Last duck hunt of the season

[Richard Flanders]

No Charlie. That is Kate. She and her husband Tom (not shown here) do this duck camp on this little island every year. Tom has been hunting off this island since the early 70's and has been around long enough and made enough friends in the nearby native village that no one messes with our stuff when we leave it all set up through September.

Scott: I take their beaver fur coats off for the pictures....

Normally the best shooting is in early October when the big mature northern birds come pouring in off the north slope of Alaska, but this year we're pretty sure they all came through early.... very early... and that it's over. The shooting is nearly non stop if you catch them coming through and it's about 75%/25% big mature mallards and pintails when you catch that flight and is unbelievable shooting - they just stream over you for hours non stop. It's nothing like the horizon to horizon flites you see when hunting with Destry on Lk St Clair in Ontario but it's spectacular for here. I think that based on this fall it's going to be an early and long and cold winter here in the Interior.... Bring it on, I say! I have lots of firewood....