Milestone moment this morning. The first shot at 2021 ducks in Kansas was a bit more… special this year. Today I would share a blind for the first time in my life with my own retriever at my side.. A moment I’ve literally dreamed of. I hoped for an opportunity to validate my efforts. Hours of training, of hoping you got it right. Wondering if you should have sent him away. Doubting yourself, but sticking to it.
The morning was great. The pond was loaded with activity; 125-150 geese, 50+ ducks – few looked like teal – loitered about as we setup and enjoyed a foggy sunrise. Dove traded back and forth while Puck paced inside of the blind with us, enjoying the sound of ducks and geese chatting away as we sipped coffee and caught up on life.
And, eventually, the opportunity I hoped for came along. I wanted one bird, one opportunity, and I screwed up and missed it on a group of blue wings. Twice I could have taken shots but was caught off-guard. As we prepared to leave, literally looking down at the floor and apologizing to my dog for not taking the shot, I look up and see a magically placed green wing swimming in the decoys. I took him cleanly as he rose, and dropped him right there in the decoys. Puck stayed calm in the blind, but was eager to follow me out. I lined him up on the bird, gave the command, and he worked his way through the decoys and retrieved the bird. One-for-one. His very first bird, a flawless retrieve, no issues, concerns, no assistance, he just did it. Brought it to me like he’d brought me the dummy a thousand times. An amazing and special hunt. His very first. Our very first together.
