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Waterfowl Photos


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It was a great opener for my buddies and I. Saturday ended up being a bust hunted the morning and evening and never fired a shot. Sunday was a little different had a field that was holding about a 150 birds. Hiding was a little tricky it was a sweet corn field that was stock chopped and there was no way of digging down. Four of us ended up shooting 17.

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That night about 75 birds went back to the same field. Then this morning we through out a few more decoys and the four of us ended up shooting are 20.

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We had the same thing on saturday. We never seen a bird. Checked on a couple spots where they were a month ago and they were stacked in there. Nothin better then when they 'maple leaf' down and light up in your face!

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Could ya guys send a few our way, im huntin hugo and square lake, we maqnaged 2 for the weekend. Almost every bird we did see knew exactly where they were goin and never even gave us a second look.

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We let a field rest until sunday night, benefit being pressure moved about 150 additional birds into it. Things didn't go as planned. Bad shooting, birds landing with the wind instead of into the wind, birds short stopping by 100-200 yards, blah blah. Oh well...shot some geese, shot some doves, and fed frogs to the walleyes on Monday morning. Going to do a taste test tomorrow night, shore lunch battered walleye versus mango habenjero marinated bacon wrapped goose on the grill. wink

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Going to do a taste test tomorrow night, shore lunch battered walleye versus mango habenjero marinated bacon wrapped goose on the grill. wink

I would choose the goose. Man CSD that sounds really yummy and I will be trying that out on some waterfowl this year

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A few pics of our early season opener.

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And this weekend.

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We earned our keep this weekend. All the locals left Lac qui parle, so it took a ton of scouting but we found them.

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Well, I had probably the most memorable opener to date. For some reason, our party of four decided to break tradition and split up for the day. I'd gotten to the slough early and had set up before everyone else showed. One uncle went to the east, the other two hopped in their kayaks and shot out toward the other end of the water. I was kind of stuck in the middle. After they'd shot for a bit, I was getting a tad discouraged. Didn't help that the wind was out of the totally wrong direction. My pup was on his first legitimate duck hunt, and I was hoping just to get him on a retrieve or two.

Then, around 8 a.m. the ducks began dropping in. I shot my 6 in 30 minutes and Remy retrieved every one, including a beautiful almost fully green drake mallard that was sporting three curls already. I was proud!

Remy retrieving his first duck (hen redhead):

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Customary tailgate shot:

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We decided to switch things up for Sunday and hunt some flooded timber around a big lake. Uncles had seen "thousands of birds" there the night before, so we figured it was worth a shot (plus we'd have dry shore to sit on instead of standing in cattails and thigh-high muck). Long story short, the magnitute of birds failed to reappear. But we did do something a tad out of the norm by Nodak standards: we shot three drake woodies! It was a hoot, and my GWP made two more awesome retrieves. Just that made my weekend.

Arkansas-inspired Nodak flooded timer hunt:

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Remy's prize woody:

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Yeah, two of us shot 11 of these the last weekend of early goose, usually shoot a few of these every September when the first NW winds hit and cooler temps arrive. Also sometimes later in the fall but I prefer shooting big geese, although Cacklers are fun to call in especially big flocks and little dumber from my experience.

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Noticed they are a bit slow. Shot the first one and missed the other and it came right back without hesitation.

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Here one of the boy and the pup and this morning why would want to sleep in when you could have the chance of seeing this...full-15313-12747-tn1.jpg

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1/2 of my spread saturday morning; the other half was off to the left of the picture.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • jparrucci
      Very low, probably 2 feet lower than last year at ice out.
    • mbeyer
      what do they look like this spring?
    • SkunkedAgain
      I might have missed a guess, but here are the ones that I noted:   JerkinLips – March 27th, then April 7th Brianf. – March 28th Bobberwatcher – April…. MikeG3Boat – April 10th SkunkedAgain – early April, then April 21st   Definitely a tough year for guesses, as it seemed to be a no-brainer early ice out. Then it got cold and snowed again.
    • mbeyer
      MN DNR posted April 13 as Ice out date for Vermilion
    • Brianf.
      ^^^45 in the morning and 47 in the evening
    • CigarGuy
      👍. What was the water temp in Black Bay? Thanks....
    • Brianf.
      No, that wasn't me.  I drive a 621 Ranger. 
    • CigarGuy
      So, that was you in the camo lund? I'm bummed, I have to head back to the cities tomorrow for a few days, then back up for at least a few weeks. Got the dock in and fired up to get out chasing some crappies till opener!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Lots of ice on the main basin, but it is definitely deteriorating.  Some anglers have been fishing the open water at the mouth of the Rainy River in front of the Lighthouse Gap.  The rest of the basin is still iced over. Pike enthusiasts caught some big pike earlier last week tip up fishing in pre-spawn areas adjacent to traditional spawning areas.  8 - 14' of water using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring has been the ticket.  Ice fishing for all practical purposes is done for the year. The focus for the basin moving forward will be pike transitioning into back bays to spawn,  This is open water fishing and an opportunity available as the pike season is open year round on Lake of the Woods. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. With both the ice fishing and spring fishing on the Rainy River being so good, many are looking forward to the MN Fishing Opener on Saturday, May 11th.  It should be epic. On the Rainy River...  An absolutely incredible week of walleye and sturgeon fishing on the Rain Rainy River.     Walleye anglers, as a rule, caught good numbers of fish and lots of big fish.  This spring was one for the books.   To follow that up, the sturgeon season is currently underway and although every day can be different, many boats have caught 30 - 40 sturgeon in a day!  We have heard of fish measuring into the low 70 inch range.  Lots in the 60 - 70 inch range as well.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  Open water is continuing to expand in areas with current.  The sight of open water simply is wetting the pallet of those eager for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th.   A few locals were on the ice this week, targeting pike.  Some big slimers were iced along with some muskies as well.  If you like fishing for predators, LOW is healthy!  
    • Brianf.
      Early bird gets the worm some say...   I have it on good authority that this very special angler caught no walleyes or muskies and that any panfish caught were released unharmed.        
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