Austin Murray
College Composition and Research
Pre-Writing Essay
Friday August 26th
My First Duck Hunt
The most memorable morning I have had in my life was my first duck hunt. Imagine sitting in a flooded patch of timber in the with only my friends and a duck call. Duck hunting has granted me adventurous winters with my best buds. Killing limits of mallards, falling in cold water, walking miles to get to my spot-- these are some of my adventures, good and bad, that I have experienced since my first duck hunt. Before I went on my first duck hunt, I had to get my hunter's permit; after getting my permit, I realized I hated deer hunting-- so I tried hunting something new: ducks.
Before I could go hunting, I had to pass my hunters safety class. I traveled to Trenton, Missouri with my dad to take a two-day, twelve-hour course. The first day was eight hours long. My father and I had to sit through an eight hour lecture about hunters safety and ethics; the lecture was one of the most boring things I have set through in my life. I had to keep telling myself that getting my permit would be worth it. I wanted a big deer on my wall like all of my friends had, and I wanted it soon. Needless to say I made persevered and made through the first day.
The second day turned out to be the real challenge: test day. After another four hours of lecture, the test had come. My dad and I, along with thirty other hunters, had to take a grueling hour-long test. I was nervous; this would be the first test in my life that would actually have an impact on my near future. If I missed more than five questions, I would have to retake the test and would not be able to buy deer tags and hunt the next weekend. When I turned my test in, my stomach churned. I thought that I only had missed a few, but I could not shake the feeling that bombed the test. When the instructor started to grade my test, he found three answers were wrong in the first column. This made my heart sink. While I was busy feeling bad for myself, I did not realize that those were the only three that I missed-- I passed.
As soon as we left Trenton, my dad and I went hunting. When I was walking to my stand, I saw a doe standing right in front of it. Before I had a chance to react to the deer, she jumped and ran away. That didn’t matter to me though, I was excited to think about all of the deer and other animals that I would get to see that season. There was just one problem: I didn't see another deer the rest of the season.
After the failure of my first deer season, I was not too excited to get back in the stand that following season. I decided to try something new. My parents were friends with a guy named Doug Cox. Doug was a professional duck-hunting guide and he told my mom that he would be more than happy to take my dad, my brother, and me on a guided duck hunt. Of course we accepted his offer; some of my best friends were duck hunters and I wanted to see if it was as good as they said it was. At 5:45 AM, we met Doug at a convenience store in Norborne, Missouri. Around 6:00 PM,we got in the blind, about thirty minutes before sunrise. When we got all settled in, all we had left to do was wait. I didn’t realize that when duck hunting I could talk in the blind! That instantly made duck hunting better than deer hunting-- No more sitting in a small stand trying not to make a noise. Around 6:30, we got our first groups of ducks. A flock of about fifty mallards came in to take a rest from their feed flight from Grand Pass. I’ll never forget that moment, when they got to the hole Doug yelled, “Take em!” I pulled up and fired all three shells. Bang! Bang! Bang! Two mallards fell. My first shots at group of ducks and I shot a double. As the day went on, we had several more groups of ducks come in and we shot several more ducks. We even cooked breakfast in the blind. Things died down around 11:30AM, but that was okay. I had already limited out so I couldn't shoot anymore, but my love for duck hunting had started. Today, because of this hunt, I have an immense passion for duck hunting.
Getting my hunter's permit, finding out I hated deer hunting, and going on my first duck hunt-- without doing these things I would not know my true love: duck hunting. To this day I still duck hunt with all of my best buds. We have endured everything from -20 degree wind-chills to flash floods in the middle of the hunt. Duck hunting has created a beautiful bond between me and my hunting partners, and for that I am glad I got to share my first hunt with my family.