Decoy Kill

As I was securing my decoys until teal season opens in September I came across this decoy and the memories it invoked. I was hunting with Brian Kalich and we were on a knoll above one of the beaver ponds that I hunt. The ducks would fly over the beaver pond, see the decoys and come in through the trees. We were shooting them as they dropped below the trees on their approach into our decoys. We were waiting on some ducks to swing back when all of sudden one comes in from the other direction and Brian drops him about 6 inches off the water. At his shot one of my new gadwall decoys rocked back from the force of the shot. I swear I saw the shot wad bounce off that decoy. I looked at him and said " you killed one of my new decoys." To which he responded " yeah, but I killed that duck too." And sure enough there was a gadwall floating in the decoys. I thought about using sealant and sealing up the holes but there must be a hundred pellets in it that it would sound like a babies rattle amoung the decoys. Besides I get way too much mileage off from Brian with it.