November 2020 • Nebraskaland 41
working, they were hunting.
At that point, "We served a little bit less of a function in the
hunting process," Kelly said with a laugh and understanding
that most teens would rather spend time with friends than
family.
"It quickly moved from wanting to go every once in a while
to every moment he could possibly go."
"That's all they talk about," Chad said.
And when they talk hunting, they do so with a knowledge
that belies their age. The feeding patterns of deer, ducks and
geese; how switching locations and decoy spreads can keep
you ahead of wary, late-season geese; and how commercial
hunting and leasing has changed the game are topics not
lost on them, even in their short hunting careers. They take
care of the ground people allow them to hunt and help the
landowners with chores or anything they ask of them.
"Blain has got a big passion for all of it, fishing and
hunting and everything," Chad said, "and he's pretty good at
Dorn and Clevenger take a pair of geese they decoyed while hunting a corn field near Enders Reservoir.
