2001-2002

As has been said elsewhere on this site, the 2001-2002 hunting season was tough for the K&R.  However, that didn't stop us from getting out and hunting whenever we had a chance.  The fall was very warm, and we didn't see many mallards until on into the winter.  When we finally did, we took advantage of the limited opportunities presented and ended up with three in the freezer.  As with wood ducks, we did not get any photographs of our game.

10.11.01

The King is ready to prior to our first duck hunt of the year.  We had some success with wood ducks early in the year but the unseasonable warm weather kept a lot of mallards up north.

10.11.01

The Rooster, geared up and camouflaged, on a warm October afternoon.  The neoprene waders were extremely hot on this day and would lead to purchases of breathable waders in the years to come. 

2002-2003

In 2002-2003 we finally achieved something we had wanted to do since our first days hunting waterfowl.  We took a banded bird.  It was an amazing experience, and an amazing hunt that produced it.  That hunt and that mallard still rank as one of the top K&R moments.  Read a narrative about the hunt here.  The hunt also represented a microcosm of our mallard hunting for the season.  A great day of hunting that produced one great stalk and one mallard in the bag.  So it would happen 4 separate times during the season.

11.27.02

The Rooster with the banded green-head that the King so expertly brought into range.

12.18.02

The King taking a practice bead on an out-of-range duck.  On this day we came home without a duck but with more great memories.

12.27.02

The Rooster showing off the mature drake mallard killed over the decoy spread. 

1.04.03

The well camouflaged King holding a mallard he shot through the trees after a memorable teamwork stalk and shoot at a jewel of a wetland in WV.

1.18.03

A great shot taken a little after sunrise on a bitter January morning.  We saw lots of ducks on this last day of the season, but few were fooled by our decoy spread.  Late season ducks have seen it all, and are hard to get into shooting range.

2003-2004

The waterfowl season 2003-2004 produced a lot of wood ducks.  They were as plentiful as they had been in previous years.  Mallards, however, were scarce.  The problem was the weather - 2003 was mild and the wettest year on record.   Only on one day in December did we see mallards in any decent number, and we took advantage by bring home our only 2 mallards of the season in what was a memorable hunt in a snowstorm.  However, while we filmed this hunt, we unfortunately did not get any pictures.  Our January hunts mostly proved unsatisfactory; water and temperatures were up, and mallards were scattered.

1.19.04

The King battling the never-ending high water to keep the decoys in place.  High temperatures and high water meant mallards had plenty of places to hide.

5.07.04

The circle is completed again with a meal of mallard fillets and fried potatoes.  This duck was shot on 12.05.04; the day we filmed the duck hunt.