He should know. As director of conservation planning for the western field office of Ducks Unlimited, Reid sees more ducks in a season than many hunters will see in a lifetime. My other hunting companion is no newcomer to waterfowl, either. Gary Stewart is a biologist and consultant to the Pew Environment Group, working to build awareness about the future of Canada's vast northern forests. As it turns out, our expedition is no mere buddy trip. Stewart and Reid are trying to convince me that average American sportsmen - bass and trout anglers socking away spare change for a trophy pike trip, deer hunters with caribou dreams - are a critical factor in the future of North America's greatest remaining wilderness. Their strategy: to take me duck hunting on Great Slave Lake and, in a few days, lake trout fishing on Lake Athabasca, and then let me judge for myself if this is a place worth protecting.