Regal Canvasback is Still the Undisputed King of Ducks
by Lowell Washburn

CLEAR LAKE---I think that I may have just shot my last duck of the season.

I say that because nighttime temps have been dropping into the single digits lately and current wind chills are in the twenty below range. Local marshes are frozen solid. When the wind stops, even the big lake will freeze shut and fall will be over.

The duck in hand is a prime drake canvasback. He was traveling alone, boring straight into the teeth of the wind, looking for company. I spotted him about the same time he spotted the decoys. In spite of the distance, the bird's large size, powerful flight, and fighter jet profile left no doubt as to species.

My rig included 15 or so canvasback decoys. Upon spotting the counterfeits, the drake executed a sharp bank and headed for the spread. The duck arrived and quickly lowered his oversized landing gear. But the bird had come in too hot for an easy touchdown. At the last minute he pulled the webs back up and decided to bleed off more speed with a second pass.

But by now the duck was in our face, and I decided to take the shot head on. As the drake folded inertia took over, bringing the bird closer yet. So close, in fact, that I had to lean to the left to avoid being hit by the falling duck. The drake ended up hitting the soft bank directly between me and Tucker, my canine companion. I'm sure we both had a look of astonishment over this unusual development. Not wanting to shirk his duty as a nonslip retriever, Tucker simply reached down, picked up the duck, and handed it to me. Neither one of us needed to move so much as an inch from our position.

FOR IOWA DUCK HUNTERS, the 2006 season has been full of surprises. In spite of abnormally dry habitat conditions across much of the state, the duck flight was much improved over recent years. Opening weekends were good to excellent, mid-season migrations showed substantial improvement over the past three seasons, and late season hunting -- particularly for mallard ducks -- was the best in several years. But for a number of Iowa waterfowlers, the most impressive aspect of this year's hunting season was the amazing migration of canvasback ducks.

By the third week of October, overall hunter success was picking up as large numbers of diving ducks including redheads, scaup, and ring-necks invaded the state. The canvasback flight arrived across northern Iowa on October 31. The ducks came in waves. As new flocks continued to descend on larger lakes and marshes, it soon become apparent that this year's migration was going to be something out of the ordinary.

Famed for its size, beauty, and unparalleled flavor, the regal canvasback has long been regarded as North America's King of Ducks. Beneath the floor of a western cave, archeologists have unearthed 2,000-year-old canvasback decoys fashioned from reeds and dried skins and used by indigenous hunters. During the market gunning era of the 1800s, prime canvasbacks easily fetched twice the price of other species when sold at local meat counters and big city restaurants.

Although canvasbacks remain highly prized, the majority of duck hunters have never bagged one. Most of the migration occurs in extreme eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River where peak numbers of 250,000 to 300,000 'cans gather late each autumn to feed on submerged beds of wild celery. On Iowa's interior waters canvasback hunting is literally a hit or miss, here today gone tomorrow, proposition.

But just because most people haven't had the opportunity to witness the high octane excitement provided by decoying flocks of canvasback ducks doesn't mean they don't want to. My nephew, Justin Washburn, is a good example.

Although a waterfowl hunter for several years now, he has seen but never bagged a canvasback. When I phoned to report the flight was in, Justin, who now lives in Carlisle, lost no time in making plans to join my brother Sterling and me for a weekend outing.

Saturday dawned clear and crisp. The wind was favorable and ducks were flying in all directions. The first flock of cans arrived precisely at sunrise. Stunning in the early morning light, there were seven of them. A tight squadron of fighters -- all drakes -- with canvas white backs, bull necks, and sculpted chestnut heads. The birds lost no time in coming to the decoys.

"Get ready," I whispered. "Remember, you can only shoot one." [Although the daily bag limit on ducks is six, federal law dictates only one may be a canvasback.]

As the ducks arrived, we shouldered the guns and fired. Three magnificent, bull canvasbacks simultaneously fell from the flock.

The birds were perfect. My brother and I were pleased. Justin was downright elated. While Sterling and I mused over the prospects of roast canvasback, orange sauce, and wild rice, he was planning a trip to the taxidermist.

The flight continued. Although Justin killed a mallard and then a bluebill, his eyes rarely strayed from the slain drake canvasback.

The 'cans kept coming. Some simply strafed the decoys while others piled in. One flock of 10 nearly took Justin's cap off as they passed less than six feet above the cattails.

"This is just unbelievable," he said. "All my life I've wanted to get a canvasback and today they're everywhere. I could have shot at least ten by now."

The flight continued for several more days and then began to taper off into some more normal.

November has passed. The migration is over and another duck season is drawing to a close. Only stragglers, including the odd canvasback, are still arriving from the north. Although this year's flight is gone, it is certainly not forgotten. For hunters who braved the November winds, 2006 will be remembered as the Year of the Canvasback.