Hudson – An acquaintance as famous for carousing as for his expertise with a fishing rod is fond of saying that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. Or something to that effect.
Which brings us to the general subject of Colorado outdoor activities in late summer and early autumn. Even a modest effort at getting around to it all requires a sort of binge regimen that involves the use of almost every fishing rod and firearm in the closet.
September hunting seasons tempt us with a dozen species of birds, each with its special location and flavor. These compete directly with archery and muzzleloading seasons for big game, with the regular rifle season just around the calendar.
Then there’s what many consider the cream of the fishing season: Streams low and clear, teeming with hungry trout laying on winter fat; lakes cooling down and fish of every stripe moving up.
To even briefly sample all this, an outdoor eclectic needs to take a month off from work, not to mention a hiatus from hearth and home. Which is precisely what some people do.
For the rest of us, there’s the dilemma of having to choose. We in turn reject this in favor of that, always drifting into the deep malaise of winter mulling a long inventory of regret.
For me, the lament for the past few years always included the early season for teal. Amid the siren call doves, several types of grouse and fish too numerous to mention, I found it hard to concentrate on these small ducks that sneak through eastern Colorado on their way south.
Part of the reason is that teal generally hang out on small ponds tucked away in nooks and crannies where hardly anyone goes. Finding teal literally is a hit or miss proposition. The season lasts just nine days, this year from Sept. 3-11. You have to put your mind to it.
But when a call came last week from Mark Beam, all the old juices started flowing again, complete with memories of prairie potholes, of darting little bundles of feathers and lots of shots I wished I had over again. Or maybe not.
A resident of Brighton, Beam wandered in from Illinois a couple of decades ago with a lifelong passion for waterfowl hunting that he transferred into his Stillwater Outfitters guide service, 303-659-8665.
Beam has access to a number of ponds for use during the prefreeze phase of the regular duck season Oct. 1-23. He naturally puts them to use during teal season as well.
Driving east of Hudson, we passed only a handful of vehicles at Banner Lakes State Wildlife Area, one of several public properties that attract migrating teal. Presumably, some of these hunters had come for doves, which seem to have left the area despite seemingly favorable weather.
With a brisk west wind blowing clouds off toward an scarlet sky, Beam and Mark Vissering of Denver hunkered in knee-deep water beside a thicket of cattails. Earlier, a car thermometer registered a balmy 70 degrees, a bizarre temperature at which to hunt ducks.
Part of the secret to teal success is finding a location where hunting pressure on neighboring ponds keeps birds moving.
“I call them my hunting partners,” Beam said of these inadvertent helpmates. “When there’s shooting off on Banner Lakes, you better get ready. The teal will be buzzing over our pond about three minutes later.”
The most challenging of all waterfowl targets, teal typically come darting and diving into the decoys like small missiles. Score well on teal, and you’re likely in for success on just about anything you aim at.
Blue-winged are the first of the family to head south. Beam’s clients bagged all blues on the season opener and counted only four green-wings among 16 birds the following day.
Barring extreme cold, green-winged teal remain in Colorado much longer and often turn up in the bag well into November.
But glorious mornings in early September, with a prairie breeze sculpting a corrugated sky, are the true time for teal. If only we could find time away to work them into the schedule.
Listen to Charlie Meyers at 9 a.m. each Saturday on “The Fan Outdoors,” KKFN 950 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
