I hunt quite a bit, too much if you ask my wife. There is always a day that is the last of the season. This day always strikes me deep and leaves me melancholy. Turkey season is too far off, and after that is the long stretch until September.
We started off by heading for some favorite sloughs along the Yakima for some jump shooting. The hard freeze had come and gone along with a very big storm a couple of weeks earlier. The resident birds were gone, and those pushed in by the freeze had moved back to the lake now that some thaw was occurring. I didn't have much hope for seeing any birds, but this day was about more than pulling the trigger.
I hunted the big storm earlier and came home with a couple of mallards:
On the way in we came across a pair of women on snowshoes with way too many dogs. They yelled at their dogs ineffectually while my chessie sat quietly at my side enduring the 5 dogs coming at her from all sides. One of them started to get aggressive and I put myself between my still sitting dog and this ill-minded mutt. I could tell from the frantic nature of the owner's yells that she was afraid of the hillbilly with a gun. The dog got the message from me, and while it was still hackles up, we avoided a blood-bath. I later figured out who they were, (classic small town), and remained unsurprised at the lack of dog-training.
We hit three sloughs that typically hold ducks, but only put up one lone merganser. As this was the last day, I went for a long walk to a place that I only hit once out of every 3-4 outings due to its difficulty to access. Sure enough it was loaded with ducks. After peeking at it from a good vantage point, I could see a flock of widgeon mixed in with the buffleheads and ringnecks that frequent this area.
A short sneak later and I was able to double on widgeon at the rise. Copper smartly retrieved the first bird, then patiently waited for me to get some photos before taking a line for the last bird of the season. Here is the series of photos of her getting a drake widgeon. She didn't know the duck was there, you can see it in the background in the first picture.
That was it for the year. I did the long walk home with a heavy heart and a deep sense of fulfillment.
