After taking off a few days to collect some ‘field data’ for articles, I am once again at my desk with pencil and pad. I hope all of your holidays were both safe and special. The Sugar Bowl is starting as I am writing, so there will be a small delay before you read this. At this time, we are experiencing the coldest temperatures of the year. I guess I should really say the coldest temperatures of this hunting season, seeing how it is only the first day of 2008. Of course it is the coldest day of the year, it is the only day of the year so far.

With this weather change, hunting has really gotten good. I have received good reports from deer hunters. Bucks are still actively seeking does and the second rut is starting. With many of us back in the office, the woods are getting quiet. Don’t quit hunting, some of the best is yet to come. The woods can get “stunk up” right after Christmas with hunting pressure, but just a few days without hunters and four-wheelers in the woods and the bucks will be back out.

Duck hunting is picking up too. Ronnie Adcock reported really good shooting on the Mississippi River. The low water conditions this past summer and fall allowed many of the “flats” on the river to grow up in grasses and weeds. This creates excellent habitat for wintering waterfowl. As the river rises, new food sources are flooded for hungry mallards. Along with the colder temps, we still may have a lot of quality days of hunting ahead of us. Be careful though. Respect that river and any other body of water for that matter. Cold weather and water do pose dangers for the sportsman. With strong currents and stiff winds, big water hunting can be very dangerous. Always wear that life jacket when you are boating. Cold water can speed up hypothermia exponentially.

Every time I think about duck hunting in cold weather, I always think about the great Armistice Day blizzard of 1940. Now I wasn’t around then, but there have been many stories written about that terrible day. I have seen articles from yesteryear entitled “The Day the Duck Hunters Died.” Some of you more “experienced” duck hunters may remember or know of this tragedy. It all began, I believe, November 11, 1940.

This particular morning in 1940 started off warm and somewhat balmy. A slight drizzle and fog greeted hundreds if not thousands of hunters that morning. Most hunters dressed for the warm temperatures, unknowing what was headed their way.

Hunters were enjoying their morning hunt when, ducks by the thousands began dropping into their decoy spreads. What was unusual was that as soon as the ducks would land, they would immediately begin to drink water. Hunters reported shooting into the flocks and immediately the flock would circle and land again. Very odd but the shooting was phenomenal.

That’s when it hit. They say the sky got as black as coal, and the most eerie feeling came over the hunters. A deafening roar came out of the north. The wind immediately began gusting to over 50 miles an hour with huge flakes of snow pelting the off guard hunters. Snowflakes as big as pie plates that would stick and immediately freeze to the exposed hunter.

Temperatures dropped to below freezing in just a few minutes. Ducks were landing within a few feet of the confused, wet hunters. Hunters tried to get out of their blinds and off the water, but for many it was too late. Very few of the hunters on the river that day survived. The winds came so fast along with almost no visibility from the heavy snow that most of the hunters drowned or froze to death while trying to find refuge. Literally hundred of hunters died in Minnesota alone.

The storm came in so fast that thousands of waterfowl were frozen by their feet in the thick sludge of ice. Temperatures dropped to below zero that night. After the storm passed, many people tried to save some of the stranded waterfowl but most of them died. Oddly, they said most of the ducks that died were divers. Species like canvasbacks, scaup, redheads and coots.

Maybe because these waterfowl have to run to take flight and the heavy snow and sludge dragged them down. Regardless, many duck hunters lost their lives that terrible day.



Though this story is interesting, and you can find many articles about it, I wanted to relate to you how fast the weather can turn on you. The Mississippi River, along with other rivers, is a mighty body of water that can be very dangerous. We at times, especially in our youth, think that we can endure all. Mother Nature’s wrath is a lot tougher than we are. Always be prepared when in the field. Pay attention to weather changes and get off the water or out of the woods before inclement weather strikes. Let’s be careful out there. Until next time, enjoy our woods and waters and remember, let’s leave it better than we found it.