opener success

This year I decided to take a bunch of novice hunters with me on opening day. This started as an idea early last week, so there was a bit of last minute panic going on.  Things like getting a young man set up with an apprentice license but not soon enough to find a duck stamp.  My sons friend deciding to go at midnight but again no duck stamp. Picking out 2 new dbl barrels for my wife and son on wed, but not putting a shell through them before 7 am Sat.  Nothing major that would kill a hunt, just change the way things start out.  So a couple of the crew got a later start on the day after waiting for Travis at the outback sports shop to arrive with the duck stamps, but it all worked out. Teenagers dont like to get up early anyway.  3 of us got out for the morning hunt. Managed 4 gadwalls on the first stop. Cruised on down the road to the Cotteau Prairie wpa to jump some more ponds.  A tough sneak but after bad shooting on the pond, we smacked a lesser canadian while unloading at the tailgate.  Talked with the game wardens wife for a bit on the way out.  She was playing tow truck for her crew that got stuck in a field in the dark.  Went back to the house to fix some breakfast and pick up the rest of the crew.  Full bellies and a truck load of hunters with duck stamps, decoys, a kayak, and the dog and off to another wpa north of Ross.  A mixed bag here of mallards, teal, red heads, cans, gadwalls, and a greater canadian. a great start for a bunch of kids.  Off to grandmas house to raid the fridge and clean some birds before the last stop on the day.  The last stop was a stock pond on a neighbors place that we were graciously given permission to hunt.  6 hunters new to the game, lined up on a dike and stepped over the top.  2000 spoonbills sat on a pond smaller than a football field. After an hour of laughing and squealing and dodging circling ducks 10 feet off the end of a barrel we packed it up for the day. 6 youngsters brought home their limit of ducks, 2 of them first timers.  Even after cleaning birds they all want to do that again.  Success?  YES!  Its 9:00 am now, the house is still quiet and the dog is still sleeping. Yesterday was definitely a success.