Being an adult male is good

I just returned from three days in Saskatchewan parklands with my brother. We found a great pea field that held about 5,000 Mallards and Pintails.

We shot 15 Mallards and 5 Pintails in dreadful grey clouds and rain (yuck) – there was no intentional selection for anything but the closest duck.

19 adult males and 1 juvenile male. Adult males finish the wing molt early and have the luxury of flocking, getting fat, and starting the body molt to breeding plumage.

We saw many Gadwall, Teal, and Mallard hens still with broods during our scouting.

Jim Fisher took this photo (2 hens; 2 drakes) a few days ago at Delta on a youth hunt.