Here they come.

[PLfisherman]

The ducks are finally coming down the last couple days out near ortonville. Was out there on saturday and have never seen so many mallards and geese in my life in minnesota. They were flying by in sheets going out to eat in the morning. We ended up with seven greenheads, one short. we could have gotten the last one, but missed a couple. There is also geese everywhere out there. the guy at the hotel said last week there was no ducks and now there were in our area by clinton like flies. I would say that we saw. 20,000 mallards and 80,ooo geese (most lessers)no lie. Flocks of 5,000 geese and 1,ooo mallards would get up out of fileds around us. to bad you can't shoot geese anymore could have shot a hundred. If anyone can go the last day you will have a blast.

[Sko]

We were out there too on Saturday, and I have to confirm, there was a ton of waterfowl out by Clinton. I have never seen so many geese as well. And yes, there were mallards flying all day. Unfortunately, we were not in a spot where they wanted to land, but we still managed 2 and should have got a few more if we would have shot better. I heard a lot of shooting to the north of us in Traverse County. Whoever it was, had a great shoot. I will tell you that to the east, by Artichoke, there was no waterfowl.

But man the geese. At no point in the day did you not see a goose flying. And sometimes, it was unbelievable. The sad part is, and everyone knows it, is that you cannot shoot them. I was hoping for a couple of snows to fly over, but I only saw one flock of them when we were driving. Why we cannot shoot some of these geese is beyond me. These were not all EPP geese.

[Roosterslayer05]

I saw the same thing. I was hunting in SW MN and there were geese everywhere. I could have shot 30 easily over the weekend. 10's of thousands. I saw some flocks of a couple thousand geese. There were also thousands of mallerds flying in huge flocks that flew from before shooting time till 10 o'oclock then again from 2 till after sunset but they were all very high going to feed in the fields, I only shot 2 mallerds. There were also a couple thousand bills and somewhere between 1000-2000 snows around. Most snows I have ever seen in MN. MY dad shot a nice mature snow.

[ChuckN]

Here they come, and there they go.

We are going to miss the big push for the most part. Canada is going to freeze in the couple days. I hope these birds arrive tonight/morning, cause it's almost over.

[Coldwater Crappie Guy]

I was out in the Monticello area yesterday and no birds to be had in the morning at all. Then last night they were all over the place. SO dont waste your time on going out in the morning. Hunt the afternoon til dark!

[Bryce]

Hunted hard this weekend and am convinced the migration is still coming. Hunted mornings on a historic diver lake in the Willmar area and was pretty much shut out Sat. 1 ringer. Sunday was a bwt, 2 spoonies and a buffy. Yes, I have renewed my subscription to Spooniewackers Anonymous. Afternoon hunts were on Marsh Lake by Appleton. Sat. saw lots of birds but also lots of hunters. Many flocks committed to us were flared by other groups firing at birds in their set. 1 gadwall and 1 hen. Sun. we had the lake with only 2 other groups. Not many birds moving. Ended up with 2 drakes and another spoonie. Lost a few birds through the weekend and of course had the obligatory whiffs. My main point is spoonie and bwt on the last weekend. There will be a big migration while we sit at the turkey table or later. Maybe we can get some people to push for the opener to be moved up to August?

[Guest]

Bryce,

Were you on Solomon? That lake hasnt been the same since they put the areator in and all the fish ate up the shrimp. Same story with Ringo.

I hate work.......lol

[oilguy]

Ducks are finally coming through here (Ottertail) today. Still no migratory geese. Go figure.

[ChuckN]

I hunted that area oilguy. Not a cloud in the sky, not one migrating flock of ducks, only one flock of geese a mile high. No new birds at all, just the same ones that have been there for a week. Terrible!!

At least the season is over and I can get ready for the ice.

[Sko]

Looks like again, at least in the Dakotas, that there are lots of birds migrating today. Look at the Aberdeen NEXRAD radar. Lots of movement from the northwest to the southeast. I would guess with the cold temps and strong winds today, a push is on. There will be ducks all over the place tomorrow.

[Bryce]

Never hunted it Gullguide. One of the few in the area that I haven't. Saw your rig parked there one afternoon this season. Any good? Grew up on Norway so spend most of my time there. Mud or Marsh for pm shoots.

[Guest]

That must have been the day I was either deer hunting or getting my deer stand. The spot I hunt I need to use a boat to get to since it's landlocked. Did hunt it opening weekend just for the heck of it though.

P.S....I don't guide anymore

[oilguy]

Any of you guys been watching the Arkansas DNR's Satellite transmittered mallards. Two of them have actually been in MN. One down on the Miss and one is still east of Blackduck. None have made it to AR as of today and they are pretty nervous. Waterfowl is big $ down there and I'm not surprised they have this project going on.

[oilguy]

ChuckN they're falling from the sky into Rush this afternoon, Goldies, buffelheads, bluebills and even some Cans. Buchanan has a pretty big raft as of 3PM first ducks I've seen there all year. I'll bet our paths have crossed somewhere in EOT.

[Tour. Pro 175]

Oilguy,

Could you post that link. I read about the story in Ducks Unlimited but could not find it

Thanks,

[oilguy]

http://www.agfc.com/ I liked the duck that was sitting in front of the Spirit Lake Casino on Devils lake this morning. GPS is great tech.

[Tour. Pro 175]

Thanks Oilguy!

I'm having a problum zooming in. What am I doing wrong?

[frabillfisher]

Ah crap its over and all those birds..dang!

[Bryce]

You'll always be Gullguide as you were when I joined since I can't change my moniker. Off subject to you as a moderator: What if my wife wanted to be part of this site but wanted her own user name? Only one name per e-mail addy. I realize you don't want users tirading under aliases but a name change should be pretty easy. Another off subject: You do much ice fishing in the area? Lets do an afternoon together sometime and compare edited notes.