I finally shot my first duck!! HUGE thank you to hntrspud, who was generous enough to take me out looking for ducks.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day... snow falling and a few inches of snow on the ground. We crawled out into the water and busted up the ice, then got our decoys placed and waited. Had a small group fly in about half an hour before shooting light, so we watched them for a while until they eventually flew away. Only ducks flying around were off in the distance so around 10am we decided to go walk and see if we could find where they were.
Spotted a group circling so we hunkered down to watch them and see what they would do. It was really cool to watch them circle and finally decide to land in a little slough. We made a plan and made our way toward them from behind a row of brush. As we crept out from a break in the brush we could see a mallard drake poking his head up from the slough, looking a lot like a prairie dog or meerkat
"That drake's getting nervous" says hntrspud "you ready?" I say yes, even though I'm shaking with excitement... or maybe just the cold lol.
They fly as soon as we emerge. He fires first, the nervous drake dives to the ground. As I lead my bird I feel the shotgun recoil. "Bird is flying down" I say to myself, and continue to lead it readying for a second shot. Then I realize "wait, he's not flying... he's falling! I hit it!!!" Then came the dancing
Got my first duck!!! A beautiful drake green winged teal! I can't wait to go out again
First pic is me looking very silly and cold holding my prize with the silly grin I couldn't get rid of
Next is both ducks next to my shotgun in the snow, and finally a better picture of my bird once I got home. What an amazing day
