Benson, who is so far unencumbered with family obligations, lives for his work and the ducks. By day he’s a teacher’s aide and by night does respite work with disadvantaged children. “Kind of a big brother,” as he puts it.

For the rest of the time he thinks about how to restore his beloved Netley Marsh to its former glories and planning for those all-important falls days in the field and marsh.

Netley Marsh is located on the south end of Lake Winnipeg and, like its more famous cousin Delta Marsh on Lake Manitoba, has a waterfowling tradition that goes back decades if not centuries. Benson family’s own Netley Marsh traditions go back almost a 100 years and the family has had a cabin there since the 1920’s.

Benson grew up listening to the “old timers” tell stories about using horse drawn wagons to haul people and equipment to the duck hunting grounds. In fact he waxed rhapsodic about starting to accompany his dad on hunting trips at the tender age of 8. By age 16 he was a full-fledged Netley veteran and has never looked back.

Like many of our big marshes, Netley has seen better times. For Netley, the culprit is the regulation of Lake Winnipeg which was a component of the massive hydro-electric developments of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Intuitively we think that water is a good thing is a marsh and in the right proportion it certainly is. But too much water can turn a marsh into a lake, wiping out the biological productivity that makes marshes so productive for fish and wildlife. Marshes should be about 50:50 water and vegetation, the “hemi-marsh” as described by waterfowl scientists. The water control structures on the Lake Winnipeg system have elevated water levels to such an extent that the vegetation has literally been “flooded out” leaving large expanses of open water.

This has caused changes in the duck hunting as well. Benson grew up hearing about the great diving duck hunts (redheads and bluebills) before the habitat changed but now the species mix is more towards the “puddle” ducks like mallards and teal. High water has eliminated the water plants so beloved by diving ducks.

Re-claiming Netley Marsh is probably impossible but Benson never stops thinking about what could be done to improve the situation. He once emailed an idea around that maybe the “spoil” generated by the Red River floodway expansion could be used to help create small marshes within the big marsh. Maybe it could.

Waterfowling on Netley Marsh is not for the faint-hearted, Benson cautions. “A strong south wind will empty the marsh of water,” Benson noted, “More than one hunter has had to spend the night stranded on a mud flat.” Conversely, a north wind will pile water into the marsh obliterating channels and markers.

In spite of these adversities, Benson persists. In fact he spends most weekends at the family’s Netley Marsh cabin exploring the marsh. Lately he’s taken to decoy carving and is now hunting ducks over his own artistic creations.

Benson’s passion for waterfowling, the outdoors, and young people is reflected in his commitment to introducing young people to waterfowl hunting on Netley Marsh. As a member of the Netley Marsh Waterfowl Foundation, Benson has been helping to organize youth waterfowl hunting expeditions for the last 4 years. For this year’s hunt he has kids all the way from Teulon to Beausejour.

Waterfowler Heritage Days were initiated in 2000 thanks to changes in waterfowl hunting regulations at the federal and provincial levels. Under the program youth are taken out by experienced mentors and given the opportunity to participate in a waterfowl hunt before the “regular” season opens.

So far Benson notes that about 30 kids have registered for this year’s hunt but he notes that he could accommodate more young people if he had more adult mentors.

“I just want kids to have the same wonderful hunting experiences that I had,” says Benson. And at the rate he is going, that’s bound to happen.