Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Waterfowl Reports


Recommended Posts

Theres a few showing up around here, Geese, sawbills, few mallards and a few woodies, should see a big influx next week

4a893070-4ab9-432f-a7b9-213ea65a1234_zps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tundra swans moving north all day. Was not an hour that I didn't see or hear a flock. Chisago county.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Todd really like that pic! Saw some Golden eyes on a larger open creek here on the range yesterday, the birds sure do look nice this time of year!

Kettle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Went golfing this morning and saw some hooded mergansers, blue wing teal, mallards, woodies a widgeon and some geese. The birds had gorgeous colors in them, wish they looked like that during hunting season!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I think they just wrapped up their molting a week or so back, and now the youngins are taking to the air as well.

It really is nice to hear and see them in the air again. Where I live, up in NW Minnesota, alongside a little river valley, we often have geese in the river, and in the fields around our place. They're so prevalent they just become a normal, everyday part of the scenery. I miss them when they go into that molting process, and it's kind of a nice relief when they get back in the air and make themselves heard again.

I can't imagine an autumn without hearing and seeing geese. They're awesome birds!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen quite a few teal around central MN, looking forward to opener. Has anyone else seen good numbers of ducks out there this year?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bringing my youngest daughter out to her friend's house last week and I came across a harvested wheat field with 1000+ geese, and nearly that many ducks as well!

I just pulled over to the side of the road and watched this army of ducks mow thru the grain stubble. All the while more and more ducks and geese kept pouring into that field. LOVE IT! smile

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seeing some mallards, teal and a few divers (local ringnecks would be my guess) on the Iron range, rice crop looks pretty good, not like last year but last year was a stellar rice crop. Also saw a pair of swans with 6 younger ones while I was out forwheeling yesterday. First fall on the range on my guess with the scouting I have been doing is that I will probably have to head farther west to find more birds.

Kettle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going out this weekend for the work on the boat, blinds, dock, etc... Going to do some scouting, will report back what we see. Looking forward to a great year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey kettle, I grew up on da rang& spent a lot of time chasing ducks. Shoot me a pm & I can get you started

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was out building blinds this weekend. Saw a lot of teal and wood ducks. Some geese being hunted. Water is still a little up, but looks to be a promising opener!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a liar but I seen a small move today with a half dozen flocks up high and in formation. Did manage to knock over 3 this a.m and they all came from the clouds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a liar but I seen a small move today with a half dozen flocks up high and in formation. Did manage to knock over 3 this a.m and they all came from the clouds.

No surprise at all. Molt migrators. Happens every year Mid-Late September. I saw some over a week ago which is a little early for molts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me a liar but I seen a small move today with a half dozen flocks up high and in formation. Did manage to knock over 3 this a.m and they all came from the clouds.

There was a small migration yesterday. This occurs every year. It's not all molt migraters either. I shoot lessers and cacklers every year early season. I even see snow geese every year during early season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took too boys out this weekend south of Monticello saw a few birds mostly teal and woodies boys got 5 ducks 4 teal and a woody... pretty good for first timers thou. There was a few geese flying around no big numbers yet... I've seen more around St. Cloud then around the Monticello area...I think by opener we should start to see some real numbers around most area's of the state.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From all of my recent scouting I can say the rice crop is minimal. The rice that is seen is mainly the standing stuff from last year. Actual crop producing rice is way down in the north-land. If you are planing on hunting places that you have hunted in the past with rice for opener check it out prior to the season. I don't know if I will be on the water, have my eye on a barley field that has yet to be cut and is the only one I have seen up here in the northeastern part of the state.

Happy Hunting

Kettle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well, how did everyone do today? Two of us got out and shot our limits. 6 woodies, 4 teal, and 2 mallards. Missed a lot also frown Saw a ton of wood ducks today and had quite a few more woodies stop by and hang out in the decoys after we had our 6.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We found the ducks just wasn't set up right. Got 3 for 2 guys, saw probably 300 birds all mallards and black ducks. No other birds

Kettle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

My dad and I saw lots of ducks but we suck at shooting but love to blast at them anyways. I could not believe we had them so close and could still miss. We ended up with one wood duck. We should have had limits for sure but it is okay we had a great morning minus the bugs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got a few ducks and yea the mosquitos were absolutely horrible! Me and my son got slaughtered huge mistake not bringing some deet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hunted by Leech Lake. Heard lots of shooting down on Steamboat. I was a little north and didn't get much action. Ended up getting one woodie out of 8 that were locked on our decoys. I'm blaming my new shotgun and too tight of a choke for that. Lol! Had a few mallards fly just out of range. Lots of mosquitos for us too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did pretty good here in the far southwest corner. Six of us shot seventeen mallards and nine teal. That was the only two species we had shots at. Did not really see that many ducks but the ones we did worked real well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

got a 2 man limit of ducks by 930. guys to our right were sky busting birds and guys to our left were pretty good shots--it was fun to watch them cut them out of the sky. we had decent shooting but room for improvement for sure--just had more ducks pass by us to get us to our limits.

mallards and teal made up the limits with a female ringneck. held back on shooting the spoonies that seemed to always lock up on our spread.

Hunting SW MN

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a bit slower today, we got 5 between the two of us. 3 woodies, a teal, and a mallard. There wasn't near as many birds flying today and the ones that did were pretty skiddish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Report from my back yard just East of Pelican in Wright County.

Holy wood ducks!!! Yesterday buddy and I filled out our bag. 6 woodies (2 really nice drakes), 1 blue winged teal, 1 widgeon, 1 redhead and 1 mallard, 2 flying cripples counted as dead. Widgeon and redhead very unusual for this location. Woodies were coming in hot and fast in groups of 2-6. Never seen so many around here. Very close shooting on all birds. Decoying quite nicely. Dog got a lot of chances to shake of the rust. With a few marking rocks and a couple of escorts into the cattails he managed to find all downed birds. Not a single goose in the sky, very few mallards sighted. Lots of teal flying around but my slough is too deep this year so they're not using it as much as usual. 2 Years ago, several neighbors and I got together to build and place 30 wood duck boxes. IT IS CLEARLY PAYING OFF!

This morning hunting solo: passed on a lot of the wood ducks concentrating on trying to bag some yummy teal. Bagged 2 nice wood duck drakes (I just couldn't resist when they pitched in clean lit up by the rising sun behind me like a Kouba print), 2 blue wings, a greenwing and a big fat mallard drake. Birds still pitching readily into the dekes, mallards clearly more wary and forming larger flocks. Woodies still in Kamikaze mode. Dog almost caught one hen that landed 12" from the rat hut he was sitting on. I was laughing too hard to bust the teal that followed her in. Fair number of geese low and slow in ragged flocks but none came in close to me. Also picked up a bonus dove that chose a poor flight path to go with my teal.

In addition to the usual AAA barrage on Pelican (sounded heavier than last few years) there were hunters present on several small water sloughs nearby that haven't been there in 4 years. Helped the neighbor kids retrieve 3 woodies they'd downed in heavy cover on a small pothole after I packed it in. Great to see the youngsters getting into the sport. They knocked down a mallard drake with their 20ga single shots while I was working the dog and got to see him do a live water retrieve on a crippled bird. Luke will be talking dad into a hunting dog for Christmas I think.

Overall, one of the best openers I can remember.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For what should be considered my first year im happy, and did it on my own (and you guys help on this forum). Got my limit of woody's and 1 teal on opener, only one hen mallard came to the decoys but swatting at a skeeter messed the only chance i had at a mallard.

Today was a little tougher, the woody's still came in but not in the decoys like yesterday. Had issues with left handed shooter(me) and right handed gun causing me to only have 1 shot. Gonna switch the safety around before i get out again that for sure. Caused me to not get my limit of woody's today. Ended up with 1 beautiful drake though.

Cant wait for cooler temps!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got our two man limit on saturday by 10am with a bonus goose. Mallards and teals. If our barrels weren't bent we would have filled out by 8am and geeses by 10am.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been hearing some real mixed reports from different buds. Since I'm in Texas now I obviously haven't been out but I keep in contact with all my old duck buds. Two buddies that went to our traditional opener spot (one of the guys took my seat:( shot their limit of woodies, ringers & teal in 15 mins opening morning. Today they shot drakes only & it took a whopping 45 mins to fill out. 3 other parties filled out or came close but it took more work. 2 parties did really poor on a traditionally good lake. Sounds like scouting is critical, as always

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • 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. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.