List of top ducks in MN

[Huntin&Fishin]

I was ready a 2006 MN conservation booklet and it said "#1 duck in MN is mallard, then bluewing teal, then wood duck , then RING NECK! I would of deffently thought different. Maybe #4 would have been green wing teal or some thing else. What do you guys think?

[carpshooterdeluxe]

i think thats pretty accurate, considering that greenwings leave so early in the fall. i rarely ever encounter divers where i hunt, but my top three are blue wings, mallards, wood ducks. sprinkled in after that are gaddies, widgeons, and the occasional accidental turd eating spooners.

[MuleShack]

COOTS!!

[Huntin&Fishin]

Yea, I never see ring necks, I think grenn wing teal or gadwalls. But coots would make perfect sense, but are they considered a "duck" limit is 15 on those things

[MuleShack]

I guess it is debateable....here's the decription on usgs

American coot Fulica americana

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Identification Tips:

Length: 12 inches Wingspan: 25 inches

Fairly large, duck-like waterbird with short wings and a short tail

[Scott M]

Yes, the teal does leave early but remember that like 50% of the MN harvest happens in the first two weeks. So teal and wood ducks are highly harvested. Mallards are here during the entire season, and if you hunt the north part of the state, ring necks are everywhere. I think the traditional pothole guy doesn't see a lot of ring necks until later in the season, but up north there are residents and migrants.

I was looking at harvest stats and its interesting to read the numbers. I shot a black duck last year and it said only 1,000 are harvested a year. Pretty neat. Now I just need a Bull Can or a nice fully-spriged Pintail.

[hanson]

I bet 90% of our harvest per year is Ring Necks (Ringbills).

Man I love diver hunting!

We get them from Opening Day through ice up.

[BoxMN]

Ditto Chris! Love the divers, and in the past 7 or so years we see fewer bills, but have been seeing LOTS of ringbills. We used to see tons of redheads, and still have our share, but nearly as many. Lots of cans though, and I just heard that our area is already starting to build up cans Can't wait!

When I go to NoDak and it is like a different world from our normal spot - gadwall, widgeon and mallard and occassional pintail. And when an occassional flock of divers flies through, holy cow - hold your hat, because after shooting nothing but puddlers for a few days, those divers come through like jets! My buddies who never see divers laughed there butts off after missing all shots at them! haha, it was funny, we all missed behind them!

We even painted up all (almost) our bluebill dekes like ringbill since we mainly see ringies now - probably wouldn't matter, but the ringie dekes look so cool. Sorry for the long post... excited for this weekend, even if most ducks will be puddlers this weekend.

[lanyard]

what is also interesting is the 'wave' factor sometimes experienced. There are days we haven't been able to chase the Cans out of the blocks, shot nothing but gadwalls, filled two limits of greenheads in a half-hour, taken green-wings in November, etc.

[bluebill]

divers rule

[Scott M]

BoxMN or lanyard, if you don't mind sharing, where are you seeing (not specific body of water mind you) all these Cans and 'Bills and when are you seeing them?

[BoxMN]

Ringbill are all over northern and western MN, and the cans are more western MN but also along the Mississippi river. You won't see them (cans) in small lakes too often, but we do see some mixed in with small flocks of mallards late in the season from time to time, really funny to see them together. Neither of those two are any top secrets to anybody who duck hunts after opener and the next weekend, so hopefully nobody thinks I am giving away any spots

[2 DA GILLS]

The American Coot is actually a member of the same family as the rails. Often classified as duck-like swimmers within this family. Coot actually have lobed feet and not webbed feet. It is interesting how their lobed feet work with their running takeoffs. The lobes on their feet fold in as their foot comes forward through the water and then the lobes open as they push off of the water.

[Mark Christianson]

Seems that people are combining "teal" together.

Greenwings are a much later migrator than the Bluewing teal.

Bluewings bust out at first freeze like clock work. The Greenwings are around much later in the season. I have shot Greenwings into mid/late October.

Bluewings are darn near gonzo by second weekend of duck season.

I will vote for "Divers rule" like others!

We used to shoot 90% ringnecks from opener through the first few weekends. Now we get a handful over the first few weeks. Local populations for early season have gone to almost nothing for us.

[BeerHunter]

i Agree with the ringnecks also, for about a month before freeze out my slough has anywhere from 500-1000 ringnecks in it everyday, they come in every morning and leave every night, they sit on one side of the slough and few get up all the time and come over and give us shooting,

2 mornings the slough was froze and they still came in.

great time droping them on the ice.

the last day we got our limit for 2 in 5 minutes, I also love diver hunting

we just threw in a mallard and 2 hooded mergansers for fun, like this every morning we hunted it till it froze last year. This is for 3 guys just so no one thinks otherwise

[carpshooterdeluxe]

thats an awesome shoot. i should clarify when we hunt, we really dont set up on bigger sloughs or lakes that would even hold divers, thus i dont ever really get the chance to shoot them. also, out of curiosity, whats the latest into the season anybody has shot wood ducks? i got two last year during a break in action from deer hunting second weekend. seemed odd to me that they were still around.

[Scott M]

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BoxMN or lanyard, if you don't mind sharing, where are you seeing (not specific body of water mind you) all these Cans and 'Bills and when are you seeing them?

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Sorry, with 'Bills I mean bluebills not ringbills. My bad. I was wondering when and where people are seeing a lot of bluebills. Winnibigoshish late, Rainy River late, I've heard of a few places but was curious if anyone has seen them further south or earlier in the season, etc.

[hanson]

I would probably say Lake of the Woods is going to be a very, very good bet.

[Fish&Fowl]

For northern MN I would have to say mallards #1 and ring-necks #2. We have more ring-necks around than any other kind of bird once the season gets rolling.

For the rest of the state, blue-winged teal #2.

[Hammer Handle]

I see mainly wood ducks in the early season, but with a limit of two you are limited.

For me, I get plenty of teal, mallards and wood ducks. But late season hunting gets me lots of bluebills (ringnecks).

Best eating duck? #1 is teal. #2 is ringneck.

[Fish&Fowl]

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For me, I get plenty of teal, mallards and wood ducks. But late season hunting gets me lots of bluebills (ringnecks).

Best eating duck? #1 is teal. #2 is ringneck.

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I'm not sure that's what you meant, but if you mean ring-necks are bluebills, you better do a little more research. You can shoot 6 ring-necks, but if you shoot 6 bills you may be in troule

[Hammer Handle]

Well, ring-necks are a "type" of bluebill. "Bluebills" include Lesser and Great Scaups, but also include Ring-necks.

All of these are related and many times can fly together. "Bluebill" is a generic term for Scaups and Ringnecks (who really don't have a ring on their neck...not visible anyway...but the males have a white ring on their bill).

The law books say you can shoot two Scaups, not "bluebills". So, I do not need more research...I know what the limits are, but thanks for making sure.

[Huntin&Fishin]

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I bet 90% of our harvest per year is Ring Necks (Ringbills).

Man I love diver hunting!

We get them from Opening Day through ice up.

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Where do you hunt by? I've never seen that many ring necks around before.

[bassman222]

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Well, ring-necks are a "type" of bluebill.

All of these are related and many times can fly together. "Bluebill" is a generic term for Scaups and Ringnecks (who really don't have a ring on their neck...not visible anyway...but the males have a white ring on their bill).

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No, Ringnecks are ringnecks.

Bluebill is not a generic term for Ringnecks.

Yes they do have a visible ring around their neck, it is maroon in color.

The females have a ring around their bill as well, it is just not as bright.

[Hammer Handle]

Well, I guess I disagree. It must depend on where you are from. Bluebill is used where I am from for these diving ducks that "whistle" in flight and have "white middles" underneath (both types of scaups and ring-necks). Also when I was on the Wildlife Team for FFA many years ago, this was the defination of "bluebill". Maybe it has changed over the years, but I will always refer to all these ducks as "bluebills".

I don't believe the law books even mention bluebills. If we wanted to get technical, they should be call ringnecks and scaups.

Ringnecks do have a ring on their neck, but if you can see it in flight...your eyes are much better than mine. And yes, the females have a ring too on the bill.

It is probably the same thing as "brush wolves" and "coyotes". Both are the same animal in Minnesota, just depends on where you are as to what they are called.

[hanson]

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I don't believe the law books even mention bluebills. If we wanted to get technical, they should be call ringnecks and scaups.

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"Bluebill" is a nickname given to them by us hunters. Its not scientifically, technically, or legally correct. But much easier to say than 'greater scaups' coming in.

You'll never see the ring around a ring-necks neck in flight, gotta pay attention to the wings and how much white is on them.

[hanson]

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Where do you hunt by? I've never seen that many ring necks around before.

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Northwest Minnesota

[Scott M]

hanson, I know you are a big URL guy...is that also where you duck and deer hunt? Not trying to be nosy, just curious....

[hanson]

Further west...

Thief River Falls "area"

[Huntin&Fishin]

Any one seen any around Fergus before. I've only seen a few.