The First but not the Last // My First Wood Duck
Today, I want to share my First Wood Duck experience because it is something that I will never forget.
It was the second day of the Season and we had scouted this area many times. The alarm clock went off at 3:15am and although I had to force myself to get dressed in my camo, once I was in the car, all was good.
In the car, Michael had to deal with all sorts of questions because once I wake up I am very chatty. "So, how long is the walk in?" "Where do I sit?" "How do I know when to shoot?" "How do we know where to set up the decoys?" And the questions went on... and he answered all of them, a true sport with some grumbling in between :)
We got there and I first had to figure out how to easily put on my waders without falling down. That was not a success, you all have done it... half asleep trying to put on your waders and you are hopping on one leg trying to balance yourself and you just end up falling. Well, just picture me doing that. It happened that morning and it still happens today. After the "wader mishap", although funny, where Michael just stood there laughing, I gathered my gear and trekked the mile & a half out to our spot.
Now, it's pitch black out and we are using the spot light, lugging all our gear. Inside I am exhausted, but on the outside I don't want to show my weakness so every time he asked if I was okay I smiled and said of course. Michael tells me that we are going to set up through the woods just 20 feet ahead of us and I continue on. As we get closer, he realizes that we are on the complete opposite side of the marsh that we needed to be. He is literally flipping out at this point because he wants to get to the spot before someone else does and setup before shooting hours. I am trying my best to stay out of the way and follow instructions because I have never been in this setting before. Usually, I would be the one trying to fix the situation but being out of my element I was glad to take the backseat and just follow along.
Michael tells me that we are going to try and wade through the water and get to the other side. This is where I am literally freaking out under my skin. I hate that I can't see what is in the water, what is in front of me, what is rubbing up against my leg. On the outside though I am cool and collected, "Are you okay?" he says. "Yes..." is all I can manage to get out. Here I am a girl from New England, trudging the muddy marshes of Illinois, all "camo-ed" out carrying a shotgun above her head waist deep in water.
As I am walking through the water, trying not to trip on branches or my own two feet, I begin to listen at how peaceful it sounds. There is nothing out there but us and nature. I can hear us trudging through the water, Reagan jumping in and out ahead of us and black birds chirping every now and then. Other than that, there is no sound, no car horns beeping, trains running on the tracks, people yelling on the streets. Those are the sounds of the City. The sounds I have grown to love are the sounds of Nature and peace; the Outdoors. My heart is literally beating out of my chest, I am freaking out at this point... saying to myself, are we ever going to get to our spot!
Finally, we get to our coveted spot. {{Hallelujah}} Decoys were set up, coffee thermos came out, shotguns came out and gear was set up. Now, this was not the first time I had gone out hunting, the first time I was in a duck blind with the men of the family. That was glamorous compared to this :) I didn't have to trudge through water, just rode to the blind in a boat and even had breakfast cooked for me. I could hunt there all the time! But, this was wooded marsh and was quite different, I mean there was no duck blind to hide behind or hot breakfast to eat. And we had to hold our guns at all times and rest most of our other gear on downed timber because we were surrounded by muddy water. There was only the trees, our camo and the paint on our faces. Knowing that I am a little jittery and chatty, Michael informed me that once we set up, we turn off the lights and wait for shooting time. This is because the decoys could draw in ducks and they could be in the spread... these are things that I was unaware of. It was 5:20 am we began to hear ducks on the water:
Now, as you can see I was pretty excited and that was at 5:20 in the morning before things started to pick up. Michael started explaining to me how the birds might approach the spread and I was focusing on how I would prepare to shoot, where I would stand and wait etc.
I was standing in a timber between two bodies of water when all of a sudden I heard wood ducks and it seemed like they appeared out of nowhere, zooming right in front of my eyes. I pulled my gun to my shoulder, took a deep breath and picked out the one in front. I shot twice and it fell to the water. As I was shooting, I remember how intense and exhillarating it all was. It happened so quickly that I had no time to actually focus on what I needed to do, it was all muscle memory. As my second shot left the barrel of my shotgun, I knew that it was going to be dead on. It was just one of those feelings and as I watched "Woodie" fall to the water, I could't help but smile. Reagan went out to retrieve my bird and Michael looked at me with the biggest smile on his face, "you got it."
I sure did. I sure did.
Please submit your "First" stories to capitoloutdoorswoman@gmail.com.
Remember Keep it Simple, Enjoy the Outdoors!
Heather
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