Birthday Bluebills for Delta’s Jim Fisher

An Epic Hunt at Mysterious ‘Lake X’

When Jim Fisher’s alarm went off Sunday morning, he hit the snooze button. Actually, he turned it off completely. It was his 44th birthday, after all, and he figured a little extra sleep would do his body good.

“My intentions were good, but I was too bloody tired to get up and hunt,” said Fisher, Delta’s director of conservation policy. “I spent most of Saturday on year-end yard duty, so I wasn’t moving as fast as normal and figured I’d sleep in a little before I went out. When I woke up, I was chomping at the bit.”

The day was shaping up nicely: a blustery weather system that would eventually bring the year’s first blanket of snow had Fisher with visions of bluebills dancing in his head. By 2:30 p.m., he and Mike Claussen, a friend and Delta member from Winnipeg, headed out for an undisclosed body of water.

“Where did you hunt,” I asked.

“Lake X,” he said.

“Lake X? Where’s Lake X?”

“Lake X is where I hunted.”