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Waterfowl Reports


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It's not funny but kinda funny, if we had the internet and this site during the 80's wow would the story be different, we'd be talking about ducks at times into the thousands, little goose chatter other then in Rochester,Fergus Falls, Alexandria, and LaQuiParle. I'd be saying about 2-3 hundred woodies in a beaver pond, 1,000 mallards in our cornfield, etc. etc. etc. We'd all have those comments for the most part, bluebills in great numbers down etc. I never thought the day would come where it's easier to get ruffed grouse then ducks in my area and there's few grouse around. What a joke that article was in outdoor news about duck stamp sales they are lucky/fortunate they're getting the sales they are, like my dad who buys them and quit hunting 15 years ago, cmon record duck numbers whatever, compared to 1776 yes maybe. Sure there are pockets of decent hunting in some areas but it is nothing compared to the early 80's or late 80's even. Read that sales pitch outdoor news article, it's like trying to sell a guy a car and you got no car to give after the sale. Thankfully the goose and turkey are providing the lapse in duck hunting for many of us.

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We are going to give it all we got tomorrow, will see what we see, going to hunt 3 private farms that we haven't tried yet so I'm optimistic, but realistically speaking it's going to stink, but we can put on an orange hat and hope for some roosters once reality hits that there's no ducks. Man do I want to report dozens of greenheads, beuatifully plumage woodies, fingers are crossed.

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Two of us hit Leech this morning. Pretty slow overall with low numbers seen. Saw a few small flocks of ringecks, couple mallards and a couple small flocks of geese. Didn't see any sort of a migration. Talked with a couple other groups and all had similar reports. Hopefully the cooler temps will get some birds moving.

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Decided to try the geese as i think the wind would have blown me out of my deer stand. Seen a lot of geese flying early and had three come in with about one minn of shooting time left.

as where picking up of course two more low flocks come by, man i hate that its so bright yet right at sunset. mad

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the usual for me. Local woodies. Over and under misfired twice ?!? Both times were the only times I had birds decoying. If anything, a lot of geese left the area. No other signs of migration. Not much local shooting.

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Plenty of wood ducks around me this morning, only two buzzed my decoys and I didn't shoot. Saw a flock of 2doz mallards go over pretty high heading to a field somewhere I suppose. The usual geese were around but wouldn't pass over me. Oh well. Will try again tomorrow morning.

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was out in eastern wisonsin this morning. hunted a picked corn field next to a couple of ponds. my buddie said last weekend he saw close to a thousand geese, but not this morning a few here and there. ended up with 6 mallards. boy were they decoying beautifly! i think the wind messed em up this morning. goin out again in the morning!

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was north of Aitkin this morning saw quite a few flocks of ringers and red heads a few teal and a whole buncha mallards the luck wasnt with us today as most of these birds were real decoy shy. didnt see hardly any geese

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Hunted near Glenwood this morning and saw alot of divers (redheads,cans,ringers)but didnt have a spinning wing decoy and others on the lake did, nuff said. Managed 1 redhead out of a flock of about 30 that was it. Amazing how the spinners work sometimes.Nice to see some divers movin in. Hunting cornfield with water tomorrow, should be good.

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West Central Minnesota public land, limit of Ringbills in 10 minutes. Saw a few Mallards in addition but nothing close. A number of geese high!

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2 man limit out in western MN. Teal (blues and greens) and mallards made up the limits. The ducks were a little shy to decoy but worked well considering. Passed on some real nice canvasbacks. Also saw a decent amount of grey ducks. Going out again tomorrow locally--expecting a scratch but taking the kids so it will be fun!

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We are definitely welcoming some fresh faces here in east central SoDak. Mallards, Gadwall, Ringers, and Geese seem to be more numerous while the Woodies and Teal seem to have left for the most part. Wouldn't call it a big push of birds, but nice to see some new birds in the area.

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Got a report from a friend that lives on the west side of Devils Lake.. he said that the divers are really starting to make an appearance around the area. 2 more days and I hope to be sending you guys my own reports of the DL area.

Friday I was talking with an electrican and he had just got back from Canada Sunday and he said that they shot lots of geese and few ducks because of all the water this year. The Mallards would go where there was no buddy hunting. He also stated that they'er group has been going up there for 20 some years and have never shot Blue wing teal until this year and he said it wasnt just 1 or 2 it was limits of them. They were hunting in 85 degree weather and swating mosquitos too.

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Divers starting to show up in the N and W metro.

Killed the first Can of the season yesterday and the first 2 redheads today.

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Craptastic morning for me. Set up in my canoe across the bay with my decoys out plus one mojo. Only one wood duck buzzed me and landed about 40yd out and swam away. I could hear others squealing from in front of the neighbor's house. I took down the mojo a bit after sunrise, wasn't helping, ducks I did see just kept going wherever they had in mind. Finally had two geese come in from behind me really low, and I couldn't turn enough to get the gun pointed right at them. Going with the wind they were way in front of me before I could get the gun on them again properly, I didn't bother shooting... One more goose came by after I went back to my usual shore spot, came over up pretty high, I let it go.

Shooting in the area was much less than on Saturday morning, maybe the birds got smart and moved on, I dunno.

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Been slow in the south metro, a few birds each time out but nothing great. Did get my first band today on a goose. Banded in 2008 in Stearns county

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Passed on a bunch of woodies at first light cause they usually fly right back over my head at 9.Was gonna pick drakes only. Not to be today. Never came back. Gotta get the big boat out. Getting sick of these little ponds.Still no sign of migration for me.

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Hunted a little pond Sunday morning in the middle of a bean field around Ortonville. Ended up with 5 ducks mix of Gadwall and Mallards. Had some teal swimming in the pond 15 minutes before shooting time and 2 divers come in and land as we were taking down the decoys. Not a lot of small groups of birds, but quite a few very large flocks way up in the sky.

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just geeting started shot 16 ducks over the weekend. mixed bag gwt,bwt,gadwall,mallards,redheads,ringers,pintails and wood ducks. ducks were willing to work if there wasnt a guy blowing a kaaazooo around the corner laugh

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lots of small flocks of migrating honkers going over on saturday morning...mallard action was ridiculous from 8:45 to 9:15 on my slough; migrators coming down for a drink. Saw migrators while pheasant hunting until the wind switched more to the west. Same thing yesterday morning; birds moving south in small flocks. West Central MN. I talked to a bunch of guys sunday at a bar around noon, many skipped pheasants and hunted into mid-morning with good success on ducks and medium sized geese. Now is the time to get out. The calendar birds are moving in. Field action is starting to heat up here in SD...my buddies picked on wigeon and greenheads all weekend out of cut corn.

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Went out saturday morning for an hour more or less just to see what was around and if the wind blew any new birds in and i think it did. 60 geese, 20 mallards and 30 woodies in that pond that had nothing in it after last weekend. Hope they stick around.

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Done reporting, heard little to no shooting and we never fired a shell, had 1 immature drake mallard we identified as a hen coming in then it was too late and had no other action this wkd. Geese are flying a mile high now and dropping straight down to where they want to be, will keep an eye open for ducks, but you don't even realize the season is open in the 3 counties I hunt. Everyone is just waiting for deer season now.

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Nodak update:

Hunted Saturday with a decent wind from the WNW (20 mph) and bluebird skies. Drove by the slough in the wee hours of the morning and a few hundred ducks got up.

Hmm...not good.

Pop and I figured we'd try and hunt it anyway, and only scratched two teal, two drake mallards and a 15 pound goose (big bugger). Heard a bunch of shooting around us from the bigger water (I felt like I was in Minnesota again!) Scouted a bit afterward and were very disappointed with the lack of birds. Lots of vacant water. Seemed odd.

Given that, we decided to hunt the same slough again on Sunday morning. Again, as we drove by all the birds got up. They sure are getting skittish! I'm guess the puddle jumpers may be behind that. Anyway, set up on the north side of the water in the same spot as the day before. Wind really cranked up out of the West, and I think that was a deciding factor. We were covered in mallards, and many didn't have to think twice about committing. We had a spinner out and I only had a chance to put out 6 decoys before we had to hide. First group in I doubled as dad was still making his way out to our spot. By day's end, should have shot a limit, but we came home with two hens, five drakes and a gadwall. Sailed two that the pup didn't find, but with that wind I really couldn't blame him. All-in all, great weekend with the old man! Was really happy to finally get him on some good duck hunting.

One of the hens had a craw full of corn, so you know where they're feeding!

Looks like evening temps are edging closer and closer to freezing. If the northerly winds keep up, I predict more migrators moving in sooner than later... I'm going to miss this weekend, but you can bet I'll be out the weekend of Halloween. Bring on the SNOW!!!

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went out yesterday and was plesently greeted with a lone honker, group of mallards and some cansvasbacks. came home with 3 ducks and the honker. was away from the other guys on the lake and never heard another shot on the lake after 900. I fired six times and picked up at 1230 with a smile on my face because of the hunt. did see other divers and puddle ducks as I left the spot.

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Cornfield in Scandia this afternoon. Saw 2 crows a handful of robins and a couple bluebirds. No waterfowl seen or heard. No shots heard.

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As others have said ,Divers are in North Metro. Bad scene this morning! Motor plugged up with weeds. Recoil broke next. Oars. Not far from access. Ppl set up within range of us with a silver boat and purple hats ! Saw plenty of Cans,Bills, Mallards. Hardly any geese. Divers were all in corner of lake where nobody was.guessing about 3-4 hundred. Nothing came in range. No shots fired. Silver boat boy sealed our fate !

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Still a lot of woodies on the creeks down here in the southwest corner. Been doing a rooster/duck hunt along our streams with a lot more success on the wood ducks than on roosters.

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Still a lot of woodies on the creeks down here in the southwest corner. Been doing a rooster/duck hunt along our streams with a lot more success on the wood ducks than on roosters.

Now that sounds like fun.

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