Washington County – There’s a basic absurdity in hunting for teal, this hurtling off at high speed in the middle of the night in pursuit of a tiny duck that makes little more than a mouthful and which hardly anyone can hit in the first place.
They won’t respond to a call, often pay little attention to decoys and cost more ammunition than the other waterfowl you shoot all year – combined.
The attraction, of course, is in that challenge – that and an early opportunity to layer on the old camo, dust off the dog and work out all those kinks before the main event just around the corner.
Teal season ended Sunday, but the regular season starts in just 10 days west of Interstate 25, a week later on the plains.
Besides, no real waterfowler can pass up any opportunity to chase a duck, whatever the size or circumstance.
When you catch a season filled with both teal and water, that drive through darkness becomes almost a compulsion. Blue-winged teal numbers are up 14 percent this season; green-wings have grown by 12 percent.
“If you want to see a thousand teal on a single pond,” then show up Friday, Mark Beam teasingly said last week. “Actually, I can show you two other ponds just like that.”
Beam, who operates Stillwater Outfitters, had another incentive other than the sheer delight of all those whistling wings in the early light. He and veteran guide Jeff Colwell were getting a live tuneup for their presentation at the free Ducks Unlimited/Bass Pro Shops Waterfowl Weekend this Saturday and Sunday.
They’ll join a long list of experts to dispense lessons on all aspects of webfoot hunting. Sessions run 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the 7970 E. 49th Ave. Call 720-385-3600 for details.
Much of Colorado’s eastern plains is oozing water after saturating winter snows and a summer of heavy rainfall. Prairie potholes that had been dry for years sprouted water from a 5-inch August rain. They’ll remain flooded and full of ducks until freeze-up.
Among the extraordinary results is a particular cornfield encroached by an overflow pond that flooded several acres. Water reaches almost up to the bottoms of the hanging ears, providing a floating feast for ducks that literally paddle to dinner.
All a hunter needs is to toss a few decoys, hunker down a couple rows deep into the stalks and wait for the inevitable dawn invasion.
On a day when sunrise remained hidden behind an oatmeal sky, the first difficulty was in picking the teal from a broad assortment of larger ducks. This confusion of fowl crisscrossed in the dim light, a rush of wings gone almost before it came.
“Careful they don’t knock off your hat,” Colwell said as a particularly low flight flashed past.
Much of the attraction of teal hunting comes simply from observing their remarkable flight, an aerial break dance that often makes one wonder how we bag any at all.
“Most people don’t realize that they’re actually one of the slowest ducks,” Beam said. “It’s their ability to change directions so quickly that makes them so difficult to hit.”
He didn’t even crack a smile when he said it.
Staff writer Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
