As dawn crept into the Mississippi Delta this past Friday morning, you could tell that the 2007-2008 duck season had officially opened. As I sat in my deer stand waiting on the first buck of the year, the heavy booms from magnum duck guns could be heard in all directions. It reminded me of the springtime storms when distant thunder can be heard ahead of the approaching front. The only difference was that this thunder was coming from everywhere.

It seemed that everyone was getting shooting right at daylight, then there was a lull, and shooting then resumed again around 7:30. As I remained in my tree, I kept wondering what the duck season was shaping up to be like. Were there many mallards down, or was most of the shooting at gadwall and wood ducks? I know the delta has been extremely dry, so if you had water, then you might have been in business.

I was distracted around 7:20 when I noticed movement on the ridge in front of me. A doe and her fawn had slipped to within 30 yards of me. They were browsing on dewberry vines and occasionally stopping to pick up one of the many acorns on the forest floor. As I continued to watch them, volleys from the duck hunters picked back up. It’s hard to do both, but as I sat there in the 30 degree temps hoping for antlers, I almost wished I was looking over decoys. It sounded like most of the action in the delta was taking place in the duck blinds.

As the shooting continued, I kept thinking, how many duck hunters are there? From the sounds of it, it must be a bunch. I wondered what it must have sounded like in the 1860s at places like Gettysburg, Shiloh and Antietam. The distant rolls of cannon and musket had to have resembled what I was listening to.

Around 8:30 the thunder stopped as if you had turned a light switch off. Did everyone get their limits already or did the birds find shelter elsewhere? I do know the wind picked up and the temperatures seemed to be dropping. Maybe the thought of hot coffee and a biscuit urged them to leave their blinds.

I thought about all the fans going to the Ole Miss and State ball game. They better had brought a sweater. They probably had other items to keep the blood warm too. A couple of my friends had opted to attend a couple of college football games (Alabama and Auburn played too), and their sons had elected to hunt with John Hartley and myself.

I really didn’t want to cook for three 17-year-old boys, so I thought we could go out to eat that night and I might get the chance to get some hunting reports from around the delta. As I sat pondering where we could go the evening after Thanksgiving, I was distracted by a trotting buck to my right. He was close and had his mind made up on being somewhere other than where he was. His dark antlers looked heavy, and he was close enough that I could see 10 points. I had to stop him to get a shot, and after a couple of guttural baas he stopped. Of course his head gear was behind some vines, but his shoulder was exposed. My first buck of the year hit the ground.

Some of you may have read an earlier article where I mentioned “after the shot have you wondered if he was big enough?” I did it again. After a few minutes I unloaded my rifle and climbed down. Two matching bonus kickers of his back tines (G-2s for those who of you that understand the Boone and Crockett scoring system) made him a 12 and very neat. Maybe all of the action wasn’t taking place in the duck blinds after all.

My question of how many duck hunters there are was answered that evening at the Crystal Grill in Greenwood. There were more camo vests and hats in the Crystal than on the aisles of the Mean Mallard. There were duck hunters from Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama. Some of whom I spoke to related good shooting with ample birds. Others reported only taking one or two birds with a few hunters not firing a shot. I guess it all depends on where you are. Overall, I would say the hunting reports were fair. That’s the bad news. The good news is that rain and colder weather is on the way. The best is yet to come.

I do know this. There are a lot of us chasing waterfowl and there is a lot of pressure on the birds from Minnesota to Mississippi. If each of us, sometime during this season, will intentionally stop one or two birds short of our limit, this will leave many more birds for breeding which will compound exponentially over time.

Think about how many thousands of duck hunters there are. A bird let go will equal how ever many thousands of us there are. This will help ensure that ducks will be numerous enough to settle in everyone’s decoy spreads in the future. Let’s not be greedy and try to kill ’em all. Pigs get fat, but hogs go to slaughter. Speaking of fat, the veal cutlets and the jumbo fried shrimp at the Crystal were delicious.

Until next time, enjoy our woods and waters and remember, let’s leave it better than we found it.