Location: Between Kentucky and Tennessee.
Guns: Merkel 12 bore, 3 inch, 122/50E; Browning Auto 5 Magnum; Greener 32 inch barrels, 12 bore, 3 inch reproofed to superior proof; Beretta Silver Pigeon, 12 bore, 30 inch barrels, with factory modified and full barrels.

Game Taken: 10 Mallards with five drakes and five hens; Wood Ducks with two drakes and one hen; 9 Canada (Do not call them Canadian) Geese.

Load: BOSS No. 4, 3 inch, 12 bore 1 1/2 ounce; BOSS No. 5, 3 inch, 12 bore 1 3/8 ounce; BOSS No. 3, 3 inch, 12 bore 1 1/2 ounce and 1 5/8 ounce.

Waders: Banded Elite 2.0 that I got on sale for $150.00 dollars with 1600 gram insulation in the boot.

Decoys: Dive Bomb goose silhouettes, Higdon pulsator, and a few second hand full body shot up geese decoys.

The Long Game:

I just finished a full six months of hunting every weekend. My wife has been long suffering with my gear in the living room all this time. It is still stacked in front of the front door. What an experience. I not only enjoyed some amazing hunting and shooting that really extended my days hunting. I also got to raise my culinary experiences having roasted whole ducks with duck a la orange, seared duck breast, smoked whole ducks, and absolutely wonderful smoked geese breast.

I admit, being me does bring some advantages to life. One advantage is being in the road contracting business. I know were the public land is. There was a flooded beaver swamp not ten minutes from my house that was public land. The place is no bigger than a postage stamp on a big envelope on the map surrounded by private. The access is the state highway, just park on the wide part of the shoulder, jump the rail and walk in.

I went in on opening day with my Greener 3 inch loaded with BOSS No. 5, 3 inch, 1 3/8 load. I was grateful that my waders are real boots with a steel shank, because I was very fearful of steeping on a needle repealing down the slope of the road bank by dead poison ivy vine. The gravel slope was covered in leaf litter, but you could feel the trash rolling under your feet. It was dry that day and not too cold.

I got settled in an hour before sunlight. The swamp makes a big y around a piece of wood. The side I was on made another smaller y. The other side of the wood in the other big y’all arm is a 300 yard dammed up beaver pond. The ducks landed at first light.

Two what would find out were wood ducks right in front of me. I had a ball of, I think they were black ducks (I know if they were black ducks they were probably hybrids) on my left. The sun got up, and the ball of ducks on the left must have saw something because they got up. At there explosion off the water the two wood ducks got up in front of me. I flicked the side safety off the Greener with my left thumb, sliding the left hand to the forend, as I brought the gun up. I killed the first wood duck going away, and swung through the second one breaking it. Those two got off the water fast, but had not got 10 yards away. They both died three feet apart from one another.

These were two wood duck drakes. They were beautiful. One was twice the size of the other. They were black with white stripes and orange splayed through. I plucked them, breasted them with the skin on taking the thigh and leg off with the breast as one piece. I also twisted dan pulled the tendons out of the foot. These went cast iron skillet heaven served over a golden Yukon Mash with a cognac, cream, pepper corn sauce over the top.

My First Mallards:

The next successful hunt came in that same swamp. I moved to the left to square up where that ball of ducks landed. The day came and no birds flew in at first light. However, as the day went on, ducks where coming high circling and pouring into the big beaver pond in the other big y arm. I could not see it all because of the screen of trees, but you could see ducks hovering over the whole, quacking like an angry Donald Duck over having no place to land. They were giving me a headache. This started at 8:00 a.m. I did not know about the pond that had been made at this time. I set were I was at 10:00 a.m. I saw a drake and hen swimming up my arm. The drake took the right hand side of my little arm swimming to my left about 25 yards. He came broadside. I could not see the hen which went to the right against the bank. He put his head under the water. When he resided his head back up he had my Belgium Auto 5 magnum loaded with BOSS 3 inch, NO. 4, 1 1/2 ounce setting on his head. I killed him. At the shot, I ran out into the creek. The hen was heading back down the creek fast and about 10 inches above the water straight away. I jabbed the bead at her, and killed her. My first two mallards. I was too intimidated to try these birds as a whole roasted duck.

My First Limit of Mallards:

I was out on our property. The rain had been falling hard for a five consecutive days. I had picked up a Higdon pulsator on sale. I had that thing our there. The lay of the land is a pasture with a small, elongated tear drop shape. There was an island in the center. The bottom sharp point barely over the grass. The wide, u of the tear drop was is the deep end, up to my sternum. I put the pulsator about two feet off the bank in the u. I was sitting back under some tree about 40 yards out. The first group was a group of four mallards right at sun light. They started to sit down about five feet off the pulsator. My Merkel and BOSS No. 4s killed two one the Right modified barrel. I saw a duck heading straight out. He died at the edge of the bank to the left full choke barrel. The first two had been hens, and the last one was a Drake. I know enough to know, I am only allowed two hens. Therefore, it is time to be selective. The ducks flew all morning in groups of twos. The next drake I killed got off the pond, rising and crossing to my right. I missed him with the modified barrel. I made him drop like a rock from an airplane with the full choke barrel. The problem was a creek ran behind me, and was running fast. I was down stream from where the bird dropped. I started up the creek to the mark keeping an eye on the water. The best case scenario was the bird would be washed down to me. The worst case scenario was the bird would be washed down and past me. I got up to my mark with was a tee. I had not seen the drake on my way up, and I could not find the drake in the water near the tree. I was starting to panic when I looked up the bank, and saw the drake dead where the high wild grass met the picked pasture. I love that Merkel. The final drake of the day came gliding in from my left, nice and slow. He skidded dead across the water.

I left that day with ducks still flying around. Now, these ducks all got done whole. Plucking and cleaning them was not hard. Temperature for the first three quarters of the season stayed around 70 degrees by midday. So, I got them plucked, tendons pulled, and gutted. The first couple got the skin sliced, salted, peppered outside and inside and into the oven. These were exceptional. I saved the biggest drake for the next, special step.

I went and got some fresh thyme, oranges, high quality red wine vinegar, of course sea salt and black pepper. I salted and peppered up the drake outside and inside. I made a bed of thyme in the bird, and quarter an orange with the quarters going on top of the thyme in the cavity. I made a take that French Culinary Institute a la orange sauce. I carved the duck serving the meat on top of a Golden Yukon Mash with the a la orange spooned beautifully over the bird and around the mash. This was a great experience. I had a table full of my non-hunting friends. One being a former anti-hunter (a woman with a PHD). She ate the most of it. I was so proud of the cook, I did not eat until after the table had finished a full side.


A Wood Duck Hen:

I climbed back down to my public land beaver swamp. This time, I went back to the far big arm of the y. This is when I found out that the big pound had been created. The thing is over 70 yards from one end to another. I had my Merkel and BOSS No. 4s with me. The idea was to target mallards and maybe that black duck. Hey! Black ducks matter. Two ducks set down right at shooting light. One was to my left and was lost in the fog was was to the right about one o’clock position in front of me. I could not tell what kind of duck it was. This duck was where the fog ended. I brought the Merkel up, and killed the duck with the full choke, left barrel. Now, how to get the thing. The range finder said 43 yards. The only thing to do was walk out and get it. I got so far, and I stopped sinking. I was suspended from the mucking ground of the pound and the water surface. The water line was just under the gap of my waders. If the reader has ever done a real vertical mountain climber, that was my body position as I kicked my way to the duck and back. I was walking on water, but under the water. This was a wood duck hen. BOSS No. 4s, 3 inch, and full choke is very mean to wood ducks. Two more would dive bomb the pond from my right, but as I reached for the Merkel they would flair and get out and behind trees. This hen was brined in sea salt, orange juice, and low sodium soy sauce for 48 hours. She is whole awaiting her turn in the freezer.

Another Drake:

My father in law wanted me to take his Silver Pigeon out. I will tell the reader, I do not like the safety on the Beretta. The confounded thing is too low. The safety has the barrel selector in the safety. I like this visually over the whole lever switching. The problem is that causes the safety not to have a center ridge for the thumb to positively hit. I could not get the curable thing on and more importantly off with a thin shooting glove. I had to look at the thing and pinch it with my thumb and fore finger to get the safety off with my bare had. Now, with the mechanics out of the way we can focus on the hunt. I was hunting on a cow pasture owned by a client. This is the same pasture I killed my first limit of geese reported back in September. Like in September, three groups of Canada geese numbering about 75 five flew around, over, and past. They never dropped down. I watched them land in a farm pond down about 300 yards to the left and further down in the next pasture. Well, jump shooting worked last time. I got past them and had dropped into a drainage which was a creek made behind the dam of the pond where a culvert ran excess water off in the trees. I have them. I get about halfway to the damn when a big white dog comes from the abandoned trailer across the property line runs around the bank of the pond to me. The geese get gone flying high and over head. I had an unzipping shot at the lowest bird, but could not get the safety off with the glove on. I could not shoot the dog. I did run him off with the “Get home!” I followed this with hand waves. I started to walk away. Dog went back to his trailer. I got above and even with the pond and looked down at it. I could see two ducks being a mallard hen and drake about four feet from the dam. I turned around going extra wide and dropping into the trees. White Dog had not seen me, and started toward the pond. I started knee crawling when I got to the base of of the pond dam. I made sure to keep my Father in Law’s gun out of the wet. I would have done the same for my gun. The bank of the pond dam dried as it sloped up. I went snake flat, got the glove off, and with my right arm on the gun ahead of me inched up the pond dam. I picked over the pond dam just at the cress. There was a big green headed drake swimming a little more to the right. I got the safety off before mounting the gun, and killed him with the bottom, modified choked barrel and BOSSS No. 4s. I am certain I missed this drake flying on an earlier hunt.

This drake was prepped whole with thyme and oranges in the salted cavity and smoked whole over pecan wood. Four diners and nothing left but a Skelton.

Big Water is a Relative Term:

There is a lake owned by a city about forty minutes from my house. There are duck and geese all over it. The problem is you are only allowed to hunt small pockets of the lake and all the ducks and geese know it. I saw hundreds of mallards, geese, and ring necks on the way out.

This is not a big piece of water, but it is the biggest thing I have ever, personally, had a boat on. This was a cold day. The temperature was 9 degrees. My gear was well suited except my feet. The metal bottom john boat just sucked the heat out of the bottom of my feet. The push bar on the motor froze. Luckily, my trust ZIPPPO finally got it thawed. I went back into a little cut off the main lake. I got off the boat to tie it up. I had it sitting long ways to the water under some overhanging trees and ends pushed into saw barriers. My feet froze to the metal floor as soon as I stepped back into the boat. This was not the smartest thing to do alone. My propane heaters also froze solid. I had my Belgium Auto 5 and the BOSS NO. 4s with me. This hunt I hit, but did not recover my first duck. The hen mallard come from the Amin lake circled, and kept flying. I should not have shot. She was far, high, and going away on a slight angle. I took the sight picture I thought was right, and watched he sail in a j back toward me to the water against the bank. I, after much time, got the boat loose and over to her. She took off across the lake before I could get the gun up. I would have been very proud of me if it had been a sporting clay. This was not a clay. I was not happy with me pushing my limits. This happened off and on. About one in the afternoon a group of three started to drop and switched heading straight away. I killed one mallard hen out of this group. I headed out at five that evening and watched fall the ducks and geese up near the boat launch. I missed a lot this day, but only touched the one I killed and the one that got gone.



Last Three Geese:

This would be the second to last hunt and last hunt that brought home dinner. I had with me my Merkel and BOSS No. 3s. I love this load. The killing by them leaves geese in a bloody pulp. I went back to the farm pond I had all those geese sit down and and run off by the white dog. The white dog on this hunt stayed away. The problem was the geese were staying away too.

I had my silhouettes and second hand decoys set up on the bank just off the U of the pond dam. The range finder said the longest shot across the pocket of the pond dam was 50 yards. I had not seen nor heard a goose until about eleven in the morning. I heard one honking to the left between the ten o’clock and eleven o’clock position. There was one real big goose leading a second. Behind them was another set of two. These four geese were not with each other. These were two separate pairs going to the same place. They circled around in front of me, they circled around over top of me, the circled back in front of me. The first two started to fall and landed right in the full body decoys. “Well, those decoys already have shot in them.” I held off because the other two came back and dropped right into the decoys. I should have placed them closer to me, but the idea was to keep the geese off the bank and over the water. That obviously, did not work. I was hunkered into a washed out spot against the bank below the decoys. I came up. One goose just got his feet off the ground when the Right modified choke barrel killed him. I guess it was a him. A goose dived across the water. He almost a perfect crosser. I crushed his head with the Left full choke barrel. His head looked like it had been dipped in a bucket of red paint. He floated to the pond dam bank. The one in the decoys was 47 yards away on the range finder. The one in the water had been at about 35 yards. I got hunkered back down. I heard “HOOOK, HONK” about an hour later. This was a real big goose with a smaller one following but not with him. They flew high across in front of me. Thirty minutes later, “HOOONK” here they come back. I think the two I killed were the mates to these two. He flew over me, and in front of me, and flew behind me, and came back over at about one o’clock position. I was underneath him. I started the swing at this feet up just past the beak. I slipped the sear on the Left full choke barrel. I saw the base of the neck explode. His head went back, and he fell with a very loud thud on the other side on the bank on his back. He weighed 12.5 pounds on the scale. The next biggest weighed 10.75 pounds.

I had other hunts. One was an elk hunt march back into an area with noting seen, but I did hear some Sand Hill Cranes. One hunt was after ducks closed I saw a bunch of teal. I had never seen them before, and did not figure out what they were until I got back home. I helped a farmer with calving cow. That farmer had 50 geese and over 50 ducks on his farm pound the day season closed. I know have permission to hunt that property. I had one hunt where the flood was up really high. I watched a mallard drake the size of a smallish goose at the far end of a lot of water in on my property.

Those last geese were breasted skin off, trimmed like venison, brined in hard cider, apple cider vinegar, sea salt. Then dried and rubbed with a little sea salt, a lot a fresh crushed black pepper, cyan pepper, and brown sugar. The meat gets smoked over pecan wood resting on sliced apples with hard cider not floating them in the aluminum pan.