October 2025 • Nebraskaland 43
about 10 yards wide and 2 feet deep,
with a slow current and a gentle sand
bank. In the dawn light, Greg and
Harper set out a small spread of decoys
while I drove the truck back to the
cabin. Upon my return, we nestled into
a patch of tall, streamside grasses and
rushes to await the morning flight.
Greg's waterfowl hunts are simple
affairs, with no heated blinds or
spreads of dozens of decoys. For
Harper's sake, he keeps it low-key. She
can help set out a few decoys, and
what better experience than sitting
on the riverbank with her father
watching the sun rise and the valley
come to life?
Unfortunately, few birds were
flying. One small flock of ducks flew
high overhead but showed no interest
in Greg's pleading calls or the decoys.
He filled the void with his knowledge
of local wildlife.
"Harper, did you hear that screech
owl?" he said. "There it is again."
He also drew our attention to the
chatter of marsh wrens in the oxbow
behind us, the faint cackling of prairie
chickens in the high dunes and the
splashing of unseen deer crossing the
river. These moments were for Harper.
He was keeping her engaged and
developing her naturalist's skills.
Our talk was interrupted by a pair
of wood ducks zipping downriver, but
they, too, ignored us.
"Wood ducks are tough to decoy,"
Greg conceded. "They go where they're
going."
The action stayed slow, and he was
puzzled. "Two weeks ago, there were
hundreds of ducks here," he said. On
that trip, Greg and Angie downed a
mixed bag of mallard, teal, wood duck,
gadwall and shoveler, which Harper
and her little sister were happy to
retrieve. "The Sandhills are dynamic,"
he explained. "You get local birds that
hatch here and others passing through
during migration. Usually, there's
something to hunt."
The warm weather may have
been responsible for the lack of bird
movement. Greg prefers hunting
when cold fronts are descending and
pushing waterfowl south. He takes
Harper hunting, however, only in
early fall when the weather, and her
experience, are more pleasant. When
she's older, tougher and hopefully
hooked on hunting, he'll introduce her
to those late-season, finger-numbing
hunts.
After an hour tucked along the
bank, Greg sensed that Harper was
growing restless and uncomfortable
in her waders and decided it was time
to move.
Exploring
We walked the riverbank
downstream for a quarter mile to a
new beaver dam and lodge Greg
wanted to show Harper. We inspected
Greg calls to a small fl ock of high-fl ying ducks, but they ignore his pleas.
