My personal best: 5 ducks in 1 pond while jump shooting

5 Ring-Necked Ducks. The holster is my Taurus 357 magnum with a scope.
I practice with my pistol prior to the HAM season which is coming up shortly.

My Personal best of jump shooting ducks took place this weekend when going to my "usual spot" and finding piles of ducks sitting on the water. I always approach the cattle tanks slowly and carefully so I don't make much noise. I knew where the wind was blowing so I knew which side they were on, and when I peeked just above the berm to see what was there I saw a huge amount of ducks. My first thought was that someone was decoying the puddle. This would be weird since no one decoys cattle ponds, so I snuck down around the berm of the tank and headed in their direction. I figured that if someone was decoying it would be great to talk with them for a bit and see what they were trying to bring ducks in. When I got around the berm I crossed a fence and grabbed my gun. I only brought 6 shells, which is two magazines full. A choice  I would regret 15 seconds later. I came around where the water was visible and to my surprise there were 3 ring-necked ducks swimming hurriedly away from me, I had no choice but to mount the gun and go to work. I swung up and hammered 3 with one shell, while a 4th duck rose up I missed a hurried shot on him and used the 3rd shell to kill one of the 3 cripples. To my amazement for the next 10 seconds I watched something like 40-60 birds lift off the tank slowly in packs. A lot of mallards were on the backside of the tank and they made their way around well out of range. I had never seen so many ducks on this tank. The most I have seen before this was 5 ducks last weekend and that was pretty impressive, usually its 1-3 ducks on this particular tank. As the ducks continued to rise I very quickly loaded the gun up by rocking the 870 on its side, with the action side up I dumped one in the receiver and racked that into the chamer, then popped 2 more in the magazine to complete the job. 2 more ring neck ducks leaving later than they should have, flew up and were only about 25 yards away crossing hard right away from the tank and were at this point over land and hurrying to catch up with the pack, but were rather sluggish (compared to birds like doves or quail). I missed a hurried shot on the first one, and then I took the time to slow down and follow through on the shot and I cleanly bagged him, then I got back onto the second duck who was slightly further than the first and slightly forward of the first duck, and I did the same with him and bagged him as well. The two birds fell within 10 yards of one another and after a little searching I found both ducks and hurried to see how the ducks down in the cattle tank were moving to the other side of the tank. Thank heavens it was really windy. By this point I was out of shells, so I simply walked to the opposite side of the pond and waited for the other two ducks to arrive, and the wind blowing at around 20 mph helped make my wait time rather short. Shortly after my in-laws who were looking for quail showed up and were congratulating me on the 3 ducks which were in the puddle drifting toward me. I informed them that I in fact had 5 ducks and I showed them the two which were next to my Remington. They seemed rather impressed and snapped the rather fun photos you're looking at today. I'm really greatful to have had such a wonderful day and for the chance to hunt such animals and help pay my hunting license fees to aid in the conservation of such animals. I realize that I may never have another opportunity to shoot 5 ducks in a single spot ever again, so I am glad that I have been able to do it today in the company of family, and in great Arizona weather.

-A.A.