Alarm Clock Woes. As colligate hunters we all know how to hit that snooze button for class but when it comes to snoozing on a duck hunt not many of us can afford too. Especially when hunting public areas. Opening morning I woke up (without hitting the snooze button) at what I thought would be early enough to get a promising spot in a highly competitive public marsh. Public hunting in Northeast Oklahoma is no easy task. Guys will move in and hunt within 100 yards of you, shoot at birds just to scare them away from someone else’s decoy spread, and as I devastatingly found out even camp out for the best possible spots. Just to mention a few of the many horror stories that go along with public hunting land all across the nation. I quickly found out it was not even close to early enough. I got beat to the spot I had scouted earlier that week, not by 1 or even 2 groups but 4 other groups. True, those groups had stayed there all night even still I was late. As I walked through the forest towards the marsh I saw fires scattered throughout the entire marsh, my heart sank deeper than my feet in the mud, because I knew my hunt was going to be an uphill battle from there. The adrenaline from the anticipation and expectation of a good opening morning drastically changed to frustration and sorrow. As I started to pout and get upset, my best friend quickly got on his phone and discovered a rare unoccupied gem on public land, a hidden flooded timber hole across the river only accessible by boat. We managed to create a good day from a seemingly doomed day only because we were prepared. A valuable lesson learned: public land hunting is highly competitive. Be prepared for all circumstances and willing to do and go where no one else can and you are bound to have a magnitude of more enjoyable hunts.
Missing the X. A few of the hunts I went on this last season had the potential to be some of the most amazing hunts I have ever experienced. There were thousands of birds in close proximity to the area I was hunting. The only problem was I couldn’t even get them to look at my spread. The birds knew exactly where they wanted to be and it was not within shooting range! I had hunted this area before and knew that the birds flocked to it. However with a change in water level and the wind direction I was set up in the wrong spot. I was 200 yards away from having one of the best shoots of my life, and I could not do a thing about it. Reason number 1, I had class in an hour. Reason number 2, there was absolutely nowhere to hide close enough to get a shot at the mallards, pintail and teal that were landing in the cove. A valuable lesson learned that morning: if you’re not on the X nothing else really matters. Great calling will not matter. Great decoys will not matter. Nothing will matter. So, I should have made the move early in the hunt, cut some cover, and found a way to blend into my surroundings. Whether, that meant actually sitting down in the water, using the decoy spread to hide me, or even shooting a few yards farther. Go to the X, the spot where the ducks want to be. You cannot force the ducks into an area they do not want to be. I tried making the ducks come to me, and I did shoot a few birds, however, I would have brought home more ducks on the duck tote if I would have hunted to the X.
Forgotten Beauty. As the season progressed, I quickly realized I was caught up in the number of ducks killed on each hunt, and that is how I began to measure success. I forgot to just enjoy the little moments of the hunt, I even stopped enjoying a few of my favorite things like hearing the whistling wings of birds passing by overhead, getting a friend his first duck, and the beautiful sunrises and all the mind blowing colors that go with them. I only desired one thing: to kill more ducks. It was a goose hunt that reminded me how to truly measure success. We did not kill anywhere close to a limit but the few we did kill worked perfectly. On that hunt I was reminded of the brotherhood that hunting brings out in us. I witnessed 3 guys kill their first Canada goose. I saw veteran hunters giggle with excitement like it was their first hunt. Not many things can bring us closer together than spending countless hours in a blind together all season long. I was reminded of the beauty of the amazing earth with which God has blessed us. I was reminded that the kill is not why we hunt. No, we hunt for the memories. The most valuable lesson I have ever learned is to enjoy all the hunts, the great ones and the not so great ones. A successful hunt is not measured in the amount of birds killed, but by the amount of wonderful memories made.
Love it, Wesley.
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