This is why I love early-season teal hunting. Everything I need is in that backpack. A dozen teal decoys, shells, call, e-collar for the dog, water bottle, blind-making tools and other various and sundry accessories I take on all my hunts. No waders to struggle into, no huge decoy bag to lug around. Beautiful. There's nothing like duck hunting in shorts and a t-shirt.

Unless, of course, it's duck hunting in shorts and a t-shirt on a morning that brings an empty, lifeless lake. Teal are the most binary of waterfowl. They seemingly exist in only two states of being. Either they're here, or they're not. I've tried, but I've never been able to accurately predict the vagaries of their early migration.

If they're here tomorrow, I might very well shoot a limit within a few minutes. If not, I guess it'll be a nice morning training session for Tess. Either way, at least it'll be an easy walk in and out. As I get older, that starts counting for something...
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