Waterfowl Reports

[rbs]

Hunted this morning up by Willmar and not a shot fired...what a bummer!

[HNTNBUX]

I spent a week in Saskatchewan and was disappointed in the results of the trip. Fun yes but it did not meet my expectations at all. I wanted to experience a mallard tornado and shoot 10-20 geese per day. I was expecting a lot I know but I had been doing well in MN and was hoping for better.

The last two days with my daughter have been great. Friday we got 8 mallards, a blue bill and 3 ring necks. This morning we shot 8 mallards by 8 am. We left at 10 when no "other" ducks would come in.

One more day but warm south winds make it hard to get up in the morning.

[Stringerless!]

Carlos Avery cause it is only 2 miles away and I didn't have much time this morning,Saw 1 duck in the sky and 2 pairs of geese. Had a ringie hen diving in dekes. Could not water swat her and she would not flush. Swam away. Of course they unloaded on the geese that they might have a chance if they were shooting heat seeking missiles but I doubt it. Not many shots at all heard from the refuge road. No ducks.

[Archerysniper]

Another morning of not firing a shot. Lots of geese but they wouldn't come in with the guy throwing his buzz bait towards me at 70 yards for a half hour saw 2 ducks

[fishersofmen]

Mallard and a woodie this morning. Very, very slow. With mid 60's going into next weekend I may head out for walleyes instead.

[tracker x-2]

Hunted in the south metro Friday, Sat. very few ducks flying both mornings. This is the slowest start to any duck season as far as i can remember....

[CalamityJohn]

Hunted Thursday, Friday, and Saturday near Willmar. Saw very few ducks and no geese over the 2.5 days. So far, this has been the worst season I've experienced.

Each week I read in the Outdoor News that the duck hunters are experiencing overall good success. Not sure how they're coming to that conclusion as the reports I've been getting are overwhelmingly bad. Really bad.

[HNTNBUX]

Hunted NC MN again on Sunday with my daughter. We were able to get our 8 mallards again and one wood duck. Went back to the cabin and saw 3 woodies sitting near shore. My daughter's tried to put the sneak on them but came up empty.

[Riverratpete]

I would be very dubious of anyone claiming they were really "kickin" it when it came to ducks in the state right now. MEA weekend has historically been a "NOT GREAT" weekend for birds..normally were in between flights..as we are now. Not to say someone mmaayy find a small concentration of birds but all the birds I'm seeing are sitting, loafing and been shot at a million times...could be an excellent late season though for those willing to tough it out when she gets nasty out.

[Coldwater Crappie Guy]

I would be very dubious of anyone claiming they were really "kickin" it when it came to ducks in the state right now. MEA weekend has historically been a "NOT GREAT" weekend for birds..normally were in between flights..as we are now. Not to say someone mmaayy find a small concentration of birds but all the birds I'm seeing are sitting, loafing and been shot at a million times...could be an excellent late season though for those willing to tough it out when she gets nasty out.

Well, I seen thousands of Ring bills and red heads in the area near Wadena this weekend . Thee are a lot of birds around.

And we did kick it .

[hockeybc69]

I have been out 4 times in MN and have yet to shoot a duck... And not because we are missing... we are not even shooting... this is in SE Ottertail County. Where we used to shoot ducks from opener till freeze up 20 years ago. Tough pill to swallow.....

[BrdHunter01]

The Cans and ringers were on the move this weekend. To bad you can only take 1 can this year.

Overall it was a slow weekend. Little to no mallards and geese around. If it wasn't for the cans flying, this weekend would have been extremely boring. We and others passed on many shots as many had there bag full of 1 can per person.

[RK]

I have been out 4 times in MN and have yet to shoot a duck... And not because we are missing... we are not even shooting... this is in SE Ottertail County. Where we used to shoot ducks from opener till freeze up 20 years ago. Tough pill to swallow.....

I'm at the opposite corner of the county and hunting was good when the locals were still around but once they got pushed out by the cold snap and it warmed up again it got very very slow. The local birds still around are very skittish and decoy shy. Hunted this past weekend at it was singles and pairs and the odd group of half a dozen. A few mallards, one pair of woodies, not a single teal, lots of mergs, a few buffleheads, redheads and a couple larger flocks of what I'm guessing were ringnecks up high. Plus the random gaggle of geese here and there. Overall, slow and skittish.

Had some friends hunting farther north and they had a good shoot on ringnecks and redheads though so some migrators coming.

[Wanderer]

Had some friends hunting farther north and they had a good shoot on ringnecks and redheads though so some migrators coming.

We've been in far north MN the past three weekends and have the seen the transition from mostly woodies on the first weekend, to mallards, to ringnecks last weekend. And we had plenty of ringers last weekend. Limits were easy.

They're on the way.

[HNTNBUX]

From reading a few other posts I guess some guys are able to find birds, watch where they go and set up accordingly. Others that can't seem to find them I guess feel it necessary to question others integrity. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.

[FowlSki]

From reading a few other posts I guess some guys are able to find birds, watch where they go and set up accordingly. Others that can't seem to find them I guess feel it necessary to question others integrity. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.

I was thinking the same thing. I have a feeling these are the same guys who go sit on the same lake, river or slough that they have been hunting for the last 10,20,30+ years and wonder where the ducks are. Duck hunting isn't what is was back in the day. It takes a little more scouting and a little more effort than it used to but there are plenty of birds to be had in the state.

[Wanderer]

We did spend time scouting and moving around from one body of water to another. We took note of where birds were and weren't when we thought they should be there. One word: food.

Between travel routes and loafing areas, not all have been created equal. We managed to find 3 key spots with maybe 6 secondary spots to go to if someone else dropped in before us.

[mulefarm]

Been sitting in the same blind since opener and have shot limits everyday! You are right that hunting isn't what it use to be, it's better!!

[Kettle]

North eastern and north central MN-

Haven't been out hunting much, busy with school and work but I have been seeing an influx of divers, lots of ringers, more bluebills than last year, some cans as well. I have been sitting on a small rice lake waiting for it to build more for a decent mallard shoot. With limited time to hunt I just want to make every effort for a good hunt when I can go. Happy Hunting to all

Kettle

[Lunker]

Drove by one of my local refuges today and...shocked to see a bunch of new birds. So I went out, and was happy to see some birds moving despite the warm weather. Than about an hour before sundown I got to see a huge migratory movement of ducks, geese, pelicans, and swans about 3 miles long. Guess they decided they were tired of waiting for weather and went by the calendar. Should be getting better, going to sit in the stand over the weekend to avoid the crowds and be back at it monday.

[Stringerless!]

Saw cans,buffies,mallards,mergies ,geese and swans this morning. Brutal with the sun in our eyes. One chance to shoot and I missed. washington county. Heard migrating swans before light and saw a few high flocks moving after sunup.

[HNTNBUX]

I spent most of the weekend working on my driveway at the cabin. So this morning I decided to try the lake my cabin is on instead of another lake. I will say that it's different hunting out of an otter stealth instead of a 1648 Jon boat.

I ended up with 3 mallards, a green wing teal and my first black duck. Lots of divers on the lake but they were not interested in the area I was set up in. My daughter was not feeling good this weekend so she stayed in bed this morning and made french toast. At 0900 the French Toast sounded better than waiting for one more duck.

[Cheetah]

Lots of wood ducks in the Stillwater area. More geese than last weekend. Same number of mallards. Nothing interested in the decoys except some very young looking wood ducks that didn't stick around.

[Lunker]

Refuges getting more full by the day. Lots and lots of birds moving this morning. With the clear skies the majority of it was very early before shooting hours. Mostly mallards and pintails worked, but saw lots of different birds, mostly high. Not much shooting for us though. Tired of sunny 70 degree days, its almost November for crying out loud!

[Neighbor_guy]

I took my youngster out to a local WMA this weekend a couple times. Lots of birds flying on Saturday morning. Woodies, teal, gadwalls, and a few mallards all seen. No shots fired, but we were out there.

We got "back doored" by some late comers both mornings, which kinda sucked, but we got over it and still got to at least see some birds.

Two big flocks hit the spread 5min after shooting light Saturday evening. One flock of mallards/black ducks followed by a half dozen woodies. Guess the weather has them staying close to home still. Frustrating to know that your set up is perfect and you are where the birds want to be, only to be out done by the sun and the clock. Rules are rules, whata ya gonna do.

never fired a shot.

[Stringerless!]

Couple flocks of ringies seen tonight. Ended up with a drake out of a pair that came to the spread. Rest landing in middle with coots. Burned by a pair of mallards straight overhead. First retrieve for a buddies dog.:)

[Lunker]

Was expecting the worst this morning when the first hour or so of shooting light had passed and very few birds seen. Thankfully decided to fly late and was steady action of gadwall, cans, redhead, and mallards with some random flocks of other birds including buffleheads working. Did not want to decoy very well where we were set up. Shot some, missed a lot. Saw massive numbers of birds across the refuge line but action was steady. Pool 7.

[Siwulat]

Hunted this evening at a WMA in Scott Co. Zero birds flying, saw no ducks or geese. I was hoping the colder windy weather would have them moving.

[Stringerless!]

Saw a pair of mallards, pair of mergies, 3 whistlers. Got a suzy in the last legal minute. Came in alone. No sign of any migrators. No new birds noticed. Typical locals flying after legal shooting is over. Waited at access to explain to a fisherman that our season is only 60 days and his is over 6 months.Called ranger Rick to see at what distance does a fishing boat get to be considered hunter harassment . Basically was told " It is public water. He can fish wherever he wants" ????????? That mean I can hunt wherever I want ?? Might try the beach tomorrow. Said it is up to whether the angler is considerate or not.

[hockeybc69]

The fun of hunting public areas.