Hallowed Ground: Hunting The Delta Marsh

The wind howled overhead, our bodies sheltered by reeds and vegetation. The sun was rising and by the look of the water, I was happy to have drawn the walk-in, rather than canoe-in, spot this morning. It was the first morning of my first trip to Manitoba and the point we were hunting jutted right into the prime open water of Delta Marsh just south of Lake Manitoba. If canvasback and divers were here in any numbers, this is where we would find them.

I had arrived in Winnipeg the afternoon before and with my hosts from Delta Waterfowl, went out for a quick evening hunt on a cattail pothole. It had been fast and furious, made even better by the late fall and plethora of blue-wings that were still hanging around. We had taken a mixture of teal and puddle ducks, but the reason I most coveted this trip was to see the legendary Delta Marsh divers. While many prefer greenheads, I would much rather be hunting open water in hopes of a fast-decoying flock of divers.

As the night’s darkness turned into an orange dawn, Benelli shotguns began cycling, signifying it was just about go time. Even in the pre-dawn darkness, the whistle and buzz of teal and puddle ducks could be hard as their silhouettes appeared above us. The wind was brutal, and the ducks we saw at daylight were in and out before we could even shoulder our shotguns. As the sun continued to rise, our ability to spot ducks a little farther out improved, giving us more time to get ready. Soon, we had a handful of teal and other puddle ducks in hand.

Delta Waterfowl began in 1911 as the American Game Protective and Propagation Organization, fueled by the desire of hunters to protect the land, water, and animals that thrive there. Its growth as a conservation organization grew with the establishment of the Delta Duck Station at Manitoba’s Delta Marsh by James Ford Bell. Since that time, the story of Delta has been touched by so many well-known conservationists like John Bird Burnham, Teddy Roosevelt, Frederic Walcott, and others. These men ultimately shaped migratory bird hunting for the next century and beyond. The historical side of Delta Marsh and the organization’s birth is celebrated in a book by Paul Wait titled Delta Waterfowl: How The Duck Hunters Association Shaped Waterfowl Conservation in North America.

Cans Out Front

While the action was steady and divers were moving, it wasn’t red hot. While we had taken a ringneck and a bufflehead, the divers hadn’t worked in close. That quickly changed when a trio of birds appeared to our west and began taking a more favorable flight-line than the divers before them. These birds were quickly on us and in range. We fired a volley of shots and brought down our first canvasback of the morning. While they certainly weren’t in prime plumage in early October, their sloped forehead and sleek body were unmistakable.

My hunting crew for this morning consisted of Wait, Lowell Strauss, and Ken Perrotte. Ken and I were on the hot seats, so after knocking down a can, I swapped with Lowell, and it wasn’t long until he had his chance and capitalized on the opportunity.

As the morning pressed on the action remained unusually steady well past 10 o’clock. The group of hunters that had drawn the canoe-in spot ultimately had opted to keep their feet on dry land, hunting around the corner from us, helping to keep the birds moving. We had amassed a diverse mixed-bag of 9 species, and despite seeing some flocks, my favorite duck species, bluebills, hadn’t made an in-range appearance.

Happy with our bag and ready to get out of the wind, we were debating when to pick up when a flock approached on a good line. Unmistakably bluebills, and as they approached the contrast of the drake’s white and black was clearly visible on at least half of them. Just like you hope, they set their wings and made a hard banking swing right into the decoys. The group volleyed and birds fell to water just outside of the decoys, all stone dead. I was trying out some new HEVI Metal Xtreme from HEVI Shot, and it did not disappoint.

More than Just Conservation

Delta has long coveted the fact that it is organization built but run by duck hunters. After sitting down and talking ducks at dinner with the Delta Team that included Wait, Bill Miller, and Brad Heidel, it was clear that at the forefront of this mission are people just like your average waterfowl hunter. The women and men who shape the organization know the passion, desire, and tradition that drives us, and they do everything in their power to maintain this way of life.

While many know of Delta Waterfowl’s predator management strategies, they fund many research scientists, graduate students, habitat construction, and even student programs that ensure the view on the sport of duck hunting remains in a positive light. While there are many important conservation groups out there, it is the totality of what these groups bring to the table that allows us to maintain this sport. Without any one of these organizations, it could start a topple of the Jenga stack that would be impossible to recover.

One program that stood out at dinner was Delta Waterfowl’s University Hunting Program. The program was started at Louisiana State University to introduce future wildlife management professionals to waterfowl hunting. Many of them had never hunted or come from a hunting family. The Delta program introduces them to hunter safety, shooting, and takes them on a mentored hunt. Success stories include the conversion of vegans to organic, wild-game meat eaters and the development of new lifelong hunters. We all know decisions affecting game management are not always made by hunters or with hunter’s interests at the forefront. By introducing these future decision makers to hunting, even if they do not become a lifelong hunter, they will at least have a better understanding about the passion and tradition that hunting brings. In 2022, 415 students at 72 universities took part in the program, including schools like Ohio State, Cornell, and Florida State.

Last Mornings

Obligations would force me to head back to the states a day early. The Delta crew had graciously taken me out the night of my arrival to get in an extra hunt, but my trip would conclude the next morning.

Overnight, the weather turned fall-like, and the rain became steady. Luckily, we were hunting on a small pocket of water just off the Manitoba Lake shoreline, tucked into a nice permanent blind out of the weather. The day before, the teal were packed in there tight, so we hoped that the freezing wind and rain hadn’t forced them to head south.

The teal had mostly vacated, but fortunately the grey ducks appeared in big numbers. We decided from the start that today would be more of a gentleman’s hunt on singles and pairs. Shooting solo is always an interesting endeavor for any group. It creates comradery when someone shoots well, and humor when someone doesn’t; but also makes the shooting, at least for me, less rushed. It was exactly the right call. The gadwall and a few smatterings of teal and mallards all decoyed as either singles or pairs, making for some great shooting and compelling blind conversation.

Despite having an exceptional start to the morning, a 2:00 PM flight meant I had to bug out just shy of our limit. Waiting until the very last moment, we said our goodbyes. Wait and I hustled back to the lodge and prepped my birds for the return back to the U.S.. While the hunting had been good, this hunt will always stand out as a reminder of the importance of Delta and other conservation organizations. Without them, hunting as we know it may not exist today, and in this climate, would not exist for our future children and grandchildren without their tireless efforts.

Manitoba Hunting for the Future

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to talk about the extreme changes to the foreign-resident waterfowl hunting opportunities happening in Manitoba. This applies to non-Canadian persons. In 2022, Manitoba introduced new legislation that changes the process to obtain a foreign-resident hunting license for waterfowl hunting in Manitoba. Essentially, there are three options. You can either buy a seven-day license from a licensed outfitter or enter a random draw. Or, as a landowner or lessees of Crown land in Manitoba, you can be grandfathered in. For most of us, that means we are at the mercy of a drawing or using an outfitter, greatly diminishing freelance opportunities.

The reason for this change is an apparent influx of foreign-resident hunters into Manitoba. The intent is to reduce foreign-resident hunters thus increasing the quality of hunting for Canadian residents. The number of licenses in the draw is reported to be significantly lower than the 10,000 foreign resident licenses sold in previous years. Additionally, outfitters are expected to be allocated the same number of licenses as the on average booked hunters over previous seasons, so there will be no financial benefit to them.

With less foreign dollars being spent by freelancers and some hunters almost completely reliant upon  outfitters, this will greatly affect the economic impact of waterfowl hunting in Manitoba. While I would like to say this is a new trend, the truth of the matter is this has been happening across most of the western United States for big game hunting, as potential non-resident license allocations are being cut drastically in many states. If nothing is done, we should all expect other Canadian provinces to follow suit unless we all do something about it. 

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