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A time spent alone is in the outdoors is a great time to reflect on the experience
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Hunting ducks by oneself presents a few problems for the hunter. For starters, you can only look one direction. Therefore, unexpected visitors are something that will always keep you on your toes. A solo hunter must also place all of the decoys out and pick them up. Of course, there's no one to blame if they were setup wrong. There are no other shooters, and no excuses. Of course there are safety concerns when hunting alone too.
I have both learned and grown a lot through hunting by myself. It really makes one realize who they are as a human and a hunter.
It took me many years before I ever placed out decoys alone. The first few trips I made were very humbling experiences. I realized there were no other shooters with backup shots. Hunting has always been a social event for me. Experiencing life with others is one of the things that keeps us outdoors.
At least once a year I like to hunt by myself, to prove to me that I can do it. Saturday Oct. 7th, it was just the puppy Chet and I at the duck shack. I figured there would not be a better time for the puppy at seven months to have his first duck hunt. Just the dog and I with no big distractions for Chet’s short attention span.
Shortly after legal shooting time I was getting buzzed by ducks from every direction, except for where I was looking. I wanted the first duck I shot over Chet to be close so I passed on a few long shots.
Just when I thought things were not looking good a pair of ring-necked ducks swung the point low over the decoys. I dropped one with a single shot. Chet did not see the bird fall so I walked him into the shallow water. I made the pup sit and stay, and then I threw a rock from my pocket near the bird.
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A slow morning can change in a hurry with orange feet
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Chet took off like a champ after being released with the fetch command. This is perfect, I thought to myself until the duck woke up just as the pup reached him. The ring-necked duck took one look at the dog then quickly dove under water. At that point I swear Chet jumped completely out of the shallow water.
I saw the duck rise above the surface of the water about twenty yards away and I quickly dispatched it. Chet swam out to the bird but he did not pick it up. Great I thought to myself, I ruined the dog.
I retrieved the duck and Chet and I took our post in the weeds. It didn’t take long before a drake mallard came into the decoys cupped up. After two shots from the Berretta the drake was lying on his back in the water.
Chet is well steadied for just being a pup; he once again followed me into the water to retrieve the duck. Again Chet swam to the duck, but he would not pick it up. I looked into my crystal ball and saw that Chet’s future of duck hunting was not looking very bright.
The third and final duck of the morning was a wood duck. After three shots I winged it into the tall grass along the shore of lake I was hunting. Once again Chet and I left our post. The pup followed me to the place where I had marked the down bird.
I had been searching for the bird for about ten minutes and it was not looking good. I was just about to give up when Chet got birdie. Chet found the duck, he did not pick it up, but he totally redeemed himself by pointing it. I was glad to have found the bird and glad that Chet had sniffed it out.
Chet and I picked up the decoys shortly after that. I had shot at three birds and harvested all three of them. I was satisfied that I could hunt by myself and wanted to end the hunt before I broke my streak. I also did not want to hunt Chet too long the first time.
I drove into a small town and had a big breakfast. And later took the back roads home so I could enjoy the spectacular fall colors. That afternoon, I attached a duck wing to Chet’s bumper and tossed it a few times. He retrieved it without problems. He figured out the next time that birds are actually live bumpers with wings and retrieving was not a problem. It was a perfect end to a perfect morning, one spent alone with a dog in the marsh.
