In North Carolina swan hunting has been a tradition and a pastime for years. Each winter as the migration occurs and birds move south thousands of tundra swans make their way to North Carolina. These swans migrate to many fields, ponds, impoundments, and refuges along the NC coast giving waterfowlers the opportunity to harvest one of these glorious birds. Each year the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission gives out 5000 permits, this year I was fortunate enough to be drawn and lucky enough to harvest my first swan.

Duck hunters are a completely different breed, whether it be sleep deprivation or hunger, nothing will stop them from accomplishing another day in the field. With little sleep, 3 am came fast on January 17th as I headed to Washington County to meet a few friends for our hunt. Once I met up with them around 5:45 we headed to a private field close to the Pocosin National Wildlife Refuge to try to fill our swan tags for the year. Arriving around 6:00 am in a bitter 9 degrees we head for the ditch to set up and await our shot at a tundra swan and maybe even a shot at a snow goose or two. We got settled in the ditch and one of the guys realized he had forgotten to put his plug in so away he runs back to the truck and made it back with 20 minutes to spare. As legal shooting time slowly got closer we had the opportunity to watch thousands upon thousands of snow geese make their morning trek across the sky. Next in line were a few swans and ducks in numbers that would make your head spin. Shortly thereafter the swans started to fly and were flying strong. Throughout the morning there was a stream of swans that seemed never ending as they continued to make their way across the sky and giving us the opportunity of filling each of our tags. By 7:30 am we had filled 2 of the 5 tags in the ditch and the swans continued to come. A single swan is headed our way, it’s my turn, I wait for him to get close enough and BOOM, down he goes. It was bitter sweet for me as it was only one shot but unreal as I held a bird many in the US will never have an opportunity to harvest. As we sit waiting to fill the last two tags we notice a snow goose closing in fast and much to our surprise in the decoys he lands. Two of us decide to sneak down the ditch and get as close as possible, as we get close we noticed he is preening himself paying us no mind. We hop out of the ditch to try and jump him and he doesn’t move, finally he jumps and we take him. In one day I harvest not only my first swan but also my first snow goose, UNREAL! By 9:30 am there had been a few misses, some guns that did not want to cooperate, more birds then you can count, and 4 of the 5 tags filled. Finally, the last tag was filled but it wasn’t over head. The swan was hit prior and we never saw him go down in the field. As we sat waiting for the one last swan we notice a swan about 600 yards out in the field and we knew it was the one that had gotten hit that we never saw drop. We gathered our things and head to the truck to drop some things off and head to the injured swan. The last swan tag was now filled and another awesome hunt to tell about for years to come. What a great way to spend a January morning. There is nothing like hunting with friends, meeting new friends, a few “firsts”, and all in all a hunt I will never forget.