Today was my first day hunting this fall and my first duck hunt in a long time. Nothing serious, I grabbed my shotgun and shells and decided to go for a swampy trek where I harvested my last mallard.
Upon arrival, I suited up and headed toward some marshy habitat. Hoping to puddle jump some ducks, I stealthily sloshed towards some open water. What suspense as I crept to the edge and slowly stood tall to survey the surroundings. To my dismay, nothing was paddling about.
After flooding my muck boots, I got out of the swamp and traversed the edge for a while. I found the small outlet and decided to follow it back into the swamp. Previous years, there was much beaver activity that resulted in many small ponds and good habitat. I had hoped to find some dabbling ducks on my second attempt but I found only blue sky and brightly colored leaves. 
I decided to sit by a tree at the breast of a dam. Maybe a duck would come by. But, today was too nice for duck hunting. They were off doing ducky things elsewhere. And maybe, I wasn’t hunting at all. Maybe, I was just going for a walk with shotgun in hand on this beautiful autumn day.