The Hunt

There is nothing quite like the stillness in the morning of a pond or river. The only sounds you can here are the water, the leaves wrestling, and squirrels jumping from tree to tree. In the far distance the honks of geese and quacks of ducks can be heard. It's dark you can't see anything but when that sun does decide to rise, wow. It's breathe taking every single time. It's always different, always unique, and always better than the last.

Sunrise from morning Duck Hunt
December 2014.


The waiting might just be my favorite part of the whole hunt. The anticipation, the pumping of adrenaline when the sounds of birds start to fly closer, the excitement when the flapping of wings is right on top of you. There is nothing and I mean nothing like it. Gun loaded and ready to go, you wait for the moment to pull the trigger. Once that moment comes: you take it all in for a brief moment, lock in on the bird and boom the beautiful chaos begins. Your hand shakes as you reload but you dial in and start all over again until there is no more flapping of wings above you.
Then you wait to do it all over again!

Duck Hunt December 2014.

Somedays you get lucky and get to do this routine four times, somedays all you get to do is set up, wait and share the day with friends as you leave empty handed but full of mental images of what could have been.

It seems that every waterfowl hunter stacks up their kills for the day in their own unique way. Some prefer the truck bed photo, many love to take the picture with their hunting dog, and others set the self timer and get the kills with the group that shot them. No matter how the picture is taken the memory of the hunt will forever be tucked away in the back of your mind getting you excited for the next.

Successful pond hunt, December 2014.

The end of the hunt when you begin to take the decoys down, clean up shell casings, and pack everything away for the next time is always great. The jokes of who missed what bird, the could have and would haves, and the I will get them next time begins until all the kills are cleaned. This, this is where the true memories are made, in the conversations and the time spent together.

End of Hunt January 2015.