we didn’t have ducks in the pond or weren’t at least seeing ducks in the air. We could hear decent shooting among the other hunters and ponds, too – always a good sign!
At one point, a smaller duck zipped by me and I made a quick, reaction-instinct shot without really noticing the species. Esther took off after it as it hit the water, clearly wounded, and (4 dives, 3 shots, and a lot of swimming for Esther later) brought it back to me. I was immediately confused – it had a white belly, brown head, and black bill, along with a thick band of white speculum feathers. I hadn’t ever killed this type of duck before, I was sure.
Eventually the ducks tapered off and we decided to head in, and I hopped in the blind with Foster to take some pictures before heading out of the pond. After all, we had a pretty decent bag of gadwall, widgeon, and a mystery duck.
The exact moment that Travis & I saw the ducks above us, and he whispered “Foster. DON’T. MOVE.”
Sure enough, as soon as we quit paying attention, a big flight of widgeon appeared out of nowhere directly above our heads. Like, 40 feet over our heads. On top of us. Foster had already unloaded his gun, and Travis had my phone in his hands taking this ^ picture – his gun propped up in the blind next to me. Since I was the only one with a loaded gun in hand, I swung around and took the only shot opportunity I had.
Just like last year, my last duck of my limit on the last hunt of the season was a drake widgeon. Cotton-top for the win!
And the mystery duck (left photo, top right)? I had just about everyone back at the house telling me I’d shot a hen ruddy duck, but I was absolutely convinced in my mind that I had something different. I’ve shot plenty of ruddy ducks, and the bill and wing just didn’t match up to what I’d seen before. Finally, a buddy’s buddy was able to ID it.
A hen goldeneye! Not only had I never killed one, I’d never been on a hunt where someone else did either. Admittedly, it was pretty shot up by the time anyone else saw it, so I can see how there would be some confusion. I’m just glad we finally were able to ID the old gal!
By the end of it all, I had 3 widgeon (2 drakes, 1 hen), a gadwall, and that goldeneye. Yaaaas!
But! What about the rest of the group, you ask?
Success ALL AROUND! Of course some blinds had more luck than others, but everyone felt victorious nonetheless. Plus, seeing how excited the two boys, Foster & Chappell, got when they knocked down their ducks and saw everyone’s limit back at the house was icing on the cake.
We ultimately ended up with 8 widgeon, 5 redheads, 6 gadwall, 1 goldeneye,1 mottled duck, and 4 bluebills. Most definitely the best hunt of the year for us in Georgetown.
THIS is what it’s about – getting kids in the outdoors and passing along this great tradition!
Naturally, we spent the next hour taking photos and cheers-ing with celebratory beers!
I can’t think of a better way to spend my last duck hunt of the 2016 – 2017 season than with this great crew and a banner limit(s) of ducks.
CONGRATS, guys! Can’t wait until next year.