When the traditional 60-day duck season opens a half-hour before sunrise on Saturday in Minnesota, John Molkenbur, lanyard of calls around his neck, will be hunting a spit of land near Stillwater.
He will be, as he says, in his element.
“I started hunting when I was really young with my brothers; shot my first duck when I was 8 years old,” said Molkenbur, 73, of White Bear Lake and founder of the Minnesota Duck & Goose Callers Association. “The only openers I missed over the years were the four when I was in the Navy. Every year, I can’t wait to go.”