The first hunt of the season.

[Dunnigun]

We got the club flooded up about 10 days ago and started seeing a few ducks. Then, the swans and geese showed up and the ducks started pouring into the refuge portion of the club. We currently have several thousand birds on the property, so the rain and wind served us well this morning.

Four hunters, four mixed bag limits. Mallard, sprig, and teal are the main ducks today with a few gadwall and the occasional spoonie. The man on the far right side of the picture has difficulty identifying different female ducks in flight. Us old hunters only shoot drakes which are much easier to identify with failing eyesight. He thought the spoons were hen mallard; he felt bad enough so we elected not to give him the 'don't shoot hens' lecture.

The storm lasted two hours but produced 40 MPH winds and an inch of rain...which we took advantage of. As soon as it ended, thousands of ducks filled the air and started working their way back to our self imposed closed zone. We hurriedly collected our things, closed the blinds, and hot footed it back to camp where the wife had breakfast waiting for all.

It is now sunny with a north wind setting up which may provide a good shoot tomorrow on a different part of the club. The sunny picture was taken just 1 1/2 hrs. after the storm ended...strange weather out here this year.

Finally...the wait is over and the DUCKS ARE IN! I love duck huntin'

Sorry for not posting this in the hunt section.