Mid-Winter Winner: A Duck Hunt in the ‘Glades

In many places the ducks don’t roll in until it’s, well, pretty darn cold, a fact that can leave diehard waterfowlers a might conflicted when the family decides it’s time to head south for a holiday in the sun. But in fact it doesn’t have to be an either/or decision. As I learned first-hand the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, you absolutely can experience full-flight mornings in the duck blind and still make it to some of Florida’s finest beaches in the afternoon. Joined by my buds, Tom and Jack, we jumped in the boat with Osceola Outdoors’ top guide Mike Thomas, for an adventurous journey into the region’s famous “sea of grass,” a place many species of birds are known to flock to in the winter. And guess what? Ducks included! Oh yeah: Take ‘em and pass the sunscreen!