TIN TOWN, MANITOBA - We set out under the purple cloak of predawn and paddled our canoe about three miles into Delta Marsh, a vast wetland near Tin Town, Manitoba. Jim Henning of Mequon, Wis., was in the stern and I was in the bow. Mazie, Henning's Labrador retriever, rested between us along with about three dozen duck decoys, two shotguns in cases and a couple of marsh chairs. Our goal was part exploration, part waterfowl hunt. Henning had been to this part of the marsh once before; it was my first time. As the sky lightened, we quietly nosed out of a winding channel and into a bay. Dozens of ducks skittered off the still water and flapped into flight. Part of our reason for venturing into...
