Can you believe that it is already DECEMBER? Seriously! Where did November go? Whizzed past in the blink of an eye, if you ask me! And, since November is, in fact, over… Well, so is the first split of duck season here in South Carolina. Luckily, I was able to duck 3 times during that time, and it was quite a successful adventure!

I’ll go ahead and say – the first hunt was the most successful. At least, my most successful. Why? I’m sure the photo above has given you at least a little hint.

It was a cool, clear morning on Winyah Bay, and the first-hunt-excitement was definitely in the air for us. After a long and difficult quick little march across the pond, we set up and waited for legal hour.

By 7:30, we had more than a few birds on the water, and the flights of ducks coming in showed no signs of slowing down. One tried to sneak across the pond and over our heads to the tree line, and I made a knee-jerk shot (mostly out of instinct) and knocked it down. John sent Prine out after it to retrieve, and noticed something interesting about the duck once he got it in his hands. A quick look with a smile told me all I needed to know – I’d shot a banded duck. This was only my second band, so I was definitely excited. Incidentally, the first banded duck I shot was also on an opening weekend, 2 years ago.

Woohoo! The rest of the hunt went well, and we pulled out of the pond about 8:30. Overall, between all hunters that morning (I wish I could remember the exact head count – sorry!), we had gadwall, mottled ducks, ring necks, buffle head, mallards, wood ducks, and a black duck.

A black duck, you ask? WELL. That’s a whole new can o’ beans. Ever noticed that it can sometimes be nearly impossible to tell a mottled duck from a black duck? Here’s a good guide. Still, it can be tough. We don’t typically see a lot of black ducks, so we all just assumed my banded bird was a mottled duck. A nearby reserve recently banded a bunch of mottleds, so it had to be one of those, right? Wrong. I reported the band and recently received the certificate. Again, wrong.

A black duck, banded in Canada. How cool is that?! It doesn’t change the fact that we pulled the band off and cleaned the duck, so I’ll never be able to get him mounted, but still! A banded black duck from Canada!

At least I have picture of it. Duck season was off to a fantastic start.

The next two hunts didn’t have quite the trophy aspect as the first, but they were great hunts nonetheless.

As timing would have it, the second hunt fell the day before Thanksgiving, on my 29th birthday. What better way to celebrate a birthday than waking up to a beautiful sunrise in the duck blind, hunting with my main dudes John and ol’ Otis, then heading to Georgetown post-hunt for the holiday weekend. How’d I get so lucky?

It was a much chillier morning that day – the first really chilly morning I’ve had this year – which always throws me at first. It takes me a few shots to get in the groove of shooting with an extra 2-3 layers and cold fingers (I know, waahhh waahhh), but we each ended up with our limits in the end. We ended up with mostly mallards and ring necks – not too shabby!

Oh, and an impromptu marsh hen hunt the next morning before heading to work at Rice Birds for the weekend! Flood tides in North Inlet are the best. And so is Rice Birds. Go there, Immediately. Not just because I sell my goodies there, I promise! I could literally buy the entire store if it were in my power (and wallet’s capabilities).

Saturday morning brought the 3rd duck hunt of the split, and we weren’t going to miss out on one more opportunity to hunt before the season closed for a few weeks. A much milder morning meant we were aiming our shotguns at monster mosquitoes (well, we wanted to anyways) while waiting for legal hour. That mild morning also brought fewer ducks than the previous two hunts, but we didn’t let that damper our fun.

A mottled duck was the first thing I knocked down… And yes, for real a mottled duck this time! Don’t worry, I learned my lesson – I won’t let a duck get cleaned unless I am 100% sure. We ended up with 2 more ducks between the 4 of us – another mottled and a gadwall.

The week / holiday weekend was just perfect. A well celebrated birthday, Thanksgiving with family & friends, and ducks, ducks ducks – success! Capping it off with an oyster roast by the fire was just icing on the cake.

I hope you & yours had a lovely holiday as well!

Now I just need duck season to start up again!