king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated April/May 2008 - Index

I t
wasn’t long ago that the door
to hunting was closed to me.
My journey into becoming an
outdoorswoman was a long and often
fruitless venture. I had grown up
dreaming of enjoying the outdoors
and had actually ventured forth from
time to time, but I didn’t have anyone
that could truly baptize me into the
“faith” of hunting. That is until I met
my husband David. David and I have
been married now for two years and
both of those years have been fi lled
with fi rsts for me. The following are
a few of my favorite “fi rsts:”
1st “First” – While not exactly the
perfect date, it was one that I couldn’t
wait to go on. David and I were going
duck hunting and I was pumped up
for the experience. I was decked out
in new cold weather clothing and
rain gear as we headed to David’s
duck club in west-central Oregon.
30 HUNTING ILLUSTRATED.com
PREDATORS
A Marriage of Firsts
Angela Miller
Two years of fi rst time hunting experiences
as husband and wife.
The author with her husband David
on a memorable duck hunting date
The day was cold and rainy, and I was
ready to climb into a nice warm blind
and shoot ducks. Little did I know that
the “blind” would be a fi ve-gallon bucket
in the middle of a fl ooded corn fi eld.
Rex, the club owner, explained that he
was feeding approximately 5,000 ducks
every night and that our best chance for
birds would be sitting hidden in the corn
and decoying them as they came in to
feed. To say that it stunk would be the
5PREDATORS5
understatement of the year, but it was
well worth it to be hunting ducks.
The fi rst couple of fl ights didn’t
quite go the way I had planned. Two
volleys of shooting, and I hadn’t even
touched a feather. So, after a couple
of small shooting tips from Dave, I
was ready for the next fl ight. When
it happened, it happened fast. A fl ock
of mallards came in low and fast over
the corn. As Dave worked them with
the call, I picked the lead bird, swung
smooth and rolled my fi rst duck. I
don’t know who was more excited,
Dave or me. Dave immediately got
up and retrieved my bird. It was
one of the most exciting moments
of my life to that point and the joy
must have overtaken me as the next
thing I heard myself say was, “Will
you marry me right here while duck
hunting?” Guess what his answer
was? Duh. “YES!”
2nd “First” – Picture this: it was
the last day of the duck season, the
temperature was hovering in the low
30’s and it was raining sideways. I
was tucked into a blind watching as
Dave worked a fl ock of birds into the
decoys. Just as I picked out a huge
pintail drake and drew a bead on him,
there was a blinding fl ash of white
light coming at me from fi ve feet
away. I was temporarily blinded. In
desperation, I tried to shake off the
orange ball burning into my retinas
and get back on the bird. No luck, I
just couldn’t see. Jokingly, I turned
to the source of the light and said,
“Don’t ever do that again or you are
fi red!” Sulking and apologetic as he
could be, our wedding photographer
promised not to mess up anymore