I’ve always been a late bloomer. It seems like everyone was
always leaps and bounds ahead of me in all things growing up. You know for kids
(emphasis on kids) there’s the first day of school, first kiss and in parts of
the United States, their first duck hunt. Raegen experienced his first duck hunt at the
ripe old age of eight. Me? Well as usual I’m a bit behind on the times and mine was at the
vibrant and remarkably peppy age of 33.
As the fairy tale of firsts goes, I was sitting around the
fire having a glass of wine with three handsome and experienced duck hunters
when the wisest suggested I go with them the next morning on a duck hunt. Seeing
that I don’t really like birds and after some rational and logical convincing I
agreed to go bright and early the following morning out into the swamp.
I should have prefaced the last paragraph with the fact that
I have maintained my stance with Raegen throughout our relationship that I
will always try an adventure once. So far in our relationship I’ve been able to
determine a few things:
- Deep sea fishing is fun if there are no waves.
- Deer hunting is okay if I’m in the enclosed deer stand for warmth and that no one actually shoots a deer.
- Scuba diving lessons in a pool weren’t my cup of tea so I’m not holding my breath for the open water.
- There are not many people I trust more than Raegen so I’m always willing to go for it. Once.
So the morning comes and we started gearing up for the hunt.
This days' hunt required waders (picture camouflage overalls with built in
boots that are waterproof) for trudging through the swamp as well as winter
gear such as a beanie, gloves, long sleeves and a coat. Since I still needed to
go shopping on Arden Hunters Guild for my ladies camo wear, Raegen outfitted me with the spares in the closet. Let’s
just say the outfit made me look more Chris Christie than Outdoor Barbie.
Nevertheless, were off. First in a boat and then on foot as we walked through
the swamp back to the spot.
I was traipsing along thinking “these waders
are pretty smart. I am waist deep in water and I’m dry. Brilliant!”
I guess I jinxed myself because as we strolled through the swamp
my right foot started getting cold and a little damp. Yes, there
was a hole in the boot of my wader. Being stubborn and determined I decided to keep going.
We made it to the spot and the guys set up the decoys and their blind. I propped my foot up on a swamp chair to drain out the water
(and proceeded to stand like that for 2.5 hours) and life was good. There was no wind which isn’t good for duck
hunting but besides that it was a gorgeous day to be out in nature minus one
essential thing for duck hunting. Ducks.
After lots of duck calling, waiting, a conference call, and
some more waiting we finally saw some ducks. The guys managed to get two ducks.
Simba (our furry hunting companion) dutifully retrieved the downed ducks and the
day was looking up. Until it wasn’t. That was all the retrieving Simba had to do that day. On the plus side, at least we didn’t get skunked (i.e. zero)
and Dr. Wally* was able to take some duck home for dinner.
Until Then,
Amy and Raegen
*If you haven’t figured it out by now, all names have been
changed for the sake of protecting the innocent.
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