The first day of season has finally arrived and man was I pumped! We?ve had two great mornings of feathers flyin?  and shells slingin?. We?ve seen many ducks and fired many shots. The first season always starts a little slower, but as the temperature drops the ducks will continue to fly south to our great state.

	A few wood ducks

Just to tell you a little about our first few mornings, our first morning, we decided to hunt a little beaver hole that we planted Japanese millet in a couple of months ago. We hadn?t taken the time to go to watch them fly in yet, but we knew they were there. (That being said, please scout every duck hole you plan to hunt before you hunt it.) We got in the water right at shooting time and got set up on the dam. Last year, it was one of our most successful shooting spots. This year, the ducks were flying from a different direction. Oops! We learned our lesson. We watched about twenty or so ducks fly in, but all we could do was watch. We could never get a shot on them. It was still a great hunt. We killed a few woodies, but next time we will be more prepared.

The second morning we decided to go to what we call the ?Big Beaver Swamp?. We had a quite a hike, so we got an early start. Unfortunately, when we finally got to the blind, we realized the beavers had been over working themselves and the water level was higher than we expected. We treaded on through and the water got closer and closer to the top of my waders. I decided to hunt from the beaver dam which was a bad choice to make. My buddy, Richard, decided to tough it out in the tree blind. It was finally ?shooting time? and I couldn?t see a thing or shoot in a safe direction. I decided just to call the ducks in and let Richard do all the shooting.

	Green wing teal

The first pair of ducks that flew in were green wing teals and he dropped them like a sack of hot taters. I was impressed so I just continued to call and let Richard continue to shoot, since he had the safest shot. We watched a bunch of mallards circle us, but they never committed to flying in toward us. Finally, some more woodies and teals came in on him and he let the ol? Remington sound off again. He shed a few feathers but no duck. He redeemed himself after that by knocking down a pair of drake woodies. I was thoroughly enjoying myself but pretty upset that I didn?t get to help him out. We broke the dam a little to get the water level down. Next time, I will be getting in to help him out. Hopefully, it will continue to be a good week of duck hunting and early morning breakfasts with friends. I can?t wait to see how it turns out.

So get out your Winn Tuck lanyards and get your LCC calls in tune, and go out and have some fun. Be safe. Be prepared. And don?t forget to enter the Waterfowl Competition!