We got a late start due to the quite low tides at dawn.
Picking a choice spot to sit
He was pretty proud of the Cloud of Feathers, more than the duck on this one.
Zeus’ first retrieve of the new season
There are lots of pintails this year and of course lots of the ducks have not developed their full plumage yet. So after bagging two pintails early, it took a while to finish, making sure to pick out ducks that were legal.
More Pintails in close, waiting for other ducks.
Last Duck of the day, a drake widgeon
Youth Hunt Day One
We got an even later start on day two of the youth hunt. After the first day’s hunt and the Silvertips opening night hockey game that evening we didn’t even launch till 11 am. Didn’t take but a few minutes before he bagged his first bird of the day, a beautiful adult mallard drake. A great way to get things started. The night before he was telling me where he wanted to set up for Sunday and how he wanted the decoys arranged. His plan sounded ok to me, so he mostly arranged the decoy placement.
Zeus with the second retrieve of day two, a pintail drake
The Wait
Bringing back a greenhead
It was about now that he realized that he had five drakes and decided that he would try to finish the hunt with an all drake limit. While a noble goal, it made the hunt last at least an hour longer, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. Time and time again we had hens backpedaling over the spread or even landing in the decoys, but he held fast. A couple times, I thought he had bagged a hen, but upon getting it in our hands, it was again a drake.
More waiting for drakes
Last drake, another adult mallard
A successful end to the Youth hunt with an all drake limit, five mallards and two pintails.
He took a much more active roll in cleaning ducks this year, which is a real good thing, as his shooting is improving all the time.
Duck Kabobs on the grill
