Fumbling hurriedly through loose ammo that’d also been dumped into the coat pocket, the wooden duck call was retrieved just in time to blow 4 lousy notes that squelched due to dried cork. It was enough. The drake mallard’s head yanked as he hit the end of an invisible tie, he turned on a dime and locked onto a solitary, paintless decoy and descended cupped-and-committed until his feet were right above ice-rimmed creek water near. He recoiled backasswards at the clap of a single shot and I could only chuckle at having traveled such inconceivably great distance to start the hunt with a ordinarily beautiful greenhead. It was only the beginning.
Russia duck hunting offers one of the few spring waterfowl hunts remaining in the world and it coincides with hunting for Capercaillie and Black Grouse during their famous courtship rituals. Until recently, nearly everything I knew about Russia derived from watching James Bond reruns. The real thing was much better.
In addition to hunting 2 of the most coveted trophy grouse species in the world, duck hunting in Russia presents