Last day of the season sees one last duck
It was the last day of the duck hunting season. A Gordon MacQuarrie kind of day. One meant to sit in a duck blind on a pothole. The weather forecast included a winter weather advisory. Up to four inches of snow predicted. Gusty winds and snow-covered roadways. A day more suited to stay indoors and watch football next to the woodstove.
But MacQuarrie, Wisconsin’s most famous duck hunter, was on my mind and the urge to hunt ducks that day was stronger than common sense.
“The President of the Old Duck Hunters’ Association (O.D.H.A.) Inc. pounded mittened hands to warm them, and then widened a place in the scrub-oak blind the better to see from it … the last day of the season it was, and Mister President, knowing there had been severe freezing weather, had debated long before deciding to go … we had toted the sinews of war a solid mile around a frozen lake edge, to a thumb of land bordered with shallow water but exposed to every wind. In those winds had laid our hope that the water about the point would be open … and it was.”
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.
A website login function to view full stories online will be coming soon. Any current or new subscriber will have access.
For more information or to subscribe over the phone, call 715-343-8045. Please note, to have access to the online version, you will need to provide an email address.