Like a Kid Again

My anxiety level is slowly rising, but it is a good anxiety. Saturday is the opening day of the youth waterfowl and is a day I have looked forward to since my oldest son turned 12 nine years ago. It is a day that is for the kids, all about the kids, and feeling like a kid once again. As the sun rises tomorrw, and our gear is loaded, my son Bryan and I will head north about 50 miles. He will get to play hookie from school tomorrow and spend the day with me at work. I am sure much of the days conversations will revolve around duck and goose hunting.
The day will drag on, seeming endless, much like today is. Tomorrow evening will be one of the longest nights of the year for both of us. Nothing to do but wait. Wait for the 4:30am alarm to sound. Getting dressed in our hunting gear and firing up the grill for fresh grilled breakfast burritos and some sweet rolls that my friend Matt and his niece will be bringing.
Matt and Jordyn will be making a 1 hour drive in the early hours of the predawn morning to meet us for breakfast and the excitement of the opening morning of youth waterfowl hunting. With this being my sons third season and Jordyns second, both kids are well aware of the fact that it will be an exciting morning. Our kayak and canoe paddle in the darkness, trying to avoid getting stuck on one of the hundreds of stumps that fill the reservoir, is always exciting. It is a trek across the lake that often stirs the resident Canada Geese into a few early morning groans. There will be hundreds of ducks and only a few kids, scattered with their adult partners, throughout several square miles of prime waterfowl habitat. Our kids know that when the first hen mallard makes her single "quack" wake up call, the sky will soon awaken with the sounds and sight of ducks from every direction.
Woodducks, literally hundreds of woodducks. Teal, both blue winged and green winged. Mallards, young and old. The possible Redhead, pintail,scaup, or widgeon. And of course, the great Canada Goose. Both Bryan and Jordyn are familiar with the speed at which the little butterball woodducks can zip into, and then instantly, away from the decoys. The flying v wedge of the seemingly supersonic teal is a sight to behold as they buzz by the decoys just to take a glance and be gone, down the lake shore, only to make a big sweeping turn and zip by to take another quick peek at our spread. Once in awhile those little speed demons will drop into the decoys on the first or second pass, but if they are close enough on the fly by "cut em", or "take em" come in a quick shout from Matt or I, in an attempt to get one of the youngsters on the birds and fire a shot before they feathered f14s disappear.
The sound of Canadian honkers waking at sunrise and taking to the air, heading for their morning feeding grounds, will send chills down my spine. Hopefully, a couple hours later, when the geese return from feeding, we can coax them into a small spread of goose decoys and one of the kids can bring down their first goose. Neither my son Bryan or my friends niece Jordyn has taken a goose. I can see the excitement in them just from their body language whenever we hear geese. They are like the 747 Jumbo airliners when it comes to waterfowl, and though they are somewhat slow, they are not always easy to fool, and even harder to bring down.
As I write this my heart races from sentence to sentence as if I were there, holding the gun myself. Having been in these scenarios several times while hunting, I know first hand what a rush it is. I know what it is like to pull the trigger and see that first waterfowl of the season tumble from the sky. It might be the first shot of the season or the 21st shot of the season, either way it is a great feeling. I love the hunt, but I have come to love the childrens hunt even more.
As adults, we are not allowed to have a gun in possession this weekend and yet I am probably more excited then I ever am when it is my time to hunt. It is for the kids, and it is such a wonderful feeling to introduce them to the great outdoors and be there to share in memories that they will never forget.