“The beginning is often a poor place to start the story of a duck hunt. The true devotee of the wind-swept autumn waters hunts many other things besides ducks.” Those words came from arguably Wisconsin’s most famous duck hunter, Gordon MacQuarrie – an outdoor columnist for 20 years at the Milwaukee Journal beginning in the 1930s. He reported to his readers weekly on all things hunting and fishing, but his true love was duck hunting.

He went on to describe a die-hard duck hunter’s quest as more than waterfowl in the bag by explaining, “He hunts the unfolding secrets of the dawn and the message of the wind. He hunts the curling waves and the tossing tops of suppliant trees. He hunts the poignant loneliness of a tender, departing season and the boisterous advent of one more rigorous. All these he hunts and, old or young, he finds them as they were before – primordial, healing and soothing to mankind in his whirling world of complexities.”

To read the rest of the story, pick up a copy of the Portage County Gazette at one of the many newsstands in the area, including gas stations and grocery stores. Or subscribe at paymentwizard.com/OrderForm.aspx?FormID=1406 to have weekly copies delivered by mail.

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