Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

I headed to the duck blind at 0’dark thirty today with my friend, Jim, for a morning of puddle duck hunting. Weather was a pleasant 37 degrees, overcast skies, and a dropping tide. Winds were WNW and near calm.

We dropped in the canoe, loaded with decoys and gear, and began the half-mile paddle to my duck blind in the darkness. In the pre-season, Jim really spruced upped the blind with a new deck, roof and siding, and re-grassed the whole thing. I am forever indebted to have a friend that puts in that kind of effort. The blind looks better than ever. Thank you, Jim!

Well, as we neared my blind in the dark, we saw a light – coming from inside the blind! As we got closer, we discovered a stranger had found my blind and decided to hunt in it. Pulling up to the blind, I noticed a lovely wood duck spread out front…

I shouted out, “Good morning! I’m Capt. Dave, and you are in my blind!” The stranger seemed a little shocked and embarrassed. He most likely hoped and gambled the owner of the blind would not be arriving today. I sized him up quickly, asked him if anyone was with him, and asked his name. Then I made a decision on the spot: I said “we will all hunt together today.” And that is just what we did.

It was a little awkward at first, sitting in the blind in the dark waiting for first light, with a stranger holding a shotgun in his hands. We chatted and talked ducks and all seemed above board. We all had camo on, and full face masks, so any incoming ducks would not see us. As daylight began to chase away the darkness, we started to see each other more clearly and the warm glow of morning felt wonderful. The stranger said he would be happy to pick up and move but I insisted he stay put in my blind  and hunt the morning with Jim and I. He finally agreed.

Duck hunters tend to be pretty honest and upright people with few exceptions. I could sense the stranger was cut from good cloth, his sins forgiven, and our conversation began to warm with the light of the day. Turns out Jim and the stranger worked in the same industry and knew a lot of the same business people around the country. The stranger began to open up and share little bits about his background and life and Jim and I did the same.

I made the decision to be the caller today, and let Jim and the stranger do the hunting. I tuned up by duck and goose calls and the stranger paid me a kind compliment after hearing I could indeed speak both duck and goose.

A short time later, a flock of wood ducks flew past out of range… Then, a single down stream took flight and vanished in the distance… It was quiet after that. Suddenly, a triple of mallards came over the blind, banked hard left into the wind, cupped their wings and dropped right into the decoys. The stranger picked out a mallard drake still a few feet in the air over the water and fired. The duck began to climb for the sky and Jim fired a single shot and dropped the mallard stone dead in the decoys at 25 yards. Jim then swung on another mallard, now 61 yards out and climbing fast, and fired a second  shot. That bird folded and dropped like a rock. Jim had himself a bonafide double on mallards!

More time passed, when suddenly, a pair of wood ducks cut across the blind in front of us, left to right, like a pair of fighter jets at mach speed and disappeared into thin air. We were all caught off guard.

Later, a single drake wood duck dropped out of the sky and landed right in the decoy spread. I jumped that bird up and the stranger fired and missed and then Jim’s gun spoke and the duck folded. Jim grabbed the canoe and paddled out and retrieved all three of his ducks and then began to paddled back towards the blind. Out of nowhere, a flock of 7 bluebills swing left to right out front, turned, and came in right over the decoys and over Jim in the canoe! Without missing a beat, Jim picked up his shotgun and fired once while seated in the canoe and dropped his fourth duck of the morning out of the sky, twenty yards up. What incredible shooting.

We shook hands and said good-bye to the stranger, loaded our gear back into the canoe, and began the paddle back to where we had dropped in hours earlier in the pitch dark. The tide had turned, the day had warmed, and two (three) happy duck hunters called it a great day on the water. And that is how we ended our morning duck hunting with a stranger in my duck blind.

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay. Still In Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!

*All local, state, and Federal firearms and game laws are observed on all BAYMEN hunts. *Firearms and ammo are NOT provided on any BAYMEN hunt. *Limited guided hunts available for duly licensed hunters only.