I'll try to make this short.............

Many of you that know me know that I have been chasing "The List" for several years. It all began as a boyhood dream while thumbing through all Dad's DU Magazines. That dream became somewhat of a reality after graduating college but I really didn't get all that serious about it until around 2002. Over the past 16 years I've been on some very cool adventures, made a lot of new friends, been on some amazing hunts in a lot of very awesome parts of this country. For those of you I have shared a blind or a hunt with along the way I say THANK YOU for memories.

These past few (recent) years I was down to needing 2 duck species to finish "The List" of 32 Ducks. I was down to needing a Common Scoter and the Cinnamon Teal. After hunting is all the right places to collect the Common (Black) Scoter I finally connected with that one in January 2016 here at home in good 'ole South Carolina. This left me with only needing the Cinnamon Teal to wrap things up. Funny, this bird sort of became a joke with me and many of my close hunting buddies. On more than one occasion I had to cancel planned trips (for various reasons) to go collect the Cinnamon. Last year about this same time during the 2016-2017 Duck Season I said to myself it was time to get the deal done about finish up this quest. I booked a 2 day hunt with a fella in Southern California to go on a hunt for this (2017-2018) season.

Fast forward to last week I got on the plane and headed west. Got into my destination around 9pm Pacific and prepared my stuff for the next mornings hunt. I decided to stay a bit of a drive away (1.5 hours) from where I would be hunting so I had to get up at 3am to make the trip over to meet up with the fella I would be hunting with. I arrived, we shook hands, and set off to the hunting grounds. After about an hour or two we finally located a spot that seemed to be holding some birds, more specifically some Cinnamon's. I passed up layup shots on Mallards, Wigeon, Gadwall, and Greenwings. I was ALL-IN on the Cinnamons. As we paddled along to get to the area we wanted to hunt I spotted two Cinnamons drop into the canal we were paddling up and quickly disappear into the Cat Tails. What was a boyhood dream conjured up some 31 years ago was about to become a reality. After a short sneak/paddle over closer to where I spotted the Cinnamons hit the water I went into high alert looking for the pair to make their move as I drew near. In a flash and after two shots, the quest was finished. I had a pair of Drake Cinnamons on the water.

It was sort of a weird feeling to be done with it all but I was glad it was over. To be honest I had grown tired of chasing the birds and just really wanted it finished. Now that it is over I can get back to having fun just duck hunting and enjoying the sport with good friends. I still love the idea of the adventures but at least, well for the most part, the collecting and checking the box is finished.







When's Turkey season get here?