Why Manitoba’s Delta Marsh is a bucket-list waterfowl destination

The next morning offered conditions that were more typical of an October diving-duck hunt, with temperatures hovering just below freezing and a west wind gusting up to 20 kilometres an hour. We headed to a point on Blackfox Lake, another bay in the Delta Marsh complex, where a couple of panel blinds shielded us from the prying eyes of waterfowl trading on the morning wind. I didn’t record how many ducks we shot that morning, but it matters little. The bluebills were moving, and over three hours we enjoyed enough action to keep any hunter interested.

All in all, it was a great way to wrap up my visit, and as I look back, I imagine the legions of other ardent diving-duck hunters who have also enjoyed their time at Delta Marsh over the years. And it occurs to me, it wasn’t really the ducks I was after—it was simply the experience of coming full circle, returning once again to this revered waterfowling destination. The place where I shot my first duck.

Hunting editor Ken Bailey hopes to make several more visits to Delta Marsh in the years ahead.