Hen wood duck...heck of a shot.

[Prodigal Son]

Me and my cousin (my fishing partner cousin found in pictures elsewhere on this site) spent the better part of the afternoon trampling around in a swamp trying to be where the resident wood ducks were going to be...we were near the beaver dam, they were near the stream head, we moved down there, spooked them before we got a shot, we hang out waiting for them, 45 minutes later they circle and land down near the dam. Rinse and repeat for 3ish hours.

We had nothing better to do, so we kept on keepin on and right about the time legal shooting was stopping, they started landing all over us. We exchanged glances and both decided we'd jump shoot what was there and call it a day...well I fell over and my chest waders nearly took on a big dose of swamp water and the noise jumped them before were ready

We figured we'd wait them out as we knew they wanted to roost in there for the night. 10 minutes later we decided it was time to pack it in because the sun was pretty much gone and one last group flew right over head...I didn't wait for the go-ahead, I just shot...and dropped this one...and her head dropped about 5 feet from her. Not the kind of guy to get excited over a mutilated animal, but I was always taught to aim at their neck and I've rarely (read: never) succeeded at hitting my mark.

Don't look if dead duck bothers you.

[Capt. Fred]

Quick and painless!

[farmerjane]

It never knew what hit it ~

GOOD SHOT!!!

[welder]

Hunter's buddy : Hey ya hit it!

Hunter : I was shooting at it wasn't I !

Great job , now go get some more.

[Daddy'O]

Reminds me of a story which happened back in the early 90’s during opening day of dove season. Our whole gang was in attendance that fine day.

Everyone had a good morning hunt. Later in the morning we all met back at the tank batteries to count & clean our birds.

Old Homer, a grand gentleman (may he rest in peace), started off bragging by saying, “Look at all these dove I shot. Notice anything unusual?” Someone spouted off those birds don’t have any wings. Homer said, “Exactly, I like to just shoot the wings off so not to ruin any meat.”

Well my buddy Scott would always pull the dove’s head off and feed it to his dog, Bet (may she rest in peace). So when he emptied his bag on the tailgate all his birds were headless.

Homer sat there with a curious look on his face, when Scott said, “Homer, you may like to shoot the wings off yours, but I just love shooting the heads off mine.”

Homer just looked at Scott and said, “You know, the first liar in this group doesn’t stand a chance does he?”

Thanks, for bringing back some good memories. Oh, and good shooting!

Wayne

[Prodigal Son]

Thanks...didn't notice till now that a.) those are crappy pictures...cell phone camera and b.) you can see the algae from the swamp all over the duck...that stuff was EVERYWHERE! I took a shower and it was falling out of places that were 3 layers deep in clothes/waders.

[Kern O]

I was always told that a shot like that counted double if you caught the falling bird in your hat! FWIW, I am an NRA lifer and love any and all double barreled shotguns. Especially those that say Model 21 on them.