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DUCK SEASON IN A NUTSHELL
By: Ron Wilson
February 11, 2010.... The start of the
duck season was like always, pretty good until the locally raised birds
were
killed off or wised up. Then until almost
Christmas it was where the hell are the ducks and when are they
migrating into our area.
From private clubs to refuges it was the
same sad story with the hunters crying there are just no darn ducks.
Like always there were a few guys killing birds but the vast majority of
waterfowl hunters were crying the blues.
Then the rain and fog came along with the
duck migration and the hunters on the west side of the valley shot
limits almost daily while the hunters on the east side of the valley sat
in the fog for two weeks. The fog lifted and the table was turned it was
the east side hunters to bag some birds while the west side hunters
watched the waterfowl fly by high overhead on there migration route
southward.
I hunted the last week of the season with
my son Donald at the Dallas Duck Club he belonged to. To say the hunting
there until Christmas was bad would be an understatement.
His membership was $2700 and at Christmas
he had killed a total of 3 ducks. I got a kick out of kidding him that
the birds had only cost him $900 apiece. I don't think he liked that
very much as every time he went hunting with me at my spot we would be
killing honkers and ducks. I took my grandson along with us a couple
times and his numbers with me were a lot better than Donald's club he
belonged to.
The Dallas Duck Club only hunts
on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. I guess that is Ok but ducks
don't know the difference in days and they migrate during wind and rain
and sometimes even when it is just nice ahead of the storms. In my
opinion you have to be there when the waterfowl comes through in order
to kill them. On the last Wednesday of the season Ray Bray, my son
Donald and I hunted together at the Dallas Duck Club. Ray chose blind
number 7 and Donald and I headed out there on foot carrying our gear.
It seems that Donald loves his old man
and wants to try to get him as much exercise as possible at times. I
must say the walk out there along the levee was exciting because as we
walked by the water we could hear all the ducks as they got up to leave
the area, mallards, widgeon, teal and
wood ducks could be heard as they quacked and whistled there
warnings for there fellow waterfowl to leave as the hunters were coming
down the road.
Donald was just finishing up the decoy
spread when the first pair of mallards came in, Ray and I knocked down
the drake and the hen got away. We told Donald that we had left that one
for him as he crawled in the blind and took his gun out of the gun case.
At
shooting time he wants to be ready and hated that he was late. I
guess that's my fault as I don't walk as fast as I used to as mother
nature is making me go slower and slower each passing year.
Donald was ready now and 4 teal came in
fast, we fired a volley and all four birds hit the water. Donald said
now that is shooting boys as he, his dog Shrek a
English Cocker and
Brittany Spaniel cross and Rays poodle-pointer Donna came back to the
blind with birds in mouth.
It was a steady pick of mallards,
woodies, teal, widgeon and even a hen spoonbill duck. I don't remember
shooting any of them on the east side of the old muddy pond I hunt over
there. To say that we were happy with the action would be an
understatement, lots of talking and kidding each other like hey you let
one get out on your side or well I hope you noticed nothing got away on
my side of the blind. Ray and I really love telling Donald that we got
ours what happened over there. By noon we had limited out and by 1;30
p.m. with birds all cleaned we were on our way home.
Saturday morning Ray, his son Clint, Donald and I hunted together
in blind 6. Damn, fog again but it didn't look so bad that we could not
kill a duck or two and with the bright full moon showing through it we
figured the fog would lift early.
 It
was another pleasant walk to the blind listening to the waterfowl again.
This time we had everything ready before shoot time and when the birds
started coming they started falling and the dogs retrieving. Good coffee
to help with the chill and working ducks makes for a great morning. The
birds didn't come fast and furious but they came floating into the decoy
spread. We made a lot of good shots and some so so but few birds got
away. By noon we had 22 birds in the blind and time to go in and have
lunch.
That evening we went out for an afternoon
hunt to finish out our limit. One of Rays favorite things to do is take
along a bottle of fine red wine in the evening and after shoot time he
brings out the glasses and we sit and watch as the mallards flock into
the trees to rest for the night. Its just an awesome sight and makes for
a great way to end a great day of hunting.
That evening Clint packed his bags and
when he took his gun and waders out to the vehicle Donald said your not
coming back tomorrow are you? Yes I am he said I will be here.
Donald chuckled and said no you won't
momma wants you home so you can help with your new little one and give
her a break, kiddingly! The next morning with fog and no Clint, Ray,
Donald and I headed to the blind, it made for an easy morning for Donald
as all he had to do was put some batteries in our toys and turn them on.
It wasn't looking pretty as the fog was
thick and the birds were flying over it. Geese were everywhere up there
talking to each other. A pair of wood ducks came into the spread and I
told Ray to shoot them, one shot and there were two
dead wood ducks on
the water. A high five and a great start to a new day. A little while
latter a pair of mallards came and we dumped them.
The fog was a big problem but we knew if
we waited it out that the mallards would fall in as soon as it broke. We
waited and bagged a couple more woodies and mallards and then off in the
fog it was bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! What the heck was going on out
there. We soon figured out that some idiot, or I should say idiots at
the club were shooting trap and the ducks were staying away from the
clubs hunting grounds.
We had 10 ducks for the morning and when
someone at the club started shooting an automatic rifle or pistol I had
had enough. Time to get the hell out of there and I went and started
picking up our toys. Ray soon followed with his wading boat to load the
toys up in. I had a great waterfowl season this year but someone
shooting trap and firing an automatic rifle or pistol on the last day of
the waterfowl season will stick in my mind for as long as I live. F. . .
. . . Idiots!
On the way home I talked with my son
about the club and its members. I like Al, Ray and Bruce and never got a
chance to really know some of the other members but after Sundays
experience there was no way I would ever join that duck hunting club. |
