Words that Make Your Stomach Drop

It's the fastest way to turn the most unlikely success on a hunt into a churning defeat.

The Unlikeliest of Unlikelies had just happened when my friend Sage uttered the words that made my stomach drop.

We were hunting on the third hunt day of duck season, when ducks are getting wise to things, on a popular piece of public land. I’d been there all day, arriving at 4:15 a.m., finally getting in around 10, setting up in a really difficult spot,…