10/15/2026
My heart is still pumping…
I was mounting a bird and I get a phone call from a very good friend. He goes “hey man, I got some weird looking wood ducks that showed up on my pond. I’m not sure what they are, but they got an orange head.”
I stopped him right there and I said “no way you have mandarins on your water?!”
“Must be that! Come on out and get them!”
He sends me a video of them swimming around and I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I was out the door in less than 2 minutes.
Long story short… I ended up crawling through water up past my calf to get a close enough shot. When I pulled up , it felt like big buck fever pumping through me. My heart just racing. The rest is history..
I would have never thought I’d ever have an opportunity to shoot a mandarin in my life. Let alone two…
Huge thank you to Taylor!!
