Last season (2019) I had the privilege to hunt the last two days of teal season with my son and his wife. This year I have been looking forward to hunting with them on the opening day of teal season which was Saturday. Unfortunately this year my daughter-in-law couldn’t hunt because she is expecting a baby girl in November, and her doctor advised her not to go. It’s a small price to pay for the health of our second baby girl grandchild. Friday I made the one hour drive to Anahuac, Texas, to help my son Kyle brush in a blind on a flooded field and replace a bench in a blind on a reservoir. It was a hot, late summer day, and we both felt the sun on our backs as we weaved palmetto leaves around the wire frame of the blind. After and hour of exterior design, we had completed the cover on the blind and supplemented it with some fence line shrubbery. We did not see any teal or other ducks at this blind location, and it was on to the next one.
At the next blind, we were greeted by the land foreman who lives very close to the reservoir. It was good to visit with him and his lifelong friend who were going to hunt the reservoir Saturday morning. I truly consider it a blessing to be able to hunt this property with my son and really appreciate his kindness. As we were replacing a rotten bench in one of the blinds, we stood in the blind and watched groups of thirty plus teal move about the reservoir. I love the sound of whistling wings and the missile like movements as they buzzed over our heads. This just added much more anticipation to the next morning’s hunt.
After leaving this location, we drove to our morning hunt destination in a flooded rice field. It was the same field where we hunted the last two days of teal season last year with great success. You can scroll through the blog entries to find my post of those two hunts including two videos (one from each day). On the way Kyle shared with me a video of this location he had taken on his phone earlier in the week. I was excited to see wave after wave of teal flying low across the levee over the not yet flooded field in the video. Upon arrival we saw a few mottled ducks and a lot of egrets but no teal. The blind was in good shape as Kyle and Hank had brushed it in on Monday. After doing a drive by and not seeing any teal, I was beginning to think that we were not going to have a lot of success in the morning for the opener. We both kept a positive attitude as we drove away hoping the north wind forecast for the next day would bring more teal to the coast.
The alarm went off at 3 am as I was already awake in anticipation of the day’s hunt and being on time. After loading up my gear in the truck, I was on my way to Kyle’s in Anahuac. On the way I stopped by Daylight Donut Shop on Hwy 146 and bought some boudin and sausage kolachies. This was my first time to try this shop, and I will definitely go again as the dough had a nice crust and flavor and they were stuffed with good ingredients. I pulled into the driveway at 4:38 and checked the radar for showers and lightening. All looked clear as the porch light came on and I was greeted by Goose, the chocolate lab, eager to get started. I think he knew what was about to happen and was itching to chase down some teal. Kyle came to the door with a smile and a cup of hot coffee. We loaded up his truck with decoys and guns and Goose and were soon on our way to meet up with Wayne, Chris and his son Nick. I always like hunting with a young person who might be experiencing his first or second duck hunt. The look of amazement and excitement before during and after the hunt reminds me of my first duck hunt and the wonderful impressions it left on me.
We arrived at the barn at 5:15 and loaded all their gear in Kyle’s truck and began conversation of what we had seen yesterday and reminisced about last year’s closing weekend we hunted together while we drove to our destination. At 5:50 am we were situated in the blind with decoys in the water and an anxious Goose placed on his perch. The winds were steady from the north northeast which set up perfectly for this blind. The first light began to crack the horizon and we had not heard any teal buzzing overhead. Shooting time was 6:33 (thirty minutes before official sunrise). At 6:32 we heard a series of gun shots from a hunting club to our west and soon saw a single land in the decoys. It sat there for a short time before jumping up and becoming our first offering. Soon larger groups began to fly by and as it got lighter they were seeking shelter in our spread of decoys. For an hour we saw fairly steady flights of teal attempt to land or buzz by us escaping the guns of other hunters nearby. By 7:30 am, Goose had retrieved thirty teal. I think he was glad we had reached our limit.
Goose is a three year old lab who has just recovered from heart worms and was surprisingly in pretty good shape. We were still cautious with him this opening day. He did an outstanding job even though he was noticeably tired by the end of the hour. I heard a lot of reports from many successful opening day teal hunts which leads me to believe that the state of the teal population is healthy no doubt due to positive conservation efforts. It makes me think my duck stamp money is being put to good use.
I thoroughly enjoyed our father/son time as I always do and I hope all you fathers out there have a chance to share the great outdoors with your son or daughter this season. I look forward to hunting with my granddaughters when they are old enough. I hope you take the time to thank your father for taking you hunting or fishing (living or not). Don’t forget to thank our heavenly father for Jesus Christ for what he did for us so that we may have eternal life with him in heaven. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Enjoy the video of our opening day teal season hunt!
Have a blessed week and thanks for reading my blog!
Sincerely,
Tim Lumpkin
Legacy-outdoors.net Instagram: @Tlump10
Legacy Outdoors 