...the only person holding a gun...

It is funny how close you come to missing out on some rather monumental events during duck season.

I had given Joey Bland an open invitation to come over whenever and with however many of his kids he wanted to bring for the weekend after Thanksgiving.

We briefly talked about going on Sunday morning while at a “family & friends” football game and get together on Saturday afternoon. I don't believe there was much enthusiasm on either side of our conversation.

As we were leaving, Joseph Bland (who missed out on going earlier in the week) shouted from across the parking lot, “Hey Mr. Johns…” while shouldering his “air Remington 870 20 gauge shotgun” at a flight on incoming Mallards. I responded by shouting, “Have your dad call me!”

Well Joey called a few hours later asking if we were still planning on going, and I think he could tell that my response of “sure” sounded a bit reluctant. He confessed that he was hoping my answer was going to be no. After laughing it off, he told me that he wanted to take Joseph since he had missed out a couple of days earlier. So we made our plan to meet somewhere the next morning before shooting time.

Here is what we almost missed...

Three Rivers
Swan Pond
11/27/06
Joey Bland, Joseph Bland, Michael Johns, Will Johns, & Mike Johns

While shooting out of the Swan Pond pit Sunday morning, Nov. 27, 2006, at about 6:40am, a single duck appeared out of the backdrop of early morning blue skies and what would seem to be several hundred black birds. I am not certain which one of us spotted the duck first, but it was evident that someone in our pit not only connected with it visually but had made a mental connection as well. To anyone with a little duck hunting experience it didn’t take much to know that this duck would be a Green Wing Teal by the size and quickness of its flight.

The Teal was cupping hard and losing altitude as if there was a target in the decoys that it had to hit. After giving an unnecessary feed call and quack or two, I started to reach for my gun, knowing that Joey was probably doing the same, with the thought that we would be ready to give Joseph a little “back-up” if necessary.

In my mind, I was about to tell Joseph to take the shot, but my thoughts were never converted into actual words. Unexpectedly, there was the loud, crashing, reverberating sound of a single shotgun blast, and the sight of a perfectly cupped, incoming Teal change to a lifeless, head-down, and wings-up bird falling straight to the water below.

I immediately looked to my left, past Michael and Will, to see the only person holding a gun was Joseph Bland with his dad, Joey, patting his back with a prideful look of amazement.

Joseph Bland made a beautiful shot on a Green Wing Teal, while shooting out of the Swan Pond pit Sunday morning, Nov. 27, 2006, at about 6:40am.