Urban Outcast Music:
Iron & Ore by The Last Revel.
It had been 308 days since our last bird hunt and Oak was making it abundantly clear that he was ready to get back to work. The destination was the same region as we had worked last year in the Desert Wildlife Area. The plan was also the same: walk as far away from the road as possible. I don't deal well with change...
The morning began with roosters heckling us from the parking lot but it took a couple hours before we convinced one to fly and he was out of range (specifically my range). The hens were more cooperative but also apparently aware of the fact that they were off limits. Then I missed a mallard and Oak was starting to give me the stink eye. Then to our surprise, we ran into another human/canine pair coming from the opposite direction. Even better, his hound had been working a rooster and we got to see the flush and a water retrieve by Chief. It will come as no surprise to anyone that knows me that I can only remember the dog's name...
Neither human had ever seen anyone else so far from an internal combustion engine and we decided to improve our chances to pin down some roosters by teaming up. Along the way I learned that Chief had already retrieved his limit of ducks (7) and his master had a much more extensive knowledge of the habitat and wildlife. For example, he knew that the plants above were phragmites and by the time we parted, had gotten a second rooster. So basically, he was the version of me I aspire to be.
While that sense of inadequacy was haunting me as we parted ways, it wasn't five minutes before Oak put up a rooster and we finally had something to show for 5 hours and 7 miles of walking. Then within the hour we had added three mallards to the game bag and I was pondering a thought that had never been an issue before: could my bag hold another bird? Turned out to be a non-issue as we made it back to the car without another shot.
My favorite moment of the hunt was getting the last two mallards. We had snuck out onto a peninsula that looked really birdy but no ducks were visible. Oak and I both stood at the edge of the water, perplexed by the lack of activity. I asked him where all the ducks were and that was the queue for mallards to pop out of the canes on all sides. Would have been a great time to have a gun that held more than two shells but Oak and I were both stoked that he got his first double duck retrieve.
