Nor do you need a retriever. That's blasphemy for many dedicated duck hunters, but in the timber a dog is usually more trouble than he's worth. For one thing, long-distance retrieves are tough because of the limited sight distances, and there are almost always going to be other hunters in the area. Get two alpha male Labs together in the duck woods, and you'll have more than duck hunting to contend with.

Bring the dog if you must, but realize when you do that you're adding an extra and probably unnecessary complication. On the typical freelance hunt, you're going to be standing in knee-deep to belly-deep water, and that means you must make provisions to get the dog out of it. It's usually possible to find a blowdown for the dog, but like decoys, this requirement reduces your mobility. And if you have to break ice for a half-mile before you reach open water (not uncommon for late-season hunting) your problems will be even worse.

For much of the public duck hunting in the Stuttgart area, you won't even need a boat -- although, admittedly, it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring one on your trip, as it expands your options if the ducks aren't using areas you can walk and wade to. The best boat for most Stuttgart-area duck hunting is a sturdy 14-foot johnboat with no more than a 15-horsepower outboard. The exception is on the big-water areas along the White, Arkansas or Mississippi rivers, where a larger boat with more horsepower is advisable for speed and safety.

The list of absolutely essential equipment for a green-timber duck hunt is beautifully short: shotgun, shells, chest waders, warm clothes, compass or GPS and duck call.

In the timber, good calling is what separates the shooters from the bird-watchers. If you can't call with proficiency, buddy up to someone who can. You'll be competing with some of the best duck callers you'll ever hear, on or off the stage, and if you can't stay in there with 'em, you might as well stay home. If you think you're pretty good already, get better.

"In the woods I tend to call fairly loud, and probably more than I do on open water," said veteran Stuttgart guide Jim Ronquest, owner of Rich-N-Tone Guide Service and vice president of public relations and TV Production for Rich-N-Tone Calls as well as a two-time U.S. Open Duck Calling Champion and a 14-time qualifier for the World Championship Contest held each Thanksgiving in Stuttgart. "In open water or in fields, decoys are a lot more visible, and you have the advantage of using visual attractors from a greater distance. In the timber, you have to attract them by sound, and keep them interested by sound. The better you can call, the better your chances."

The extremely heavy loads, large shot sizes and tighter chokes that are so popular for open-water duck hunting aren't necessary in green timber. In fact, for public hunting areas around Stuttgart, shot size larger than No. 2 is illegal, and there's a limit to the number of shells a hunter can carry into the woods each day. My preference, based on more than 40 years of hunting the Stuttgart green timber, is a standard 2 3/4-inch 12-gauge load of number No. 3 steel, No. 5 bismuth, or No. 6 heavier-than-lead shot. These loads correspond pretty well to the old No. 5 shot lead load, which was my favorite back in the old days.