Nebraskaland Magazine
My sons Pat, Kevin and myself were joined Saturday by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission wildlife chief Scott Taylor for a duck hunt. In a conversation earlier this year Scott had told me he grew up hunting waterfowl. This would be the first hunt of the season from of our pit. Scott arrived at 7:30 to help set out the decoys and last minute prep before hunkering down below ground.
I made it a point to arrive early to get a breakfast casserole of bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms, green peppers and onions covered with cheese in the oven, and my plan was right on schedule. Breakfast was served as everyone relaxed and ate – until ducks appeared out of nowhere. Plates were haphazardly traded for shotguns and Scott was up and shooting. Good thing he had backup! Moments later we had birds on the water as Kevin’s dog Limit did his thing and we returned to breakfast. By morning’s end, we had one widgeon and six mallard drakes in the bag.
At lunch time we were joined by fellow Commissioner Jerrod Burke, son Logan and new son-in law Brandon. Cooking for a group calls for something fast and easy to fix, so I opted for cream can chicken, potatoes and every fresh vegetable on the store rack. Lunch was served and then we got down to serious work with Jerrod hooking up the satellite dish for the Husker game. Kevin and Logan dug the hole for the dish and Jerrod readied the receiver and wire, but watching the game was to no avail. With a missing receiver piece, our viewing was limited to looking for cell phone updates throughout the afternoon.
The afternoon duck flight returned soon after as flock after flock of birds looked at our spread – at times the action was nonstop as teal tested our shooting skills over flooded corn.
By the end of the day, we had 21 birds in the bag, a great first hunt in the pit with a great group of friends.
