A grand finale.

IN 11 YEARS of waterfowling together, Bob Myrick, Bruce Stewart and Dan Saia had never collected a band. As the minutes ticked on the final morning of the 2008-2009 season, it looked like the record would remain intact. But fate has a funny way of intervening.

Initially, Stewart held the lucky spot when the trio hunted a favorite pond in Tillman County,, Okla., the previous morning.

"We had all set up at water's edge in layout blinds, with (Stewart) on the East, me on tile West and (Saia) in tile middle," Myrick said. He would have held tile same position, but Stewart opted out of the final morning's hunt because of an issue with his retriever.

The hunt began in typical fashion for the remaining duo.

"As usual, (Saia) and I arrived in plenty of time to get the decoys set, ATV hidden away from the pond, blinds laid out, gains locked and loaded and all readied m tame to take in the sites and sounds of file birds arriving from the roost," Myrick said.

Conditions were brutal, with partly cloudy skies, 22-degree temperatures and north winds gusting from 15 to 20 mph.

"We had a fairly successful morning, with a mixed bag of several wigeon, gadwalls and a pintail," Myrick recalled. By 8:15 a.m., however, incoming birds had become sparse.

They decided to bunt another 30 minutes, hoping for late-arriving mallards. Their perseverance was rewarded 15 minutes later, when two fat mallards crone into the spread, from right to left, looking to sit down out of the wind on their first pass.

"(Saia), was on the left, so of course, took the lead bird and called the shot just before they touched down outside of the decoys," Myrick said. "I had the trailing bird--the one on the right."

Both hunters missed their first shots. The birds flared, carrying with them the last chance for the season. A small tree prevented Saia from a follow-up shot on the lead bird, so he fired his second and third shots at the trailing bird, while instructing Myrick to take the lead bird.

"From my angle, I was not blocked, so I took the shot," Myrick explained.

Myrick and Saia held off receiving what turned out to be the last bird of the day.

"We picked him up later that morning after we picked up the decoys, packed up the ATV and allowed time for the wind to push the bird to the other bank," Myrick said.

Satisfied by a good day's hunt, but sad to see another season pass, Myrick was a little melancholy as he went to pick up the bird.

"(Saia) sat in the ATV about 15 yards away while I went to retrieve it," Myrick said.

His mood changed when he noticed the silver band on the hefty drake's leg. Myrick held it up, excitedly pointing at the band.

"He did not believe me," Myrick said. "He just sat in the ATV, out of the wind and cold, with a look of doubt on his face while I tried to convince him that there was a band. It wasn't until I started to jump up and down that he got out and came to see for himself."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

So, after traveling thousands of miles over hundreds of decoy spreads and for at least five waterfowl seasons, the drake mallard was taken by a hunter's final shot on the last day of the 2008-2009 season.

The Band

HUNTER: Bob Myrick, Piano, TX

BAND #: 1667-76440

SPECIES: MALLARD (D)

BANDED: 8/15/2004

LOCATION: 7 E OF OTTHON, SK

RECOVERED: 1/25/2009

LOCATION: 4 NW of MANITOU, 0K

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