It was a perfect afternoon on the prairie. Sunny, 60 degrees, and a nice northwest wind steadily blowing. Eli, Caleb, and I decided to head back to the same pond we hunted earlier this year to try another duck hunt. Typically, I am more of a fan of morning hunts but with younger kids I have had to retrain myself a bit and remember that it is more about the experience than how many ducks I shoot. So I figured, lets go just enjoy a nice afternoon while we still have them.
After getting everything ready, we left in plenty of time. When we got there, all was pretty quiet. A beautiful Monday afternoon. When we got to the pond the kids tried to talk me into walking a little further than we did the last time to this little point in the pond. As we were trying to get there, we ended up finding another batch of cattails that went out close to the water. I stopped and put everything down and explained to them that we had no idea if the ground on that point was hard enough for them to sit on, and that this cattail point was closer to where the wind was still moving the water, so the decoys would move with those small waves from the wind. It took some convincing to get them off the point idea, but they finally gave in and said this spot would work.
I let them take everything out of the big bag we used to carry it all out there in and then got asked if they could try and throw out the decoys this time. I brought 11 decoys, two hen mallard decoys to go with 9 teal decoys, all hens. This was done to try and match the not plumed birds we have been seeing. We were all hoping that maybe some ducks moved into the area with the latest northwest winds we had just had, which is why we added a couple mallard decoys. I gave them each one teal decoy and I took the rest. We got as close to the water as we could get with them just having rubber boots on. They each got one throw, but they couldn’t quite get them out far enough. I then grabbed both decoys on the way out into the pond and got the decoys out fairly quickly. I told them to get the spinner ready while I did that. They got pretty close, but Eli took out a couple more poles then what was needed. I helped them finish and then put it on the upwind side of our spread.
After that we were making another trail through the cattails to set up a blind. The kids picked a spot, and I used that as a reference when setting up decoys. This batch of cattails was nice and thick and provided really good cover. We got our chairs situated and before we could get the blind bag, bag full of snacks, and my gun out, four widgeons were circling our decoys. It gave us all some hope that this would be another good hunt as we watched them circle a bit. When they flew away we finished getting ready.
It was at this point the kids learned that not every hunt starts out and is always as exciting as our last hunt. I got a chuckle because it took not even 5 minutes of nothing happening for me to hear “I am bored, let's play a game”. Eli came up with the idea of us all taking turns thinking of a food, and the others trying to guess what it is right away. We played this for a bit, and from here on out I don’t think those two could not stop talking for more than a minute. I tried to explain to them that ducks can hear and that while we can talk, it's best to try and stay as quiet as we can. Here is the funny part. They both had ear muffs on, making it virtually impossible for them to be quiet. Every time I tried to show them something or tell them anything I was quickly answered with “WHAT?!”. Now I am also not the quietest person in the world when it comes to the duck blind, but this was a level of talking I was not used to. There were many times I felt like turning around and saying “be quiet!” but instead I had to reprogram myself to just relax and let them have a fun afternoon. Taking the kids out like this has given me a refreshing new perspective and a good reminder that hunting is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. The thought of spending a few more dollars on electronic ear muffs so they could more easily have a conversation in the future did cross my mind though.
We did manage to harvest a few ducks, so we were not “bored” the whole time. We had two teal come diving into our decoys, and I managed to get them both. One of the main conversations we had while hunting was hoping we could get the first mallard of the year, and wouldn’t you know it we had a pack of 4 come our way. The first duck in the flock came in pretty nice. I tried to wait to see if the other 3 would follow but unfortunately they did not. So I took that one. Not wanting to mess around with the dark, I told the kids that this was a great way to end this hunt. I went and picked up the duck and our decoys, and then we packed up and headed back to the car.
Field to Table
When we got home, we got our 3 birds cleaned out, rinsed and put right into a marinade so we could have these for dinner the next day. They sat in the marinade in the fridge overnight and until dinner the next day. I then sliced them again, along with peppers and onions. I cooked the peppers and onions separately from the meat this time. When the meat was done I melted cheese over the top. And then took all of this and stuck it in a homemade hoagie bun. It was delicious. It was so delicious, we ran out and had to pull out some turkey. Could have used maybe one more duck.
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