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Waterfowl Reports


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Hunted east of St. Cloud lots of Woodies and seen lots of Mallards good size flocks of them that were not interested in decoys... lots of geese as well saw 6-7 flocks of 20-30 birds each... beautiful morning to be out should have brought some fishing gear and headed to the lake afterward. After reading the reports from DU this year should be really stellar for birds it just sounds like it may take a week or two longer for the birds to come down from canada.

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Carlos Avery opening morning. On the edge and not many made it out that far. Non stop shooting for the first 40 minutes. Only had 4 chances to shoot. Capitolized on one. Ten of us scattered around in there got 10 birds total. Mallards,teal and woodies.Skyblast city as usual. Pass on birds that are too high directly overhead and the parties on each side of us unload on them.Nothing sporting about it to some ppl. You would think they are literally starving and the hail mary shots are their only chance at a meal.

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Stringerless, your a brave man....

The ignorance of the brain dead sky busters is amaxing!

As much as it isn't my kind of thing, Carlos would benefit if it was more controlled ..

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Watched the evening flight over a campfire and a few beers in my backyard. Woodies and teal settled in nicely on my slough. Several larger flocks of mallards winged in from the NW and headed in the direction of some picked small grain fields. A few ragged flocks of geese did likewise. Lots of wood ducks in the air still, they haven't flown the coop yet! Anybody fortunate enough to have tomorrow off would probably do pretty well tucked into a deep cove by one of the oak tree islands on Pelican with a canoe and a couple wood duck dekes. The ones I shot had crops full of acorns. No ducks for me this week, only overtime (unless it rains). The joys of being a pipeliner. Lots of money for shells, no time to shoot them.

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Had the new pup out this weekend. He is 8 months old now and 80#...wow. Either way he did good for a pup. Retrieved 6 on Saturday and a coot on Sunday. Duck numbers were ok on Saturday until about 830am and then it was a couple per hour after that. Was good to get him on some birds at least.

Sunday was almost void of birds with only the coot to show for the morning in the same spot. Woodies flew out super early as the normally do and found a better place to sit then the slough lol. Still a fun weekend and I am excited for the October 11th opener. Time to put some time in the deer stand I guess

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Well I had probably the worst duck opener weekend that anyone could ask for.

Saturday morning, my brother and I went out to some public land because our normal spot was dried up because the farmer tiled his field differently, so that was a bummer. But we got out to the lake at 4:30 and a guy was set up where we wanted to be, so we wandered over to a different spot and set up. People started shooting about 15 minutes before legal time and it was a pretty slow morning for us. We only got 2 woodies. Would've had more probably but the guys we talked to that beat us to our spot had 2 mojo's out in their spread and they were shooting like crazy. We'd see ducks across the lake and they'd make a beeline for the spinners. They must've shot 40 times by 9 o'clock. After we saw the mojo's I called TIP and got on the line with a Conservation Officer and on our way to our truck we met the CO going to talk to the guys. Wish I would've heard what happened to them.

Well on Sunday, tried a small private pond and all the birds that were there the day before didn't come back. I got one woody...would've had a few more if I could shoot straight.

And this morning decided to go out to a lake that I've never tried. Got out there early and started off down the channel towards the big lake. I wasnt going very fast and it took me a minute to realize what was wrong. The weeds and crud on top of the water were so thick it was clogging up my prop. I eventually got out to the main lake but it was white caps and it was a long drive across the lake so I decided to stay close to the landing, well away from where I've watched all the birds go. I was in a bad mood already and once it started raining I packed everything up and went in without firing a shot.

My season can only improve from here...right?!

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Saturday of opening weekend in SW Mn: 3 man limit in a couple hours. Not many teal or wood ducks in our area, mostly larger ducks in the bag. Sunday was much slower like usual...bagged 5 but saw more teal than the previous day.

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Walleyeking that sounds a lot like my weekend. Duck hunting can be a lot of work for sure and frustrating at times as well. If only we could all have a couple hundred acres of private hunting land to ourselves..... grin

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The opener was as good as it could be for me and my brother. We went to a public place and we pulled into the landing as the 9th rig at 330 and thought my spot would have been taken so we loaded up the boat. Headed out and my spot was open. smile a few shots later my limit was filled and people started to peter out and about 10a.m our limit was filled and high fives were had between the 2 of us. I thought it was great as I sat in the same exact spot last year and had the same out come.

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Cold, dark, and windy this morning. Plenty of birds around and they flew all morning. Would have been a great combo but my shooting was very rusty as was my eye for seeing the birds before they were on top of me or past. Ended up with a mallard, woody, and teal. Those species represented the majority of what was flying.

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Well went out this morning before the craziness of the weekend started again. With the wind and rain figured ducks would be flying, and I was right. The only crappy part was that a bunch of other guys had the same idea. Got to the spot about an hour before shooting light and there were already 3 trucks in the lot. Looked like 1 guy was bow hunting and the other two were duck hunting. I sat in my car and watched where they set up, and of course they went right where I wanted to. So i turned around and went to a different spot I knew of to try to salvage the morning.

By the time I got there it was already daylight and I didnt feel like walking all the way to the pond that late so I spent the morning scouting and just watching birds. I ended up meeting a farmer and I got permission to hunt his pond tomorrow, so hopefully my luck turns around! Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

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Small lake in Scandia. Saw about 200 geese total and 50 ducks total. Never took a shot. Nothing was close enough. No migration noted. Average amount of shots in the surrounding area.

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Well the teal and wood ducks have definitely moved on from my corner of the world at least. Went out this morning, got one mallard drake. Only fired one shot. No significant flight noted. Only saw 2 other ducks and a half dozen geese flying by. Relatively little shooting in Pelican. Almost all barrages in multiples of 3, probably skybusting. Will have to sit tight and wait for some northern birds now.

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I agree most of the teal and woodies have left the area. We got a couple mallards and a banded redhead. Not a lot of shooting and a lot less birds flying than I thought would be. This was yesterday I didn't make it out today.

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Woody hen today. Same place,same time. Not nearly as many birds seen as yesterday. Ducks or geese. Only migration noted was robins moving through.

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Got out yesterday AM, northern Metro. Less birds then last weekend. Definitely got smart fast..getting very call and shot shy..seemed most of the blue wing teal have bailed, woodies still around...now if we can just do something about the sky busters..

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Got out yesterday AM, northern Metro. Less birds then last weekend. Definitely got smart fast..getting very call and shot shy..seemed most of the blue wing teal have bailed, woodies still around...now if we can just do something about the sky busters..

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NW Minnesota. After 3 days of strong west/northwest winds, and even blowing snow on Friday, all I've really noted is many of our local birds have moved on.

Big group of woodies in the river behind our house are still there this evening though. I'd wager we've still got a lot of teal and wood ducks in the NW part of the state.

This cold snap, coupled with 3 days of really strong winds has definitely dropped the water temp fast though! If this keeps up, or happens a few more times over the next few weeks, we're going to see a pretty early freeze up this year.

Can't say I saw any new birds coming in from Canada.

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Saw about 20 woodies and a few coots in Cass county this weekend. Unfortunately we weren't set up for duck hunting..

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Drove from Grand Forks to the Iron Range today and saw some birds in the western part of the state but not a ton. Once we got east of Bemidji there were very few birds. Will probably chase grouse the next week or so until I start seeing more.

Kettle

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Near Grand Rapids MN, some birds around, decoy shy and call shy, downsized my spread today and got 2 ringbills and 2 teal. Sunshine and a light breeze made for a nap in the duck boat, probably had a few burn me while I was snoozing smile

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Chisago cty lake. 1 woody hen. Only op we had. Only saw woodies and 1 mallard. 2 geese seen. Not many shots heard.

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a lot more birds than last week with a lot of wigeon and gadwalls in the bag along with divers. A few nice greenheads as well.

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Carlos Avery tonight. Saw 8 ducks during legal hours. The occasional coot shots and hail mary volleys from the refuge road fools.They were still shooting at 6:46 ! A full 14 minutes after legal. Where is Ranger Rick ? This takes place routinely. And we wonder why the ducks become nocturnal.

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Super slow. Washington County.1 high flock of divers before light. 3 woodies swam into dekes from cattails. Let them be. Saw 3 smaller birds high. Never heard or saw a goose. Barely any shooting heard. Slowest day of season for me and by the lack of shooting I heard I would say the same for others in the area as well.

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Super slow. Washington County.1 high flock of divers before light. 3 woodies swam into dekes from cattails. Let them be. Saw 3 smaller birds high. Never heard or saw a goose. Barely any shooting heard. Slowest day of season for me and by the lack of shooting I heard I would say the same for others in the area as well.

+1 here it was horrible this morning.

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Seeing an influx of more divers in North Central MN, most of the BWT and Woodies are gone. Some Mallards around but guessing that they are still MN resident birds. Saw some snowflakes this morning as well. Well see how the weather shapes up in the coming weeks.

Kettle

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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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