66 Nebraskaland • August-September 2024
THE LAST STOP
We didn't hunt together. We didn't even know each other.
But the photograph says otherwise, with five hunters —
including two kids — all smiles after an opening day dove
hunt.
I took my son, Eli, and his hunting buddy Wes Batman on
a patch of public ground in eastern Nebraska. There was one
vehicle in the lot when we arrived, and we heard shooting in
the distance.
We walked to the food plot, waving to another hunter as
we took another spot a safe distance away from him. A bird
swooped in his direction, and a bird went down. Another one
flew his way, and another bird dropped.
The man continued to shoot well, killing a few more birds
as we watched, while we shot a bird or two ourselves. Then
he started walking toward us.
"I'm out of shells," he said, still a couple of hours before
sunset. "Why don't you take my spot. The boys will get
plenty of shooting there."
It was a lie. There was no way he was out of shells. I
remain convinced of this. I thanked him for his hospitality,
and we parted ways.
For the rest of the afternoon the boys boomed and banged
at passing birds, downing their fair share and missing even
more. We heard several more shots near the parking area but
thought little about it.
On the walk out, we celebrated our wins and shook our
heads at our losses, those "gimme" shots that aren't ever as
gimme as we seem to think they are.
In the parking lot, three guys, including the one who
helped us, were chatting about their day. They asked the boys
about their afternoon, intently listening to the 11-year-olds
recount their hunt and then sharing their own experiences.
Then the proposal:
"How about we take a picture together, all of us?" one of
the guys said.
We lined the birds on the tailgate as if we were longtime
friends, shot the photo, shook hands and said goodbye.
In my 40-plus years in the field, I have never taken a
photograph like this with total strangers.
Hopefully, I won't have to this year.
Instead, I'd rather run across these same guys in the field,
the ones who gave up their hunting spots for a couple of
young kids and stayed around long enough to see how those
new hunters fared.
And maybe, if we're lucky, we'll simply hunt together.
Then we won't be strangers at all.
A group of strangers pose for a dove hunting bagshot during the 2023 season. JEFF KURRUS, NEBRASKALAND
By Jeff Kurrus
DOVE HUNTING STRANGERS
