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Waterfowl Reports


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Shot a black duck in western mn. Saw cinnamon teal just south of the cities. Both are not within their normal flight but there they were. Still haven't shot a cinnamon teal or barrows goldeneye.

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Still lots of teal in nw NoDak. Shot 4 bwt yesterday, passed on several. Shot my first gwt drake. Actually, it was my first drake teal of any kind. To be honest I wasn't 100% sure what it was when I pulled the trigger, just saw a red head. They're definitely a good looking bird.

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Wow! A cinnamon teal near MSP!? Now that little guy really WAS off course. They are nifty and speedly little birds. We used to see and shoot a lot of them in SE Alaska. Nothing like trying to catch up with a teal riding a 40 mile an hour southeast wind! LOL

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Pair of buffies and a woodie drake. Hen woodies in dekes about 3 times. Loon attacking and trying to scare my new blue bill dekes. Would get right next to them and slap its wings and dive. Finally bold enough to give one a jab with beak. Then started hammering on em ! After a while I had had enough and tried to scare her away. Nothin doing.

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Pair of buffies and a woodie drake. Hen woodies in dekes about 3 times. Loon attacking and trying to scare my new blue bill dekes. Would get right next to them and slap its wings and dive. Finally bold enough to give one a jab with beak. Then started hammering on em ! After a while I had had enough and tried to scare her away. Nothin doing.

That's pretty cool stringerless!! Sometimes the best part of the day doesn't involve shooting

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Hunted Fri. morning, Friday evening, and Saturday Morning. BIG Goose egg haven't fired a shot, very little for birds in the Brainerd area, not that that suprises me normally we shoot a few ducks. The dogs are getting bored...

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Hunted north of Garrison this morning, I never fired a shot. Wife missed one. There were a few birds flying, but none wanted to decoy.

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Hunted north of Garrison this morning, I never fired a shot. Wife missed one. There were a few birds flying, but none wanted to decoy.

Just keep tellin yourself it's all about the dog's and the sunrise and you'll be OK. MN duck hunting has alot to be desired..........

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Went out this morning by myself..very slow morning. Saw more deer than I did ducks. And I only saw 4 deer. I think the ducks that were here migrated south and the new ones havent quite got here yet. Fingers crossed thats the reason!

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Ive shot them in southern mn see them through the glass alot more than one would think unfortunatly never seen a drake.. also shot oldsqauw hen last fall and have glassed them here too

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10/20/13 Hutchinson Area

Slow morning Saturday. A couple periods of drizzle with light WSW winds, and not much flying. We got one mallard out of a pair that decoyed nicely. Started talking about the cold moving many of the ducks that arrived last weekend out and not replacing them. Then the rain stopped, it cleared, and the wind began to gust from the NW. With a forecast of rain on Sunday, we decided to stay out all day and see if the dropping temps and NW wind would bring some ducks in as the day went on. It did. We bagged three mallards, a gadwall, and a pintail. Two wounded mallards dove on us, and a flock of bills, a flock of ringers, and a small bunch of spoonies decoyed while we were pushing the boat back into the weeds from retrieving ducks. Called it quits at 5:30, and as we were pushing the boat out to get dekes, about twenty mallards floated through the dekes. Had some bad luck/timing, but some new ducks definitely moved in and were fun to watch even if we didn't shoot at all of them. Didn't go out in the rain on Sunday morning.

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Shot 5 redheads and 1 ring bill this am 3 guys. Had an early flock of mallards short us. Seen 2 flocks of migrating ducks. Didn't see much for ducks. Did see the 1st bufflehead of the year. Hoping for a little push the next couple days as I will be waiting for them while most of you guys are at work. grin

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Missed a flock of buffies and a lone ringie drake this morning. 3 of us ?!?!?! Really struggling with getting birds to decoy this year it seems. Can not figure it out.No migration seen. Tried for geese in evening but they were in a chopped cornfield to the north of where I have permission. Set up in new rye. Spent most of the time looking up for migrating birds. Nothing. Robins and bluebirds bunching up but that was it. Both hunts-Northern Washington County.

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A buddy and his son and I hunted Thursday through Sunday morning in western WI. Ended up with 35 ducks a goose. Saw many new birds in the area on Friday morning. We would have hard more but had spans where our shooting was less than stellar. We never fired a shot at a mallard but we ended up with 3 canvasbacks, 12 redheads, 8 teal and the rest were a mix of ringbills, bluebills, gadwalls etc. When we had a north wind the action was awesome. Had less decoying ducks on the days we had a south wind.

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Hunted north of the cities on Saturday AM. Only thing left were birds that were extremely decoy and call shy..better off using 2 dekes and no call. I'm sure with the current weather pattern things should only get better for awhile. Still some woodrows around..BWT were history..did have a couple GE's buzzing around though.

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Northwest Minnesota. Did see a few flocks of birds definitely moving south this weekend, but the numbers are still quite low. There's a cold strong NW wind blowing today which should be pushing some birds, but reports out of southern Manitoba and Sask are still showing the push hasn't really ramped up yet.

Steady cold temps this week, with most every night being below freezing should really get the birds jumping. I expect to start hearing lots of geese migrating over night over the next week. The big puddles from this weekend's rain/snow are frozen over pretty good this morning.

Really hoping that our local farmers are able to catch a break this week. Pretty much all the corn is still standing, and many bean fields have yet to be harvested as well. If the farmers could get most of the corn and beans off I think we'd see a lot more of the migrators stick around over the coming weeks.

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Hunted Fri-Sun with some friends down here on Pool 7 and 8. Lots of birds down, and tons of hunters. We did alright, taking Mallards, GWT, Pintails, Gadwalls, BWT, and Ringneck.

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Hunted western MN Saturday, just me and the dog. 4 mallards, 1 redhead,1 widgeon. Saw lots of ducks. With this cold NW flow, now is the time to get out there. More surely to come later. Hoping to try again tomorrow AM.

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Hunted around Bemidji area over the weekend for a day shot 26 ducks for 5 people all of them being divers. Shot mostly goldeneyes and buffleheads. Bluebills were there but not in big numbers yet biggest flock was prolly 150. Maybe next two weeks it should be peak numbers.

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Sat all day today seen ring bills migrating. A flock of pintails. And some other big ducks V'd up. I ended up shooting my 3 geese and a healthy greenhead.

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Saturday - Monday

Saturday was ok, enough birds to keep us interested. Four of us ended up with a mixed bag of mallards, cans, pintails, widgeon.

Sunday we never fired our guns. Saw some ducks but had a bad setup and the rain pushed us out by 9am

Monday the cans were gone, lots of divers. Ended with 5 including 2 buffleheads and a blackduck which were the highlight of the weekend!

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Got back from Thursday to Monday NoDak trip yesterday. Had a great time, but not as good of hunting as we would have liked. Just not as many birds around (NE ND). Still shot 60+ birds, but average to the number of hunters, and we each had fun and shot some, but no limits... which is fine.

Had great time with our farmer friends, the kids had fun running around in the farmer Gators, and we had a nice mixed bag of mallards, redheads, still lots of BWT and some GWT (two nicely colored drakes), ringbill, ever present gadwall, a couple pintail, a single goose, and we also weren't afraid to say hi to a few spoonbill wink

Just really there were not that many birds in our area. Missed out on one good field when my buddy didn't get there early enough. Oh well. Pretty wet out there, and the old half ton Silverado had to pull out another new SuperDuty 1 ton, haha!

Good trip, good fun, fun hunts, no so many birds... sums it up smile Thank you once again North Dakota folks! (Fatheads in Lankin made it hard to get up a couple mornings for some of our guys, haha!)

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onthefly, yep, that general area, about 25 miles south of the border. I was going to go back up that same weekend, but not sure now. Friends are going to give me the heads up if something starts coming through. He said it was supposed to get a bit warmer for a week or so, and then who knows. Once that area freezes up, birds can go through in a day without stopping. But if it doesn't I bet that time could be great, there is lots of feed out there for them!

The edges and small sloughs were frozen Monday morning, but we just broke through fairly easy, and the dog could break getting birds. But a calm night of 13 lows could be an issue. Good luck if you go!

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Thanks, Box. We hunted it for nonresident opener and found really good numbers of ducks and geese. But, there isn't any really big water to stay open when the weather turns cold. We figured the migrants would just keep moving.

Oh well - I'm sure Devil's Lake won't freeze up too early! So, that's plan B.

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Northern Washington County in afternoon yesterday. Field that had 150 geese in it on Sunday. Set up at 3pm, Never saw or heard a single goose the whole time. Heard one single shot in the distance. No high flying migrators seen. One small flock of about 12 ducks spotted far away.

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Box we had the same results out on Devils lake last week Fun times, got birds but not the bird numbers on the big water. We shot more birds in the potholes than the big water.

Wed decided to fish Saturday after noon and did really well on perch eyes and crappie.

So it was a good cast and blast week.

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Gordie - Ha - my farmer buddy just texted me and told me we left too early, that new and lots of birds have been moving in the past two days. I hear it all the time, fishing and hunting - "shoulda been here last week" wink

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Kettle
      Walked today and yesterday, flushed 9, shot at two and got two. Hopefully next year I'll have a dog to hunt with. Still warm up here, skim of ice on ponds. Weather has been nice. Hopefully walk a bit more the next few weeks. Been pretty cautious walking for birds to not interfere with deer hunters. There sure are not the deer hunters there used to be 
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  The focus for many this week is the ongoing deer hunting season which is a big tradition in these parts, even for avid walleye anglers.  There were some that either already harvested their deer or are more into catching fall walleyes than hunting.     Those that are fishing are taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and excellent walleye and sauger bite that is happening across the lake.  Cold weather is in the forecast in the upcoming days and weeks so that is also getting many excited. The best depths on the south end of LOW are 22-28 feet of water.     Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners is catching most of the walleyes, saugers and jumbo perch.  Depending upon where on the lake you are fishing, some slots and big trophies are in the mix as well, but most reports are talking about good numbers of eaters.    Jumbo perch are coming in good numbers this fall which will serve ice anglers well.  Watch out for an occasional pike or even lake sturgeon mixed in with the walleyes.      There are good numbers of walleyes and saugers across the south shore which is setting up nicely for early ice.   On the Rainy River...  There continues to be good numbers of shiners in the river, and consequently, there are good walleyes in the river as well.     Walleyes along with saugers, pike and some sturgeon are coming in up and down the river.  Most walleyes are being caught in 10-25 feet of water in various stretches of the river.   Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners is the key. Some anglers are also still slow trolling crankbaits upstream to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing remains strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the "keep season" on April 24th. Up at the NW Angle...  As temps are getting colder, most are in the woods hunting and not fall fishing, however, for those who bundle up, fishing continues to be excellent.     A nice mixed bag with walleyes, saugers, perch, pike and crappies being caught. Very good muskie fishing with the colder water temps and shorter days.  Some big fish and some good numbers are being caught amongst the islands.  Both casting and trolling is getting it done.  
    • gimruis
      I hunt in the rifle zone so I don't have a need to use a shotgun to hunt deer, but I would be looking at this if there was ever a need to.   There could be state legislation introduced next summer that eliminates the shotgun zone completely.  It has bipartisan support.  Wisconsin removed theirs years ago and MN is usually later to follow.  They've tried to pass it more than once and it came up just short both times.  Probably just a matter of time.
    • Wanderer
      Oh, h e l l no! 
    • leech~~
      Screw that, here's whatch need!  😆   Power-Shok Rifled Slug 10 Gauge 766 Grain Grain Weight: 766 Shotshell Length: 3-1/2in / 89mm Muzzle Velocity: 1280
    • Wanderer
      20 ga has become a real popular deer round in the last 5 or so years.  The rifled barrels are zinging those sabot slugs with rifle like accuracy out to 100 yards easily.  Some go so far as dialing in for a 200 yard shot but really, by 150 they’re falling off pretty low.   I have a single shot Ultraslug in 20 ga that shoots really well at 100 yards.  Most everyone I know that has bought a slug gun lately has gotten the Savage 220 in 20ga.  Problem can be finding the shells you want.
    • leech~~
      My son always bugs me about getting a nice light over-under 20ga for grouse hunting.  I say Heck no, I'm getting a 3 1/2" 10ga so I can put as much lead in the air that I can!!     So, I'm keeping my 12ga.  
    • 11-87
      That’s almost exactly what I was thinking.  Have slug barrels for both   One for turkey and one for deer.      I have a 20ga mosseberg as well. (Combo came with the scope but never used.   I always liked the 12 better
    • leech~~
      Wanderer is right on the money and covered it well.  I was wondering too if you had a slug barrel for one of your guns?  If so you could make that your slug gun with a scope, and the other your turkey gun with the Red dot.  As you can afford it. 
    • Wanderer
      Kinda depends on if you want magnification or quick target acquisition.   More magnification options and better accuracy with a scope.  You get what you pay for too so get comfortable with a budget for one.  Tasco and Bushnell work but I find they lose their zero easier, have low contrast and don’t gather light well in low light conditions.  That said, I’m still using one I haven’t replaced yet.  Vortex has been the hot brand for the past several years for bang for the buck.  Good products.  Nothing beats Swarovski though.  Huge dough for those.  Burris is another decent option.   There are some specific models for shotgun/slug hunting in the economy brands and bullet drop compensation (BDC) reticles.  Based on experience I’d recommend not falling for that marketing ploy.   Red dots are usually lower magnification and easier to get on target.  Reasonably accurate but don’t do well with definition, like searching the brush for your target.  I put a HAWKE red dot on a .22 for squirrels and it’s been good.  For turkey, that’s probably the route I’d go.     If your slug shots are normally not too far and too brushy, I’d think a red dot could work there too if you’re only buying 1 scope.  You’ll be better off dimming the reticle to the lowest setting you can easily use to not over shine the target and get a finer aim point.   If you don’t have a slug barrel, you might appreciate one of those.  I had a browning with a smoothbore slug barrel that shot Brenneke 2-3/4 inch well.  The 11-87 would well fitted with a cantelever rifled barrel. 
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