September 3rd was the opening of the teal season in Nebraska. The blinds were all ready and the lake was pumped full of water. Now all it needed was hunters and the birds. I did not make the opening day. This information is from my good friend John and he gave me this report.
There was a total of 18 hunters. I know of three that did not go, so that makes 21 and there must have been some guests. The group met at the Big Chicken in Tekamah at 5:30 a.m. and were settled in the blinds by 6:30 a.m.. The temps were cool on Saturday morning so that made it pleasant. John did not indicate any mosquitoes were making a nuisance of themselves. There were no birds seen the first two hours. On the third hour a group of 10 teal made an attempt to land in the decoys and five were sent to the freezer. After that little flurry there was nothing and everyone went home. I am going to wait a couple of days and get a good report on the birds in the area before going up to the blinds.
Day two of the teal season was cool, overcast and a beautiful morning. I did not go to the blinds. Checking this afternoon with my good friend John, only two people showed up at the blind this a.m., and John was not one of them. Total bag for the day was 2 birds. With that happening, I will probably wait until next week to go. The forecast is for hot weather next week. That is not good.
Week two of the teal season: The weather has cooled off but we still have southerly flow. I have had only one report of people going to the blind, and the only things they killed were mosquitoes. They appear to be in abundance and with light breezes, they hang around a lot. On the one day that I got a report, there were no birds harvested. I am going to continue to wait.
The hunting club's owner gave a reception at the Bryant House in Tekamah, and all of the hunters showed up. It was good to see everyone not in the camo, and meet everyone's wife. After pleasantries were passed around, the guys got down to the current season and needless to say, the results have not been good. A close friend and I planned on going regardless of the temperature on the coming Friday, and when Friday came it was terrible. Thursday night the Tekamah area had 6 inches of rain, and I was not going to go up there and battle the mud. The old Missouri River mud is tough on vehicles and clothing. I want no part of it. Four hunters were brave enough to give it a try and 4 birds were harvested. They killed more than their limit of mosquitoes.
This is day 15 after the Teal season started and there still has not been a good harvest. Secondly very few birds have been seen. The lake was partially drained after a 6 inch rain at Tekamah to get it down to a decent level and two hunters went to give it a try. The weather has been in the high 50's at night and the low 80's during the day with light southerly breezes. The two hunters had the good fortune to witness two teal streak by the blind five feet off the water. One hunter said they went by so fast that he thought they would break the sound barrier. The other hunter said they went by faster than Grant took Richmond. No one said if they got their shooting irons to their shoulders, but one can only assume that they watched the fly by. That was the action for the day.
The season has now ended on September 18th. Needless to say, this was the most dismal shooting season I have ever heard about at the blinds. Warm weather and rain plus a lack of bird migration just plain made it a failed season. At times no one even bothered to hunt the lake and there was not regular reporting of any action. When people did go, few shots were fired and there was not much noise from neighboring blinds. Anyway, it is called hunting, not shooting. As one of the club members said, "the mosquitoes will suck the blood right out of you." I am glad I did not go.
Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck, Hank
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