"For Hunters by Hunters"

Hunt From The Past - September 2011

By: Jim Peery
Board Member

My son and I were out duck hunting on a Saturday last season. Being a considerate father I thought I would let my son take the first shot at any ducks. We had a great hunt that day. Probably the best we ever had together. The ducks were really on this day. Several ducks came upon us and my son took the first shot. He downed this first duck. I had a nice bead on a mallard. The mallard was right at the edge of where we would figure the maximum range might be. Being I had such a nice bead on this mallard, I took the shot. Bang, and down comes this drake mallard. He made a large flop when it hit the water about 20 yards from our blind. We looked over at this downed mallard and it had its head down in the water and flopping its wings. It figured it was a goner. Right at that moment to our left came two more ducks. A little too far out we let them pass and I tried to call them in closer. The two ducks continued on their way. I then looked over towards my downed drake mallard getting ready to fetch him. The mallard was gone and nowhere to be found. I spent 10 minutes or more searching the area thinking that he had dove down in the 12 inch deep water. No mallard was to be found. I explained to my son that duck hunting was like that some times and some get away.