Duck hunting reports

[nate larson]

Hey,

I got out and did some duck hunting on Friday and Saturday morning. Friday morning four of us went out and we ended up with 10 ducks (4 cans and 6 mallards) didn't have the camera with on Friday but made sure to bring it with on Saturday. On Saturday three of us ended up with a mixed bag (1 can, 1 mallard, 1 green wing, 1 bufflehead, and 1 hooded merganser.) There were a lot of ducks flying on Friday but not quite as many on Saturdy. All in all a very good weekend. We were hunting in the South Central part of the state. Has anyone else been out lately? I think it could be good this next weekend for those of you who aren't deer hunting.

Here are some pics from Saturday:

[Meaney]

great pics nate! you better make sure you get me into duck hunting next year..i need a new hobby

[ikeslayer]

nicely done. i went out on saturday and should have had a limit however you know how that goes. We got 3 ringers 2 cans and a scaup but we had a good shoot even though the 2 of us didn't limit. We were near South central mn as well. things appear to be quite hot over there. Nice bag and good going. ike

[Dan Thiem]

Way to go guys! Great report and pics.

[nate larson]

Ike,

Glad to hear that you got some ducks. The divers sure are fun. We probably should have had out limit as well...I think I need to spend more time on the range before season starts.

Has anyone else been out lately? Post up! It is nice to hear how people are doing.

[Tyler Holm]

I shot 1 hen mallard on Sat AM in SE MN. Should of had at least 2 more ducks.

[ikeslayer]

were you in a feild around roch tyler? anyway good going on some sucess SUZIE SLAYER

ike

[ikeslayer]

here is some pictures of our carnage. and a beautiful model as well.

[Dan Thiem]

Awesome!

Is that the same little girl in your avatar? Man she's growing fast!

[Meaney]

oh...what a cutie. my little girl is about 2 months!! how old is your little one

[ikeslayer]

it is the same little girl that is in my avatar holding the blade dancers. she is 17 months old and yes growing fast. any body else got pictures of their family and kids? this might be a new topic but i would love to see other peoples faces to put with these names. ike

[Tyler Holm]

Good idea Ike, I'll start one

[ikeslayer]

you do that birthday boy.

ike

[smg04]

i went down to the backwaters today with a friend and his dad for my first ever duck hunt, we ended up limiting out with 12 ducks, 5 of witch i shot, two greenheads, a hen canvasback, a drake bluebill, and what i was told was a scotter seaduck, one of the greenheads is headed for the wall, it had great color, bright green head yellow bill and the blue patches on it wings are awsome, and two full curls on the tail, i was told by a few longtime duckhunters that it was the duckhunters equivilant to a nice 10pt buck and that i should get it mounted to remember my first duck hunt, anyways im pretty pumped about it and im sure the rest will tast good, we also seen a ton of swans, what an awsome bird we even had one almost land in our decoys but it flared at the last min.

[nate larson]

Nice report smg. Can't believe that you got a scotter, I've never even seen one.

I was lucky enough to get out for a four day weekend of duck hunting this past week. Overall we had okay success. The cold weather on Wednesday and Thursday nights kind of threw a wrench into things. Thursday morning we busted 1/4 inch of ice through the channel only to find even thicker ice on the lake, probably close to an inch thick in some places. We ended up having to set up in a horrible spot facing directly into a 30+ mph wind. We didn't stay long as all the ducks were pilling into the middle of the lake and landing on top of the ice. We decided to try to jump a pond nearby that usually stays open during cold weather. We ended up with some surprising results. A big flock of mallards got up when we were about 35 yards away from the pond (they were huddled up tight to shore so we couldn't see them.) The four of us unloaded...after we were done shooting there were 12 dead ducks laying on the water. No lie...12 shots and 12 dead ducks. Luckily only 4 of them were hen mallards, plus 6 drake mallards, one drake wood duck, and one drake green wing. Friday we did some pheasant hunting and ended up with 4 roosters. Saturday we found a lake with some open water and ended up shooting 2 ducks, unfortunately they were spoonies, sorry no pics .

Sunday was the only day we were able to get to the "good spot" and we only ended up shooting 3 ducks. 1 drake mallard and two ringneck ducks. Lots of ducks around but they all were rafting up in the middle. I am hoping to get out next Saturday morning in the Alexandria area and again in South Central MN the following weekend...if the lakes aren't iced over by then that is. Here are some pics:

Ice

Big pile o ducks

2 of the pheasants

Sunday's bag

[smg04]

nate, 12 shots= 12 ducks thats awsome,i would have loved to been part of that,sweet pics too, yeah i guess those scotters are pretty rare arount these parts, the guy i was hunting with said that was only the 3rd one he has seen in 30+ years of duckhunting, it didnt seem to scared it swam into our decoys like 3 times, i didnt want to pond swat it so we didnt shoot at it, it finaly jumped up when my buddy took off after a crippled canvasback with the boat it flew right at me so i knocked it down, pretty weird looking duck almost looked like it had teeth on the underside of its bill

[Meaney]

nate..awesome report man. still waiting to get invited along sometime!

[nate larson]

Hey Smg04,

Do you have some pics of the Scotter you could post? Definately would like to see that and your other ducks as well.

Meaney,

I would invite you to go with me...but I know that your wife won't let you out of the house now you have a little one. Maybe we can work something out next season. I would like to start hunting the Mississippi backwaters. We should make a point to do that.

Did anyone else get out over the weekend? Or was everyone chasing deer?

[smg04]

i didnt have my camra with, wish i would have, my buddys dad snapped a couple of pics with a disposable 35mm i think, he just took 2 pics with us kneeling behind the pile of dead ducks, im not sure how well the scotter is shown but i'll see if i can get some copys, ive never posted pics b4, kinda sounds like a pain, maybe i can scan them n try to send them 2 u e-mail or somthing

[nate larson]

I would be happy to post them for you. Just email the pics to me when you get a chance. [email protected]

[Tyler Holm]

Shawn,

The drake mallard is one of the prettiest ducks around and they make an awesome mount. Have you decided which pose (type of mount) your getting yet?

[Tyler Holm]

Nate,

Sounds like a heck of a good weekend of hunting. Congrats. Fun stuff.

[ikeslayer]

how about a rochester area hunt with all of us talking ducks we should get together and have a group outting we could do the river/ if someone knows any good spots that is willing to give one up and take some guys there we could do that. i have a bunch of decoys that i would be willing to supply. What do yall think? ike

[smg04]

nate, first i gotta get the pics from my buddys dad, not sure when ill see him next but when i do i'll let u know, tyler, i think im going to get him mounted in a basic flying pose, a lady i work with is gonna have her husband do it 4 me, he does taxadermy as a hobby and she said he would do it pretty reasonable

[nate larson]

I would love to get in on a Rochester area duck hunt. But I'm not sure if I can make it this year or not. I am going up north this weekend. I might be able to make it the following weekend. It kind of all depends on the weather.

[Rugbyguy]

I'd be game for a Rochester group hunt. I don't have a lot to offer in terms of hot spots or decoys, but I can tell you that I am really good at scaring birds with BB's.

[smg04]

3 of us made it down the the river again 2day, action was much slower than the last couple weeks, would have had alot more shots but the greenheads where nowhere 2 be found just alot of hens dumping into the decoys, all day we ended up with 3 mallard hens and a gadwall drake

[nate larson]

I made it out on Saturday in South Central MN. It was very slow. Had one flock of bluebills scream by outside of range. Saw a few mergansers and a few flocks of migrating geese. Looks like it might be about over. River hunting might still be good for a bit.