Bird dog

It was Sunday morning.  Time to duck hunt!  Hank & I were up at the crack of dawn.  We donned our gear and started to head out the door when our friend who is visiting hollered “Only green heads!”  We laughed and chuckled because we knew what he meant.  Last week I tagged out right away because all I shot were hens.  This weekend, I promised I would try for only green heads.  Out the door we went with Daisy the bird dog in the lead.

We set up our decoys on a slow moving part of a little stream in a nice canyon.  It was only 14 degrees out but the sun was coming so I didn’t feel too chilled today.  Daisy and I were too excited to be cold and Hank never gets cold.  Once we had everything set up we hid in silence.  It is amazing how Daisy knows when it is time.  She huddled next to me with a grin on her face as we waited. 

The sun came over the hill and the valley lit up.  It was a gorgeous morning and everything sparkled in the sunlight.  As I scanned the valley, I saw some crows and then some sparrows.  Not ducks just….  Wait!  In the distance I saw them  They were mallards.  Daisy & Hank saw them too.  Daisy’s ears perked up and her mouth closed.  She was serious.  Hank looked at me and whispered “Here they come.”  I thought to my self “Be patient.  Wait and choose your target.”  The pair circled around and were on the left side.  My side!

As the pair of mallards circled I chose my bird.  He had a fantastic green head that sparkled in the sun.  I kept my eye on him waiting for the flair.  There it was.  I remembered to continue my swing and took my shot.  BAM!  Yes!  First green head of the day!  Daisy was impressed as she had kept her eye on him as well.  She jumped from the brush and retrieved her prize and I jumped up and cheered for myself.  Hank sat in the brush and grinned and laughed because I have such a hard time containing the excitement.  Daisy and I assumed our positions again and quietly awaited our next sighting.

Daisy retrieves the first bird

Our morning continued as such.  A couple mallards here and a couple mallards there.  I would get a green one, it would drop and Daisy would grab it up for me.  I would jump and cheer… a little more quietly than the first time.  We had a flock of about 12 fly in and I had such a “trinoble” experience.  In my book, that means I was stuck in time not knowing weather to go left or right.  I had a glitch in my system.  I was just beside myself.  I was so excited!  I looked and looked and could not focus on one green head.  Finally I picked one out just in time to see that he was way too far off in the distance for me to get a shot.  Daisy looked over at me with disgust as you could just tell she could not believe something did not fall from the sky.  Hank and I looked at each other and chuckled quietly because we both knew what she was thinking.  She was thinking I better get my act together because we had work to do.  I sat up straight with a wide grin on my face and paid attention.

In the end I had a total of four birds that day.  Daisy was very pleased with me and happy with a duck no matter what the color.  I was especially proud to take home a pouch full of nothing but green!

Daisy and I with the green heads!