We fired up the engines in the inky dark. A heavy chop blanketed the bay. We cinched our jackets tight against the wicked wind and faced the stern so we could breath. Then it was headlamps and knee deep muck, marching, lugging decoys and cut branches, to build a blind. As night gave way to, Read More
By Kirk Billings We had discussed it and we’d agreed. We were upland hunting and not waterfowling. Besides, we had never seen ducks in the area, so why would I spring for an out of state license to play to an outside chance? We were looking for pheasant and the birds already knew it., Read More
My motions are fast. Thoughts of work, family, the next fish or any number of other distractions cloud my mind. I barely see the big picture, let alone the details.Small, unheralded details provide the texture for our world. Each nick on a shotgun has it’s own story. Every feather on a bird, or spot, Read More
Plastic exploded as the wiper blades snapped against the windshield. I’d hoped to free ice from the blades and return quickly to the warming cab. Instead, a quick audible had me limping to an auto parts store for new wipers. The line was nearly out the door. Seems the whole town was in the, Read More
It’s the second largest state in the union, yet contains only two percent public land. High fences abound and expensive private leases are often required to hunt or fish, making it easy to write off Texas as a destination for the average sportsmen. However this winter my eyes were opened to another side of the Lone, Read More
My eyes were already open when the alarm hit 2:30am. By 3:00am I was hitching up the boat. I put the dog in the cab. Scraping the windshield quickly, I worried she might eat the breakfast burritos that my partner in crime had toiled over the night before. After sipping on a thermos of, Read More
Folding neatly the greenhead splashed soundly onto the water. The old lady made quick work of the retrieve.
Tears streaming down her face, I agreed to head back to the car and and hang out for the last 20 minutes of shooting. The sound, and even the thought, of shotgun blasts had her terrified. We had never had this problem before and the two younger kids were unfazed, simply wanting to shoot, Read More
“We don’t eat the feathers, cause see that would be silly, right Dada?” “Right.” “Yeah, cause we only eat the meat, and feathers aren’t meat and… and… um… cause see the meat’s on the inside!” The duck we were plucking had only hung for a couple days. I’d planned on waiting longer to breast, Read More
Bucking in circles like a rodeo bull, her enthusiasm belied her age. I was scrambling around the cold garage looking for duck hunting gear that hasn’t been used much lately. The temps started to drop, from a high of 20 F, as soon as the sun dipped below the mountains. Waterfowl was our game, Read More