I Needed This

Yes,I can't believe it,but yes we did it.We had a successful hunt and it makes all the unsuccessful hunts worth it.Where do I start,no matter what I tell everyone it just won't do justice to what exactly went down this past Friday,now commonly referred to as Black Duck Friday.One of my friends who left me hanging on a past hunt called me and invited me out on his brothers duck boat.I of course cleared the schedule for this opportunity that had come about.Why was it so important for me to go on this hunt?Well for starters,I'm just now learning how to hunt out of a boat and this would give me a chance to see how other duck boat elitist do it.Now I have hunted with this fellow before and we did have marginal success,however all the stories I have heard about his hunts made it seem that it could be much better.So I set out Friday knowing that I needed to pay attention,stay interested,and try and be a good duck hunter.After our initial set up my new friend made it clear as to how all the shooting and calling would go as there were three of us in the boat.I was to shoot first and he would do the calling.Now let's step back a second for a funny note.My friend down the way,his brothers friend has a given name of Dave.It's funny because if anyone needs a goofy nickname like Duckman Dave it's him.

Well I digress,after first light we had already been buzzed by a few mergansers.I had already told myself not to rush the shot,take aim and make it count,shells aren't cheap and I'm tired of missing the easy shots.Dave did a few calls and in they came as if beckoned like a bunch of sailors to a bar that advertises naked women.The first few volleys happened to be off to the side and I opted not to take a shot as there were many birds flying and my friend Aaron was having no problem throwing steel into the water.I did take a few shots at a mallard drake and yup I missed.After the morning hunt,the count was one black duck,three mallards and one merganser.

All morning I was told by both hunters that the afternoon experience would be much better and I just don't think they grasped the concept that as far as I was concerned this was the best hunt I have had all year.So we picked up went back to the dock and headed out for a healthy lunch of Mexican food.Dave,noticing that it was early,decided to let me in on a few of his secret spots.The only catch is that I had to promise not to over hunt them and always call before to make sure one of the few duck hunters who know about them aren't planning on going out there.See Dave explained to me what I almost had figured out.That around my area there aren't many duck hunters.So the few of us that there are need to stick together and be on the same page.What that entails is making sure we follow and obey every rule.Everything from having the correct paper work to not over hunting a spot.So after a nice afternoon boat ride we headed to the magical spot.

So there we were all set up in what seemed to be a very ducky place,however I saw no birds.I was instructed to just wait until fifteen minutes before sun down.We waited and waited and then it happened.Out of nowhere a pair of mallards landed twenty feet from the boat.I was told to let them sit and wait for the others.I kept low in the blind and sure enough in groups of 5-10 they came in.We were however running out of time and noting that we took out a few birds and watched the retriever Misti do what she does.As the birds continued to circle Dave instructed us it was time to pay respect to both the rule and nature.We sat there outside of the blind for over thirty minutes watching groups of ducks come and go.The sound of the whistling wings and the natural calls was completely amazing.I have never witnessed anything quite like it and couldn't help but just be thankful for this awesome display of ducks.Well I have a few videos and plenty of pictures so stay tuned.Lastly,thank you Dave and Aaron for what was truly an unforgettable experience.Simply amazing.