On Tuesday I scouted a few of my favorite duck haunts near Brainerd. Despite the recent cold front, a fair numbers of wood ducks remain. One likely reason is the abundant wild rice. Another possible factor is a bumper crop of acorns. During my scouting trip I flushed wood ducks from beneath nearly ever shoreline bur oak. Blue-winged teal and green-winged teal also remained in the central part of the state. I saw very few mallards. I did note a scattering of wigeons and ring-necked ducks. The question is will an approaching storm front increase or decrease duck numbers by the Saturday's opener?