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How was the bird hunting?


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Just wondering how you guys and gals did shooting the geese of the early season. this must have been the worst opener i have had on these birds with only killing 8 this weekend. Hopefully they get chased of the refuge this weekend and thne there will be some good shoots.

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shae, I havent even seen a field with a descent flock in it yet. I havent even bothered trying to set any decs out. Im thinking im prolly just going to skip this next weekend and wait for regular season and hopefully see some more flying by then.

My dad and a friend scouted 150 miles this past weekend and the most they seen in a field was 15 and they went around barnesville hawley and lake park area. If i see anything that looks like it would be worth hunting i will keep you posted and if you wanted we could meet up and blast some since i live right in hawley.

take it easy.

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Right on guys -- pretty slow. The worst I have every had. I was at the Twins game this weekend, so that was fun, but my buddies were out and they got three in two days.

Last weekend we nailed 2 in two days. I hope it gets better soon. I have heard they are in the beans already. That is pretty strange.

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Well saterday morning we got into them we ended up shooting 17 and we were out of the field by 9 so i can't complain. It was a pretty intense hunt and the scouting is paying off.

A. Shae

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Slick, nothing is really migrating yet, but there are birds heading out of the area that got bumped off their roost ponds. If you look hard enough you might find some, but the early season might be over for the year. I haven't seen a field with more than 20 in it since the Friday before the season opened. Last weekend I hunted a field that had about 15 in it. There were birds in the air the next morning, but as soon as they saw decoys they were headed the other way. Geese get pretty weary after that first weekend. We did end up getting 10 for three guys, but that was with no calling and just flagging the heck out of them. We also only put out about 2 dozen of the best looking decoys that we had.

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In my opinion I don't think the migration has started yet.. I did see some birds flying south in big goups but they were low and I think they were looking for a place to have a quick bite.

I think Ducks look good this year and I think we can expect the North Dakota fly pattern to slowly switch back to MN. The fifth year of the drought should help the duck slide toward the Red River Valley.

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well i hope the migration starts sometime soon. I want to pound some birds. Im really waiting for pheasant hunting more than anything. I would also like to shoot some sky carp tho too. Well guys I will keep posted and let you know what I see.

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Saw a ton of birds near Lake Park the other day. I would guess about 1,000 geese were getting off of a plowed grain field. They were flying over highway 10. The sky was black.

That was cool to see. Makes me want to kill something. wink.gifcool.gif

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Slick -- I am with ya. Hawley-wood area has been pretty dead. Not much flying. Went bow hunting before the storm on Saturday night -- same thing. Nothing.

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Anyone seeing birds around there yet, last weekend was kinda a bust with us only getting one but up here at crookston i am starting to see more and more birds so hopefully they are on their way.

A. Shae

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hey hitman and shae. Just ran up to the gas station and seen 2 flocks with about 20 geese each in them. earlier when i got off of work i seen 4 smaller flocks with about 10 geese in each. starting to look a lil better. i think this cold weather is starting to get them to move around. to bad early season ends friday. oh well looks like i will be geared up for regular season. also seen a few flocks of ducks flying around too.

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Hey Shae, have you tried hunting any land east of crookston towards the mentor/erskine area. I graduated from UMC a couple years ago and I had some of the finest duck/goose/bowhunting of my life in those areas. I am originally from the Fergus Falls area so that is saying quite a bit. There is tons of WMA area east of town if you are willing to look a little bit. We found that most of the farmers out east were willing to let us hunt their land if you ask. I know our group was decent sized and they had no problem and I doubt that they have had anyone hunting since we have left.

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Chuckster,

Yes we have hunted to the east of crookston thats about the only place we go. I dont hunt a lot up here but this year i have more time so i plan on hunting more, especially these later season birds. Thanks for the heads up.

A. Shae

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Hey there guys, just finally got a chance to venture on on ur little hidden jewel up there around Hawley. I have a good friend that has been living up there for the last few years and has been keeping this info all to himself. Needless to say some great areas to hunt with exceptional results for those who put in there time and scout. We had a very good shoot opening weekend early goose around Hitterdal and Lake Park. To bad there is so many fields for them to choose from, finding the rite one would be alot easier. We managed enuf geese to keep us happy, and also ended up bagging one with some bonus leg jewelery.

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