Teal Hunting Mentor

I started hunting pheasants with my dad and granddad, and pheasants were about all we hunted, although we occasionally jumped a pond for ducks. When my high school hunting buddy Rex and I got our driver's licenses and wheels, we expanded our hunting horizons. However, our duck hunting was still limited to jumping ponds. I didn't discover real duck hunting until I went to college at K-State, where I met Kurt Keller. Kurt and I were in the same fraternity, and we discovered we a had lot in common, especially a love for hunting and fishing. Kurt grew up just a couple of miles from Cheyenne Bottoms, and when he talked about hunting ducks over decoys, I was all ears. That first winter, Kurt scrounged up eight or 10 decoys from his dad's garage and we spent several mornings at the Oldsburg Marsh on the upper end of Tuttle Creek Wildlife Area. I bought a cheap duck call and huffed on it until I was blue in the face. We skipped a few classes, had a great time and even killed a duck or two. I learned how much I enjoyed "real" duck hunting.

The next fall, Kurt invited me home with him one September weekend to hunt teal at Cheyenne Bottoms. I had no idea what I was in for. We scouted the pools that Friday evening and got up early on Saturday to be at the headquarters office to select a blind. An hour before sunrise, we headed for our blind, set out a dozen decoys and waited. I remember the teal flying pretty well that morning, but I was completely dependent on Kurt to point them out and assure me they were teal and not big ducks. Kurt and I hunted and fished together throughout our college years and got together a time or two after we graduated, then lost touch. Today, I hunt teal every September if I get the chance, and I relish hunting on the Bottoms. Each time I'm there, I remember those days hunting with Kurt. He was a year younger than me, but he was my duck hunting mentor, and he's mostly responsible for my love of waterfowl hunting today.

Too often we think of a mentor as someone older, but anyone who takes the time to share learned skills and wisdom can be an outdoor mentor. Those hunts with Kurt were 30 years ago, and I still remember them clearly. Never underestimate the power of passing it on. Thanks, Kurt.