An Old Duck Hunter reflects

The late author Gordon MacQuarrie was the first to galvanize the notion that duck hunting is unlike any of life's other passions. That is, more intense. And inspirational. Famous now for collecting his "Old Duck Hunter" yarns between hard covers, MacQuarrie was a reporter and, later, managing editor of the Superior (Wis.) Evening Telegram in 1927 when his father-in-law, Al Peck, introduced him to the seductions of scanning the sky for waterfowl.

A person really ought to read MacQuarrie's books, though not so much for what they teach about duck hunting. These stories are more than instruction manuals. High expectations brought low by the laws of nature and the vanities of man, these were among MacQuarrie's specialties, as were life's many complexities distilled simply by scattergunners en route to and from duck blinds.

Wednesday evening at the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Association Banquet, a few Old Duck Hunters were present, among them Bud Grant, Harvey Nelson and Dave Zentner -- Minnesota waterfowlers who have seen some great times afield, and would like to see them again.

Thursday noon, I visited another Old Duck Hunter, my friend Joel Bennett, a bona fide good guy who hasn't been feeling too well lately. He turned 76 a week ago, and probably won't again experience duck hunting of the kind he's experienced in the past, an unpleasant reality, particularly in the throes of a cruel February.

Still, on Thursday, there Joel was in his den, upbeat against long odds and surrounded by vintage decoys, a bronze canvasback, a sculpted head of a black Labrador and dozens of books on ducks and assorted paraphernalia -- retrieving dogs, duck-stamp prints, the whole shebang.

"I always had black Labradors, except for one young yellow Labrador that, oddly, lost an eye about the same time Kirby Puckett had trouble with his eyes," Joel said. "So I gave him away as a pet to a neighbor a few blocks away. But that dog always kept coming back, and the new owner was continually at our house, picking him up."

Born in Missouri, Joel was educated at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, graduating smart enough to move with his wife, Connie, to St. Paul in 1961. He managed the stockyards in South St. Paul for many years at a time when cattle, hogs and sheep were trucked to the Twin Cities from as far away as Montana. Ducks were plentiful then, too, and soon Joel was hanging out with brothers Boots and Tony Roszak of South St. Paul, also Dave Grannis and Butch Rifkin.

I first met Joel 20 year ago. A candid guy, he outright told me he had recently suffered a spell of depression, an affliction that had cost him too many October mornings in a duck blind, a depressing thought in itself. "But I'm OK now," he said.

Thus began a friendship that over time saw us toting shotguns and decoys and dirty Labradors to marshes near and far. Cool to hunt with, and adventuresome, Joel found as much pleasure in his hunting mates as in the birds he sought.

"The number of ducks I might shoot in a given day was never that big a deal to me," Joel said Thursday. "I always said you should only be allowed to kill as many ducks as you're willing to clean yourself. That would take care of the guys who want to shoot them all."

Over the years, Joel has been famous for buying shotguns he didn't need. One summer, at Game Fair, he slipped away from Connie long enough to throw down money on a new Benelli, an acquisition he intended not to broadcast widely. Or, really, at all.

But his cover was blown when over the fair's many loudspeakers the public address announcer said, "Joel Bennett, you can pick up your new shotgun at Will Call on your way home."

Real-life Old Duck Hunters often are defined by similar qualities, a fact true enough of Joel, who has inspired me now for two decades.

"The best duck hunting I've seen?" he repeated when I asked him that question Thursday. "I've had some unbelievable bluebill shoots in western Minnesota. And those times you and I were in Saskatchewan? They were great."

Pausing, he mustered the optimism typical of Old Duck Hunters, and added:

"Hopefully, the next generations of hunters will see the most ducks yet."