First of all, I want to thank two of my friends for taking time out to help me take my nephew hunting during the last several days.
Last Sunday, Josh was nice enough to drive around with me and scout spots instead of hunting. On Monday, one of Josh's spots that held birds had frozen over during the night and we had to resort to plan B. Josh hooked up the boat and we made a dash for some water to get Jake out hunting. Not only did Josh help get this kid he had never met out on the water, he gave him a black duck decoy he had carved to remember the occasion. True class.
Then on Wednesday, JB helped Jake get out on the water again. He passed up on some early shots so Jake would have opportunities. Without Jason going, we would not have been able to get out on the water.
On to the hunting stories. Jake is my 10 year old nephew who is crazy about hunting. He passed his hunter education class in September in preparation for deer hunting season. Jake took a nice 6 point buck and a doe during deer season. He hunted with his father, his grandfather and I during deer season. The family planned on coming over during Christmas break and spending several days. Jake wanted to go duck hunting while he was visiting and asked if he could go hunting with me. No question we were going to get him out and have a good time doing it.
On Monday, Jake, Josh and I headed to the river. Surprisingly, we had a couple really good opportunities for Jake to get his first bird. We had a group of 4 mallards come in and land just outside the decoys. The birds were in line with Josh’s dog Cooper and Jake couldn’t get a clear shot when the birds took off. We had a couple other groups work into shooting range but were just outside of Jake’s range. Just when it looked like Jake might not get an opportunity, a beautiful drake wood duck floated down from the crisp air and landed in the decoys. Jake stood up and shot as the bird struggled to gain air under its wings. Jake shot once and the bird was motionless on the water. Dakota jumped from the front of the boat and picked up Jake’s bird. Jake smiled from ear to ear the rest of the morning. He got to take another shot a little while later at a flock of mallards dumping into the decoys but the miss was not going to phase him this morning. He got his first bird and that was all that any of us cared about. We finished the morning off by going to Bob Evans and getting a good breakfast to celebrate.
Jake, his father Troy and I got out in the afternoon of Christmas day. Troy had duck hunted before with me a few times before but this was the first time all of us had duck hunted together. We worked a few geese but we didn’t get to see any birds work into the decoys. We watched beavers, muskrats, and blue herons while talking in the blind together. A nice way to spend Christmas afternoon.
On Wednesday, Jake, Troy, JB and I hunted a different area of the river. We had a bit of trouble getting the boat in as the water had dropped a few feet on us. It took both trucks but we made it. After we set the decoys out, we had birds landing in the decoys before we could get the boat put up. A flock of 12 birds or so went through before we could get Jake’s gun loaded. Of course, once we were set up the action was pretty slow. We had a single drake come in. Jake stood up, shot once and dropped the mallard dead in his tracks. Dakota picked up the bird and we waited for some more action. And waited. Nothing few for quite a while. We saw a coyote, several deer, hawks and all types of other wildlife while we drank coffee or hot chocolate and talked. Just as Jason and I headed to the boat to begin to pick up the decoys, a pair of mallards glided into the decoys. Jake and Troy both shot and each drop a bird. Jake dropped another drake mallard! A perfect way to end Jake’s Christmas break with us. We are having his wood duck and first mallard mounted for him as next year's Christmas present.
