Life begins anew for veteran waterfowler

Blue-winged teal came at Rick Tomlinson in dazzling numbers, even more impressive speed and cutting, dipping and climbing almost faster than the human eye could follow. Some passed low enough Tomlinson and Mark Blackwell actually ducked. One bird seemed to split the air between their two beaming faces.

All around where the long-time friends sat in Tomlinson’s boat, deep amid Cheyenne Bottoms, a staccato tune of shotgun fire greeted the opening day of teal season, the first of about five months of waterfowl hunting in Kansas. Tomlinson, in particular, was in no hurry.

“I’m just glad to be alive to enjoy another opening day,” he said. “I really mean that. It’s just good to be here and see all of these birds.”

The 54-year-old Great Bend native has hunted at Cheyenne Bottoms thousands of times. He had long taken future hunts at the famed wetlands for granted, ending one season already talking about the next. In May, though, there were times Tomlinson wondered if he’d get to hunt “The Bottoms” again.

A case of what felt like bad heartburn after a mellow meal sent him to the doctor, fearing a family tradition of cardiac problems might be starting. It was almost ending.

“The doctor walked in and said I literally was ready for a heart attack any day, at any time,” Tomlinson said. “They really couldn’t believe it hadn’t already happened.”

After a cardio-vascular surgery with five bypasses, Tomlinson felt like he’d been given a second chance at life. He’s pledged the make the best of every day, and take nothing for granted, including his beloved waterfowl hunting.

Several times last week he made the short drive to Cheyenne Bottoms and watched as numbers of teal and other ducks climbed.

“I’m probably looking at 5,000 ducks in the air right now going into a millet field,” he said via telephone Friday evening. “But we won’t be hunting there in the morning. I think we’ve got a better spot.”

To reserve that spot, Blackwell and Tomlinson launched at about 4:30 a.m. and motored to a pool ringed in smartweed and other ducky, seed-bearing plants with several acres of open water. The day was a perfect re-introduction to waterfowl hunting for the man with his new lease on life.

“It seems strange to be wearing gloves and not worrying about mosquitoes. This is nice,” Tomlinson said of the cold that was at 35 degrees at the launch. “We’re used to sweating for teal, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a partial moon this bright with this much light, either. You can see almost everything.”

What they heard was a few illegal shots 10 minutes before legal shooting time, then a complete crescendo when it was officially one hour before sunrise — legal shooting time. With the first shots clouds of ducks pushed low over the marsh.

At least 200 teal passed within shotgun range before Tomlinson and Blackwell reached for their shotguns.

“There’s no rush, we’re going to get our birds,” Tomlinson said as a half-dozen blue-wings landed near their decoys.

Blackwell dropped the first bird between the decoys and the boat a few minutes later. His eager yellow Lab, Skye, wasted not time with the retrieve.

Over about the next half-hour the two hunters and a guest were as much shoppers as hunters, taking this teal or that teal as calmly as this potato or that potato from a vegetable bin at the market. There was no need to waste ammo on high or far birds. Never was there a time when teal weren’t in sight.

More memorable than the shooting, though, was the way the birds came to spinning-wing decoys.

“I can’t believe we have this whole big area to ourselves, with nobody else out here,” Tomlinson said, referring to how shots from nearby hunters often flares birds working another spread of decoys. “It’s fun to watch these birds turn 100 yards out and obviously lock in on the decoys.”

By about 7:30 a.m. the two hunters each had a limit of six teal. For about another hour they watched teal come to decoys at the estimated rate of a single bird or flock per minute.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many ducks on an opening day,” Blackwell said. “I think this is going to be a great season.”

“Me, too,” said Tomlinson, “and I plan on enjoying it as much as I can.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2014 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Life begins anew for veteran waterfowler."