Well, I guess I should share the whole story then.

My Dad's L.C. Smith was made in 1949 and he purchased it new. It was his only gun for most of his life. He never hunted ducks, and so never taught me. Until this weekend I had never hunted ducks.

While driving north in the rain on Friday I saw a particularly large eagle, which I always consider to be a good sign. I like bald eagles. I was on my way to Marine Corps Base Quantico.

After the long drive, I stopped to rest at a secluded place I know, and while there I noticed that some of the rain had started bouncing pretty high. By the time I drove to the game check station it had turned to pure sleet, and it was coming down hard! I met my friends Tim and Yul, and by the time we were ready to go it was pouring snow and the wind was howling. We drove to the blind and I put on every sweater I had, a flannel-lined denim jacket, and my Filson coat. (Denise gave me a liner and hood for the coat for Christmas this year.) We made our way to the blind, started putting out decoys, and the wind stopped, the clouds blew away, the sun came out, and it got warm.

The only ducks we saw were mergansers, but we saw many eagles. The Presidential helicopter squadron was practicing near-by, and we couldn't hear each other speak when a Sikorsky would fly overhead. Tim, who is the head of the conservation program at Quantico, told me that the squadron flies him and his co-workers for shore-line surveys and other research projects. He assured me that if you have to fly in a helicopter, those are the ones in which to fly. I don't know if that's because they are luxurious or the pilots are the best in the world, or both. Yul, who is a Federal Game Warden, said he flies in them often also, and recently was inspecting the Virginia and Maryland shorelines for bait. He found some corn too, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. By the end of the day we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but the guns were quiet.

The next morning at 5:30 I met Emmett and his sixteen year old, next door neighbor Austin. We went back to the same blind, which interestingly, is in the middle of the busiest part of Quantico main base. They put out decoys and we settled in. A canvasback noted our setup and swam towards the spread. He was behind me and I couldn't see him, and I was in the way and neither of the others would be able to shoot that way. Finally, at one minute past the beginning of legal shooting time, Emmett whispered "Tom, turn around and when he flies shoot him." I did, and the duck was only inches off the water when the L.C. Smith spoke. The modified barrel put it on him too! He was right in the decoy spread, and I couldn't even tell which one he was until he lifted off. It was an exciting couple of seconds. Denise and I had duck for dinner last night, for the first time. It was different from anything I had ever eaten before.

We hunted the rest of the day, and although we saw a few more ducks, this was to be our only prize. But that's okay. Austin and Emmett will hunt the rest of the season together, as they have been, and I have my first duck. The L.C. Smith harvested its first duck, and I think of it as having taken my Dad hunting. It was a wonderful weekend. The photo was taken at the game check station.

Take care, Tom