Wingshooting

Come early spring in the forests of the Upper Midwest is when you listen for them. 

Through the songs of warblers, loons, blue jays and nuthatches, your ears detect the drumming of male ruffed grouse beating their wings to attract females and repel rivals. It’s breeding season in this part of America, and the low-frequency, rapid-thumping broadcast permeates the hardwood, conifer, jack pine, chestnut and aspen trees of the male’s territory. For wingshooters, scientists and naturalists the intensity of the drumming through the woods foretells of the season’s hunt – and habitat work that still needs to be planned for the to birds thrive. 

For the rest of us, the telltale drumming signals that it’s time to clean that side by side, waterproof those boots and stock up on shells.

Finally, I was old enough to shoot my break-open .410 shotgun without it knocking me to the ground, but my dad had recently gotten severely hurt in a horse riding accident and was unable to take me on my first dove hunt.

I was heartbroken; not only was my hero stuck in bed with his arm, leg, and ribs broken, but we also couldn’t do all the things we had planned to do, like going on my first dove hunt. 

Thankfully, my grandpa was willing to walk through his pasture with a five-year-old boy on a hot September afternoon.

With increasing pressure on waterfowl, waterfowlers need to dig deeper into their bag of tricks to bring more birds closer.

Across North America, most waterfowlers probably use mallard decoys. Mallards flying over a pond expect to see big orange feet glowing like beacons in the water. Most decoys don’t come with feet, so glue two strips of orange ribbon to the decoys to simulate legs in the water. Tip each ribbon with a small sinker to hold it down.

Sounding like squeaky wheels needing grease, about 50 squealing long-necked birds circled overhead before settling into the water just outside our decoys.

These birds looked like no other North American waterfowl. In flight, the gangly birds stretched out their elongated necks and dangled long legs behind them, looking more like an ibis than a duck. Their wings beat strong, but slow, more like geese than the frenzied flapping of other ducks. They also stand upright like geese and easily walk on land.