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Waterfowl Reports


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Worst day of season. Saw one six pack of ducks and a flock of 8. Nothing anywhere close. Chisago county. Never heard a shot all morning. Not even a deer shot.

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Worst day of season. Saw one six pack of ducks and a flock of 8. Nothing anywhere close. Chisago county. Never heard a shot all morning. Not even a deer shot.

X2 first time this year we never saw a duck....

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TRF/MW MN: Actually watched 5-6 big flights of geese flying over again today. There ARE still a few coming down out of Canada....of course flying high heading south. Haven't seen a duck in quite a while.

Doozy of a strong, cold northwest wind blowing today.

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The mallards are in down in s mn. Ice melt has prolly spread them back out.

Next hard freeze will concentrate em again.

Good luck

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Had A LOT of snows flying overhead last. Started seeing em in big flocks right at dusk & they continued well into the evening while we were cleaning our pheasants.

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Still thousands of mallards from Sartell to elk river and into the cities.

With things opening back up it will get weird for a bit and then It's gonna get good for the last weekend of hunting. If you like watching birds just scouting out there you will see lots of mallards at about 3:00 and then the geese come. Good luck finding ground to hunt most of it is locked up, it really sucks that way.

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Was at Onamia the evening of the 18th. Mostly frozen but a few open channels. Sat for 2 hours and nothing, then maybe 20 minutes to sunset a fairly large flock of mallards appears but set down about 5-600 yards north. Got up and moved a few times but never came within range. Fun to watch but by the time we left the hands and feet were darn cold.

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hunted around the baxter area last friday morning on a river with rice, saw maybe 2 dozen mallards, only a few that would look at my dekes and keep flying; not much around at all, must have missed it by a few days; there are a lot of geese around though between baxter to little falls!

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I finished out the northern zone season this morning on big water in the Deer River area.

I got a late start and was set up at 8:00am. With in the 1st half hour I had 3 ducks in the boat.

1st flock of a dozen or so whistlers came in and I dropped a hen.

Next a single hen whistler came in and I dropper her.

Then had a pair of ringnecks come by and I dropped a drake.

I saw a few other flocks, singles, pairs that didn't decoy and then had 7 geese that must of thought they were divers, zero in on my diver spread. They were locked up and headed right at me. When they got to 25-30 yds, I started shooting. I don't know what happened, but I must have got "flock fever" and they flew off unscathed.

I was cussing myself out and looked to the left to see 2 drake whistlers dumping into the decoys. Boom! Boom! and both of them are on the water. 1 is dead on impact and the other one dove on me. I got one long shot 30-40 yds, hoping 1 pellet would find his head, but no luck. The one that I got is going on the wall, been after one of them late season bad boys for a while now.

As I'm pushing the boat off shore to retrieve my prize, a squadron of about 15 goldneyes are headed my way. I hunker down and they give me a nice shot, too bad I missed on my first shot, and my BPS had a hiccup and I couldn't pump another shell into the chamber. Aaaaaargh!!!

I then ended the day on a hen buffy that sailed in.

And in typical fashion, I had a flock of 15 or so whistlers buzz me while I was picking up the decoys.

Not a ton of birds up here but definitely huntable numbers. I really wish I could hunt through the weekend. I'd much rather be breaking ice to duck hunt than swatting mosquitos to duck hunt.

77sm.jpg

Brian

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hunted by Ivanhoe yesterday and saw 4 ducks total and a few hundred geese. At least I got to try out the new boat blind I built and will have a couple small (minor) changes for next season. Can't wait to go back to NoDak next year!

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Took a couple of newbie kids hunting yesterday afternoon. We got started late cuz by 2:30 we had hundereds of mallards whizzing by over head. Spot I had would only work with a south wind and we had it. We ended up with 5 mallards and smiles all around.

Still tons of mallards with a few divers showing up in my area.

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Evening hunt today on Pool 8. Tons of birds flying, just didn't like my spot/set-up. Lots of mallards around. Ended up with one big greenhead and a buffie, with some other misses. Hunting Solo

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Their heeeerrrre went thismorning in minnesota river bottoms, got 4 mallards should have had limit but biffed a few shots at some teal and gadwall taking off from work thursday noon and hit the slough before the weather front moves in hopefully the north wind and snow will have them movin

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Evening hunt today on Pool 8. Tons of birds flying, just didn't like my spot/set-up. Lots of mallards around. Ended up with one big greenhead and a buffie, with some other misses. Hunting Solo

Nice. I may try the river tomorrow as she will probably be locked up come sunday morning.

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Hunted a lake south of Marshall today. Shot two mallard hens and a really nice widgeon drake. Should have had a couple of bluebill drakes and a redhead drake. Virtually nothing for migrating mallards considering how perfect the day was. Very few ducks of any kind and less geese. The few ducks that came into the lake did give me a good look which was a positive anyway. Probably the last water hunt for me as I think it's going to be locked up come Saturday morning. We'll see.

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Hunted a South Central MN lake today. Mallards were thick and migrating. We shot our eight and had multiple flocks of 30-70 birds LAND in our decoys. Could have shot a hen spoonie and a hen redhead but we let them live another day. I think we have tomorrow and then every lake <500 acres will be locked up.

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Went out today from 1-4 30 today and saw only 12 ducks, sloughs will be locked up by saturday, thens its the river till season ends

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I hope the river stays open. Thats where I hunt the last week usually but with a low of 5 that might even be done come sunday.

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Took the boat out. 8 degrees. Goldie drake. Nice mallard pair. 4 curl drake and a Mergie hen. Passed on geese we thought were too far but after they went over realized they were well in range. New mallards around for sure. Only saw about 60. Saw one pair of bills. No other divers seen.

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Woke up late I guess today hunted same spot on the sippi last weekend no one there today 5 trucks at 530, went to my back up spot 5 or more trucks there went back to first spot motor wouldn't start..... All in all great morning woke up at 4 to drive around for 3 hours FML

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Hunted a field in NE metro. Kinda chilly, especially since we only saw two flocks all morning. No ducks, but at least I ended the duck season hunting them wink Had a flock of swans almost land in the field though, that was highlight of our bird seeing today. Didn't stay out too long though, only about 10.

Cool thing is we met some folks who had same permission we did, and it will hopefully end up with some new hunting partners into the future.

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- 12 F. in Northwest Minnesota this morning! I think it might be done?!?! cool

Making ice fast now!

Canopy you gonna be ice fishing red or lotw this week?

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Back to same lake today. It is done. Not a spot of open water. Threw some fist sized rocks and they bounced. Scrambled into plan B. Field. Saw 3 small flocks of mallards One group of 5 might have worked us if I was not out of the blind. Did see a flock of cans go over.Migrating into a strong south wind. Never saw or heard a single goose. It is gonna be a long 305 days to next season.:(

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All water bodies in Tumuli Country iced over. Muskrat sitting on ice today with puzzled look on face. One lone coot walking around with same expression. Ice fishing guy with funny fur hat standing on shore of one lake with big grin on face.

Me turning up heat in Cadillac and slowly cruising on by.

She's all done around this area boys.

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Spent wed til sun am camping and bouncing around pool 5,6 and 7.never shot at a diver! Big fat green heads were the daily norm..still seeing decent amounts of migrators but it looks soon to be done! Heading out thanksgiving to finish up wi on the river pools 8&9'..

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That's on another thread fish_hunt_guy! Har har har.... grin

Still have a couple honkers hanging on in our moving water way up here. Haven't seen any birds in the air for about a week now.

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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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