The call came from Chad Cadwell on Tuesday afternoon; “what are you doing at 4 am tomorrow”. I didn’t have to open Outlook, as I knew I had just moved both my 7 am and 9 am conference calls. My wife and kids were out of town, so my early morning obligations were limited. “Pick me up at 4:45 and let’s go duck hunting”, Chad said. Cadwell has a share in a prolific lease in Weld County; about 1 hour from our homes. Reports from the field were outstanding; opening day had his blind-mates limiting out on green and blue teal in less than one hour. If we could execute a straightforward game plan, Chad and I could be back at work before 9:30 am.
Anticipation of any hunt I take part in results in a poor night sleep; October 16th was not anomalous. I tossed and turned until about 3:50 when I finally decided it was time to get the day going. Punctual as I always am, I backed the Ram 1500 into Chad’s driveway, and we loaded up. A ride with my friend Cadwell is always informative. We talk work and business strategy until we get close to our destination. When the road goes to gravel, we turn our attention to the task at hand.
Responsibilities were immediately split; Chad would move the blind to an advantaged position, and I would lug the decoy sleds into the water. The approach had me setting out 10 decoys to the left and right of the blind, with a mallard MOJO fluttering in the center. It did not take long before I noticed ducks flying from all different directions. Shots around the reservoir started to ring out as other hunters were already engaged. Chad, Angus and I moved quickly into the blind then loaded our Beretta shotguns with HEVI-Shot Duck. Unadulterated excitement caused a simultaneous adrenaline rush, that lead to temporary blindness. Chad and I were missing a lot of ducks at close range. Once we regained our composure, the fast-moving teal started hitting the water. It took less than one hour to limit-out. We took some time to take some pictures before packing the truck, and heading to our respective offices. What a way to break up the work-week.
