By: T. Edward Nickens
On my knees in the muck, I curled into a tiny ball-"or at least as much of a tiny ball as a man in size 12 neoprene waders could muster. I pressed my face so far into the bulrushes that the windblown reeds threatened to slice my retinas. But there were ducks overhead-"clouds of ducks, more ducks than I had ever seen in my life-"so I took my chances with long-term vision and willed myself not to twitch. Twenty feet in front of me floated a freshly shot shoveler hen, the bird's head propped up with a forked stick. Not much of a decoy spread, but glory of glories, that smiling duck pulled in a lone pintail. Another shot, another forked stick, and I had a pair of real McCoys-"and they worked a multiplier effect on incoming mallards. I dropped the nearest greenhead and grabbed another stick. My motley flotilla didn't draw every bird on the pothole, but it didn't have to. All I needed was a few ducks, and they were coming in by the bucketfuls. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the perfection and completeness of the moment. There aren't many dreams-come-true in life, so I wallowed in the wonder of this one.
Photo by Greg Sweney
Photo Gallery Comments (3)
This is incredible I can't believe you used the ducks you shot as your decoys. That's awesome this sounds like every hunter's dream! Congrats!
Me andy black dawgz love Duck Hunting!
Never got to hunt ducks much. Sounds like you have a surefire setup for success
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This is incredible I can't believe you used the ducks you shot as your decoys. That's awesome this sounds like every hunter's dream! Congrats!
Me andy black dawgz love Duck Hunting!
Never got to hunt ducks much. Sounds like you have a surefire setup for success
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