The New Season

Unsure if he had heard, I waited – part of me hoping he hadn’t – and I’d get the chance to pull the trigger on the bird instead. I braced myself, mentally preparing for the shot when rather gracefully, the bird slipped over the decoy spread and hovered right in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the blind doors open and in one fluid movement David sat up, his gun already to his shoulder. He fired a single shot that struck the bird with multiple pellets and sent it falling, lifelessly, into the decoys. As the sound of the shot died away, the air was full of feathers that rained down like snow

The previous day I’d invited David out for a mid-season big water duck hunt. The morning’s flight hadn’t really lived up to expectation but the company was good and the mixed bag we shot that morning included Mallards, Parries, spoonies, swans and a lone goose that had all decoyed superbly well despite the lack of wind.

Just before we