Endless Migration: Hunting the Columbia

I recently wrote an article that was published on Endless Migration about hunting the Columbia River.

Check it out on their website:
https://endlessmigrationhunt.com/waterfowl-stories/duck-hunting-washingtons-columbia-river/

It starts like this:

For an instant, I don’t believe my eyes. A lone drake, flying low and slow up the edge of the river, interrupts the morning stillness. I notice him the same time he sees the spread, sets his wings, and leans back into an easy downhill glide. It is mesmerizing to watch a bird commit so casually – carelessly, almost – to a trap set with so much forethought and intention. Then the muscle memory takes over. Eyes narrow to focus on the target, hands grip and shoulder the stock, cheek presses into the comb, and the barrel swings onto the bird. Startled wings beat and bank up to climb, but my trigger finger is faster. In a broad arc, he tumbles to the water below.