Sportsman's Quest

Drew Calvert holds a pair of water fowl he bagged recently

There is a bit of chill in the air this December morning and a hunter's thoughts turn to ducks and geese.

It's true, water fowling in the southwest isn't like the Canadian prairie potholes, or even the mid-west, but dedicated sportsmen can always find an occasional pond or fallow field that can provide an opportunity to ambush a few birds.

If one is willing to travel a bit, some very respectable shooting can be found along the Colorado river where California, Arizona and Nevada share river frontage, marshland and some fine agricultural areas.

This is the area my hunting pal Drew Calvert and his friend Tim Williams hunt each year. They hunt the river bank on the California side during the early hours with a good set of deeks and primitive blinds. They then pass shoot the Arizona side in the evening as the birds leave the river for marshy areas and fields to the east.

When we talk about primitive blinds, we're talking about finding some cover and building it up a bit. On one occasion Drew tells of sharing the blind with something that started "hissing and growling."

He got out of there faster than a blue wing teal that's been busted as it comes in to visit some friendly decoys. It turns out that some unnamed territorial beast didn't enjoy being awakened at "O-dark-30."

It took him a while to settle down and build a new blind, but he managed to get his limit of Canada geese with his Beretta and Remington's new 3-inch goose loads. Tim shot six banded birds that began their journey from Wyoming and followed the river south -- not bad for a desert hunt.

If you are inclined to go a bit further afield, Texas is hard to beat. Jason Higgins, another of our hunting lodge members, traded a champion bred lab pup for a 4-day guided duck and goose hunt down near Abilene.

Jason is originally from Maryland and knows the Chesapeake well. When he moved to Nevada he hunted waterfowl at Overton, Paranagut and the Key Pitman reserve. That shows the limits a real hunter will go to meet his traditional heritage.

Then came Texas where a waterfowl hunting license includes not only ducks and geese, but several tags for deer and even turkey.

Jason hunted ducks for three days in livestock ponds -- limited out, field hunted geese from pits on the fourth day -- limited out by 10 a.m. He was then asked by his host Steve Carrigan, "Wanna go deer huntin'?"

Two hours in a tree stand and he had a nice 2X2 forkie, then a little later a 4X4 from a stand a few miles away.

He missed the turkey.

Oh yeah, and the pup he traded earlier got to hunt with his sister and mother; they all showed their championship blood lines. This hunt was not a bad week's work in anyone's book, and Jason's freezer is well stocked for the winter.

The hunting is still out there but in our mobile society with an ever growing population, and ever increasing efforts to limit hunting opportunities, you may just have to travel a bit. And, travel is good. While in Texas Jason dropped down to San Antonio and met up with his wife for a little vacation and dinner on the River Walk. They also visited the Alamo, still a symbol of our freedom and heritage.

Water fowling? You bet. My kit is packed and my favorite Ithica Featherweight side-by-side shotgun is ready. Let's get out there; I'll meet you at the lodge.