Local duck hunters spend hours setting out decoys and making their duck calls.
Much like life, hunting waterfowl is a game.
A game that demands patience. A game that rewards strategy over an itchy trigger finger. And recognizing the beauty of that game can be downright spiritual.
"Ducks are a particularly beautiful bird," said longtime Burlington hunter Kyler Ross. "I love tricking them."
Tricking a duck, or any waterfowl, isn't as easy as it may sound to non-hunters. It takes hours of preparation and planning, not to mention a knowledge of duck behavior and duck habitats.
Ross, who is currently hunting in Arkansas, makes at least one annual hunting trip with his friends off the banks of the Mississippi. Before setting up watch in the elevated duck blinds, they set out duck decoys — anywhere from 300 to 1,000 of them, depending on the hunt.
Then the ducks calling starts. Unlike the elongated, ear blasting duck calls coming Mississippi Valley Calling Classic Saturday, Ross and his buddies uses more mellow, soothing calls to bring the ducks in. Competition duck calling is deliberately exaggerated in order to give the judges a sense of the caller's range and technique.
During the hunt, duck calling is all about practicality.
"You don't want to call too much or too late. You want to mimic the duck," Ross said.
Ross and his hunting buddies use the decoys to create virtual duck simulation that has everything a duck could want. Simulated friends. Simulated conversation.
It's that carefully planned artifice that defines the art of duck hunting. The actual kill, while demanding skilled aiming, lasts only a few seconds. The trick to a successful shot is being ready when those few seconds come around.
"You always have to be ready," Ross said.
Ross was 2-years-old when he stepped into his first duck blind with his father, and his 5-year-old son got started nearly as young. Ross's father never stopped hunting, and the three often go out together, representing three generations of avid outdoorsmen.
"He (Ross's son) likes doing anything dad does, and I love taking him with me," Ross said.
Burlington hunter Drake DeLang also enjoys duck hunting on the Mississippi River with his father and 16-year-old son. He said the 60-day duck season was a lot more forgiving in 2017 than 2016. High water from the flooding Mississippi made things a lot more difficult in the previous hunting season.
“This year was a good season overall. There was a lot of waterfowl here early, and they stayed for most of the duck season," DeLang said.
Like pretty much every hunter, DeLang could spend every waking moment of his life in the outdoors. So could Ross.
"I just love being outside in the fall. All of the colors. It's a beautiful sight, and I've always loved birds," Ross said.