![]() ![]() That first day was classic duck-hunting weather, but the next was what waterfowlers scornfully call a bluebird day. Next morning dawned bright clear and barely cold enough to form a little ice on the windshield, with gentle breezes that veered from northwest to south and back again. We enjoyed one of the wildest weather days any of us ever saw with downpours, raw winds, coal-black clouds, the formation of a mini-tornado that touched down a few miles away and the arrival of a cold front at dusk that bathed the fields in golden sunset. Happily, this year I got an invitation from Shep McKenney to join him and stepson Ken Collins last week at the close of Maryland duck season - two days he booked with Evans last winter. I've been trying to hook up with him for two years without success, mostly because I'm too disorganized to make plans a year in advance. The downside is, it's almost impossible to book a day. ![]() The upside is that when you book a day with Evans, he usually has someplace to go where wild ducks are holding and you'll get some shooting. So he leaves open days in the schedule to give birds a chance to rest in ponds and creeks on the 3,000 acres of farmland he leases for hunting. With wild ducks, you can't hit the same spot day after day. The current 60-day duck season gives him ample opportunity to guide gunners from the city for a fee, but Evans is careful how many parties he books. Over the years I've been impressed with Clint Evans, who when he isn't helping out as assistant coach of the Division III national lacrosse champions at Washington College in Chestertown, or dealing with crises as manager of several farms, roams the flat Eastern Shore countryside keeping track of ducks and snow geese. It takes much hard work to make a commercial success of wild duck hunting. But wild ducks still aren't all that abundant, and they're wary and unpredictable as ever. ![]() With the return of four-bird daily bag limits and longer hunting seasons as duck populations increased over the last few years, you'd have expected commercial outfitters to jump into duck hunting with both feet. ![]()
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