The photograph is from my hunting diary. The results of the 1971 Minnesota duck opener. Here's part of the report I wrote 41 years ago: Opening Weekend, October 2-3, 1971. Rick Schrom, Ron Evon, Fred Robbins and self head to a slough in Stevens County. Cloud covers clears from the west Saturday a.m. Wind is SW at 15-18. Temp is 55 rising to 65. Wild first hour with slower late action. The four of us end up with 19 ducks, one short of the five bird limit. Sunday breaks with very ducky weather. Twenty knot west wind and low scud cloud cover. Ducks are decoying. Highlights: a couple of downwind teal shots are made; wary widgeon using open water in the NW part of the slough. Bag: 9 mallards, 5 redheads, 1 gadwall, 5 widgeon, 14 blue wing teal, 1 pintail, 2 green wing teal, 2 spoonbills. Total of 39 ducks for four guns.

And now here is a photo of my bag for the 2012 duck opener. There are three blue wing teal hanging there. My two hunting partners bagged a total of three additional blue wing teal for a total of six ducks. We hunted a slough on the Grant/Douglas County border. The weather was ideal. Lows in the mid 30's warming to 50 with a brisk north northwest wind. We saw many more cormorants than ducks. The Canada geese, ever-present in that area, were wary, having been hunted for three weeks prior to the duck opener. The highlights of the weekend were the two evening meals: turkey breasts with mashed potatoes and gravy one night and elk stew the next. Another highlight was the flocks of 10-15 snowy egrets evidently staging for migration.