Idaho: Day 7

Or the day I like to call 'Heston is mad at me' day.
Today I'm hunting by myself because Dallas is off to Montana to hunt deer or elk or something other than ducks, I would have liked to have seen Montana. Anyway, it's off to an early start because there is snow in the forecast and I have an hour drive to my spot on Anderson lake. The roads were clear and I had plenty of time to set up and arrange a nice decoy spread in the shallow water surrounding the point. It's quiet in Idaho at 5 AM, almost eerily quiet, and it's interesting to hear all the animals come to life in the early morning. I could hear the quacking of far off ducks on the other side of the lake, and the wave of snow that started to fall came to me first as the sound of soft snow progressing over the waters surface.

I sat in the light snow and watched as the dark of night turned to the light gray of a snowy morning. Ducks started to fly. I was calling quite a bit because the snow had reduced visibility and I wanted the ducks to know where I was. Several Mallards landed nearby and a couple swam near my decoys. When they were within 25 yards I jumped up and they took flight, my first shot missed but the second took the Drake down. The Greenie hit the water and dove down into the reeds, a natural response I guess, but he must have gotten caught up down there. I saw where he landed and knew that the water was no more than thigh deep so I made my way out to retrieve him but after a fruitless search I came up with nothing.

Regular readers may remember the post on this very blog about my Grandpa Clyde. I first wrote about him because of this very issue, retrieving downed ducks. The HOY7 Hunting Team does everything in our power to retrieve our birds and today was no exception. I searched a grid pattern by walking the whole area he could have been, hoping to jar him loose from the reeds. There was no chance he swam away as I had a great view of the waters surface. Still, I came up with nothing. Grandpa Clyde, I am sorry.

Of course Grandpa Clyde would be sad but he does not have the power of Heston. Only the Great Heston could have punished me for this transgression. And he did. I went through most of a box of shells today and never made another shot after that one. I missed the Geese that flew 20 feet over my head. It's not like they surprised me, I saw them coming at a blistering 5 mph for 40 - 50 seconds before I lifted the Benelli and took careful aim. 3 shots, nothing. How about the group of greenies that circled my blocks twice? 3 shots, nothing. The teal or widgeon that blasted from left to right? 3 shots, nothing. And finally, here's the capper, the group of 12 or so Snow Geese that flew right over my head, again I saw them coming and had all the time in the world to make a good shot. You guessed it. 3 shots, nothing.

So now I have a week to think about what I could have done differently and how to make this up to the duck population and the great Lord Heston. Some act of contrition that will ease my conscience and make up for what I've done. I'm considering joining Delta Waterfowl, my membership will help restore habitat and maybe a cute little baby duck will be born because of my donation. later I hope to shoot him. Whatever happens I hope next week Heston will allow me to slay ducks and geese, and bring them home to my table.

GBCH