Anton vs. the NINJA

Anton and I went fishing and hunting on Saturday a little ways out of St. Anthony.  It was nice to get out and do something together.  We didn't catch any fish (which I am thankful for).  It was a very interesting hunting experience, though.
After trudging through snow up to my knees, we made it to this rather large pond--lo and behold, there was a duck swimming on the pond (something I later wondered if I should have kept to myself--Anton didn't see him).  When we start toward the duck, he goes the opposite direction--we change direction, the duck changes direction.  So we split up, Anton goes around one side and I go around the other.  When we get to where the duck is, he's hiding in the reeds in the pond, so Anton puts on his waders and goes into the pond while I wait by the bank.  He's practically on the other side, when the duck comes paddling, nonchalantly on past me, at which point I call out to Anton and tell him where the duck is.  He gets out of the pond as quickly as possible, runs over to me, aims at the duck and shoots.

At the exact moment he pulled the trigger, the duck dived under the water, dodging the bullets by a fraction of a millisecond--the matrix had nothing on this duck, I tell ya what.  Weird.  So Anton reloads, aims, and pulls the trigger again.  By now we realize this is a ninja duck.  Seriously.  He didn't even try to get away, he just dived under the water like he could see the bullets coming toward him and just happened to be faster.  Than the bullets.
Anyway, Anton's a good hunter, and really good shot, so he finally gets the duck... but there's a little problem.  It's in the middle of the pond.  Anton wades in, but his waders only go up to his thighs, and the water's too deep in the middle of the pond (the duck was not in the middle of the pond, when Anton shot him, by the way).  He's just barely out of Anton's reach.  Dead ninja duck taunts us.
So Anton says he's coming back.  Two seconds later I hear, "WHOO, that's COLD!" as Anton is chest deep in the water, and only about five feet from the duck.  But he turns around and comes back because he's afraid of what will happen to the stuff in his pockets.  As he's coming out of the pond--I wish I could have gotten a picture of this--his waders are full of water, he's carrying like 10 gallons of pond water in each leg.
As he hands me his phone, which is completely water-logged, and the keys, he discovers his wallet is gone.  Panic sets in.  His wallet has his driver's license, his green card, everything that could possibly be of value, is in his wallet... in the pond.  Dead ninja duck strikes again.
Well, he wades back in, back tracks, prays (possibly apologizing to the ninja duck in his prayer...?), and eventually finds his wallet.  So we trudge again through the snow, Anton soaking wet this time, back to the car and head home.  We left the duck.

On the bright side, we had pheasant for dinner.  Roasted in the oven with seasoning, strips of bacon, onions, and carrots.  After 20 minutes, we removed the bacon and slathered cream of mushroom all over it and let it cook for another 35 minutes.  It was amazing.  Served with yummy potatoes and a fresh green salad.  I didn't know I would like pheasant so much; it's the best bird I've ever tasted, though.  : )