42 Nebraskaland • August-September 2022
amount of distance on it, because it
depends on terrain and what you are
hunting. The question I always ask is,
"Will I mess up their hunt if I'm this
close? Because they beat me fair and
square to that spot."
Even though you're both hunting
public land, you both also prayed that
the marsh would be empty when you
fi rst arrived. If you were the early bird,
leave a head lamp on so others can
make a logical decision where to go.
But remember that sometimes depth
perception is hard to judge in the dark.
On one Rainwater Basin hunt, my
hunting party began setting up decoys
when I heard a hunter, whose light I
had already seen, say, "Guys. You're
really close."
It wasn't until I heard his voice
that I realized how close I actually
was. "Sorry about that," I whispered.
We picked up our decoys and moved
another 75 yards away, where we were
able to fi nd our own little patch of water
that the teal wanted to work as well.
Quite often, there's space for everyone.
On this morning, young Eli Kurrus was setting teal decoys too close to another hunter's spread. The hunter calmly, and nicely,
shared this with our group, which included Eli's grandfather, Larry, prompting us to move to a safer location.
