Duck Opener...

[lawdog]

Any good reports? We saw decent numbers of birds, but not great numbers. Two groups of (Contact Us Please) in our slough GREATLY reduced our potential kill. One group came paddling out in their boat after 8:30 Sat morning...GOOD GRIEF. They then flock shot, sky busted, called terribly, I think shot at birds on the water and pretty much only killed birds that I called that were on their way to my decoys.

To top it all off, my waders had a GIANT hole in them!

Uggh. What a rotten day.

[jsteg]

I was out saturday morning. We got 3 geese and 3 ducks 2 young woodies and a gw teal. Group of 4 hunting.

[tip-up king]

I fished instead of hunted. Camped at Norwegian on Lake Benton and the hunters on the slough to the west had good shooting except they were firing toward the campground and we had pellets raining down on us and our equipment. Pretty disappointing to see from fellow hunters. Remember to keep in mind of where your barrel is pointed and always think the steel will travel farther than what you expect. tuk

[Roosterslayer05]

If they were far enough away that the pellets merely "rained down" on you it poses no danger. I remember i got bitched at last year for raining pellets down on some guys like 150-200 yards away. I laughed at them and told em to hit the road. Its just like BB sized hail hitin ya chill out.

[tip-up king]

The first thing all those kids in the campground did when they heard the shots, was look up. It would be an awful shame to see a kid lose an eye because some (Contact Us Please) didn't think those BB's would hurt anything that far away. I wouldn't want that on my shoulders. And I don't care for all those steel not ice balls landing on my paint job! It's unsportsman like any way you look at it. You should never fire in the known direction of others. Maybe you should take a hunters safety course for beginners again so we CAN chill out IN the campground. tuk

[grumpyoldman]

TUK, I hope no one was hurt. Attitudes like slayer's give all hunters a bad name. With all the fall hunting seasons opening soon, everyone out there planning to take to the fields, please don't be an embarressment to your fellow hunters. Make good choices and watch out for each other. Slayer's attitude may be different if it was his kids and property being rained on with pellets. But then again, maybe not.

[keystone69]

slayers attitude is just like most other cities hunters that comes out to sw mn to hunt. too bad things will never change...

[carpshooterdeluxe]

we did ok hunting between appleton and morris this past weekend; few mallards and a few teal saturday for three of us; then six geese and four mallards sunday on a field hunt...same three guys. we definetely had to work for the birds though. did anybody else see the large flocks of blue wing teal heading south already? i took today off and came up here to benson for the weekend to hunt with some friends again; solo no scout hunt this morning i got a gadwall and a bw teal so far. breaking for lunch then going out to a few drainage ditches to try to score a drake woodie for wall.

on a side note roosterslayer; a steel #4 bb fired infront of a standard charge of powder has enough energy to penetrate human skin at well over 100 yards. ask my friend; as he has a pellet in his cheek from a careless duck hunter who knew we were positioned where we were but "found it really hard to believe that my shot could have traveled that far" as he drove my friend to the E.R. last fall.

[tcsprtsmn]

I agree with "Grumpy", Slayer gives all sportsmen a bad name. I hope he isn't hunting near me.

As for "Keystone's" comment. I have seen just as many slob hunters from southwest as anywhere. His comments are unwarranted and biggoted.

[basssmasher*]

carp ,,you camr to benson and didnt look me up?? lol Im headed fishing tomorrow at LQP.. if ya wanna tag along answer and I have plenty of gear if you wish to go

[carpshooterdeluxe]

fishing? with all these ducks around? man i cant get back fast enough from sioux falls to blow spit through the duck calls. actually we did take a break today from duck hunting and caught a few perch and crappies off the highway at lake oliver. but i think thats about the last open water line i will be wetting with south dakota and minnesota pheasant seasons heating up really quick, and running grain cart at night for my buddy while he combines corn. that and somewhere in between i need to get 40 hours in a week at the real job. too many hobbies not enough time!

ducks and geese are really starting to push through as of today with the north west winds. we saw many flocks of geese most of which were of the smaller e.p.p. birds. even saw a few snows and specks west of appleton as we drove into town for some late breakfast. overall friday, saturday, and sunday myself and three friends each limited out on mallards and redheads all three days. and some bonus partridge to boot while walking out of the slough this morning.

[lincolncoresident]

This is a response to Tuk. I am sorry if you were “rained” on while you were camping at Norwegian Creek Park on September 30, 2006. Being the avid hunter that you are I assume that you knew that it was opening duck hunting weekend. I agree, all hunters should be aware of where they are shooting and where there bbs may fall, up to 200 yards. I have hunted and camped where you were camping, mater of fact I was almost exactly where you were camping when my Father shot his first Canadian Honker! I have read the debate about the campers and the hunting in the Lincoln Co newspaper and know that the county, after much debate did not close the park to open hunting. I do believe the hunters were there long before there was a campground there! If you were aware of hunters being near by, as a responsible hunter and parent, why would you choose that area to camp at on the opening weekend of duck hunting? But you did, and IF any bbs reached your camp-site it was a long reach! Finding them would be even a bigger feat. And why would you take the risk to put your children in an area that is open to public hunting. That is like going out berry picking during deer hunting near a public hunting area! (with or without orange on!) You have others sympathizing with you and about the risk that your children where put in, and if the hunters were being irresponsible or shooting too close and in the direction of your camper, I would also. But in reality your camper was how many yards from the slew? The hunters in the slew must have been at least another 50 yards into the slew. If any of bbs landed there, I am sure that the hunters did not do it intentionally and it was a fluk of nature that they made it that far. I know some of the hunters that hunt that area, matter of fact I know at least 2 of the parties and they are avid hunters and fisher-people, and are big supporters of Duck Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, and The Sportsmen’s Club. Without them Norwegian Creek Park would not be what it is today. With the all of the controversy about bearing arms these days hunters need to unite! It was unfortunate if you were rained on I hope in the future you put your camper away for the season and go duck hunting on the opener!

[Sutty]

I don't mind ripping bad hunters a few bad apples as they say reck it for everybody. Lets not label everyone that hunts from the cities as the ones that stink. Just like when some guy from the cities sais "Some local yokal ruined my hunt... no common sense..."

There are good safe hunters in the cities and in the sticks, there are also poor ones in both areas. Lets not paint everyone with a broad brush.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Agreed. Everyone is different no matter where they hang their hat.

However, it really does not matter if you belong to DU, PF, or Jim Bobs sportsmans club, if you took a shot and bb's rained on someone, you took the wrong shot.

The "Who was first here" theory does not work when you're gettin shot at, and yes, if bb's are hitting you then you are getting shot at. On top of that, making punk comments such as "Hit the road" after you just shot at someone is a really good way to have terrible things happen.

Know what is on the other side of what you are shooting. If something is there that shouldn't get shot then do not take the shot. Is a duck really worth it?

[Rost]

I would assume that the guys shooting had absolutely no intentions of hurting anyone. More than likely they were unaware of the BB's taveling so far. This doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means they made a mistake.

This probably could have been resolved if someone simply walked over and made the hunters aware that their BBs were traveling into the campground. That slough is small enough to where some could shout from the road.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I agree Rost and I'm not trying to sound too ishy or take over the thread. When I see the "I laughed and told em to hit the road" comment it just kinda burns, ya know?

[tip-up king]

I did walk over and tell them TWICE. I got the roosterslayer comments and worse from one group. Then one ethical, level headed gentleman came over to talk and try and resolve the problem. I showed him some of the bb's I picked up out of the boat and the back of my truck. They probably aren't bad people, but it boils down to firing in the known direction of others and that is wrong no matter where you are from or where you are at. Sorry if my camping inconveniences some duck hunters, but I paid to camp at an open campground and shouldn't have to worry about getting fired upon IMHO. Smile and let a little common sense back into the world. tuk