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2009 Waterfowl Reports

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luckycrank Experienced

luckycrank

Posted
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Saw lots of birds this morning the only positive Id I could make for certain was a trio of goldeneyes just of of gun range

many other unknown divers stacked up in the middle of the lake

only birds to decoy where a seagull and a flock of 6 swans

after the hunt I tried to glass the lake , and they seemed to vanish into the chop

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BrdHunter01 Proficient

BrdHunter01

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6 mallards for 2 of us this morning and a bonus gadwall wink Thought it was going to be an easy limit but it turned from ducks everywhere to ducks no-where real quick...

Yest saw a lot of ducks but not wanting much to do with anyones decoys. They stopped in for a drink away from every bird or decoy in sight, got up and went back to their business. Did manage a couple along with a couple missed opps... But thats a given on any duck hunting trip. Not nearly as many ducks as usual on opening of deer season. WIth no major weather coming i'm not expecting it to get any better anytime soon....

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BoxMN Grand Master

BoxMN

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Out in WC MN, in Ashby. Christina was pretty much empty, and I was hunting small lake that hard birds working on Saturday, but they just didn't want into my decoys, they wanted a quiet corner of the lake. I shot one ringbill, nice drake.

Sunday morning I set up where they were the day before, and lake was like glass until about 8:30. I shot 3 ringbill only, but the good thing is I basically shot every one I shot at, and darn near every duck I even saw. They just weren't back. Hardly any ducks in the sky, but saw lots of geese, lots and lots of geese.

Deer hunting next weekend. Hope you all still have some good hunts, my ducking might be over unless I start to see more after next weekend.

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luckycrank Experienced

luckycrank

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I witnessed 300- 400 mallards pouring in to an area lake in saturday evening while I was fishing.

I set up Sunday morning quietly with out light and made as little distubance as possible.

come first light the where gone! not a one on the lake

and there where some goldeneyes on the lake as well as a few other divers that werent there the evening before , are they more nocturnal ? the flights I have seen has been high and look to have no Intrest in landing hard to gauge how many birds have gone over already . but the best is yet to come 4 sure!

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BrdHunter01 Proficient

BrdHunter01

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I hope the best comes before the seasons over... as for nocturnal, they prob were just stopping for a drink and then back on the migration route. We saw mny flocks of mallards doing this all day sat. But mallards will migrate at night as will many ducks. Expecially with the bright moon we've had the last week. We did see alot of mallards on Sat. and some on Sun (not the big flocks). But the skies were pretty empty compared to years back on the weekend of deer opener. It doesn't help when its almost 70 degrees in the duck blind. The mallards would sweat their [PoorWordUsage] off if they were to fly anywhere

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walleyefey Enthusiast

walleyefey

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Because in SE ND and NE SD, there are thousands of NATURAL potholes, in addition to flooded cornfields that are flooded to the corn ear level. The ears are picked clean because of the easy feeding opportunities. Ducks can sense this from miles away where the food and habitat are at. It will take a severe cold front to push northern migrants through MN. Almost all of our wetlands in SW MN are restored or recreated wich is better than nothing, but the majority of the ducks want natural habitat. And with commodity prices rising, and the loss of CRP in the Dakotas, draining wetlands and turning them into cropland is trending to the west, so this may be the glory days for our western neighbors. The future of waterfowl may not be so bright, even in the Dakotas. So please support our DU and Delta organizations to save the prairie pothole region.

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Quackaddict9 Veteran

Quackaddict9

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that or theyre flying over the dakotas... sucks that the birds keep gettin pushed further and further west.. but WHY!?

yep, lots of birds in SD right now. A friend of mine is chasing roosters out there and said there were fowl everywhere! Good hunting can be had in MN if you find them, sometimes it takes a lot of fuel to burn.. sometimes it doesn't. Kinda like URL for crappie fishing, sometimes you find the motherload with 2 holes drilled, or 100+ holes!

good luck everyone, keep the reports coming!

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Cheetah Mentor

Cheetah

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I spent some time talking to a friend who works at the airport and talks to a lot of hunters who fly in and out to the Dakotas for guided hunts. Most are coming back saying that hunting has been poor over there.

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mudslinger Collaborator

mudslinger

Posted
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I was out this morning and ended the hunt with a Ringer and 2 Mallards. The day was VERY slow. A flock of snow geese were close to shooting range but not quite there. Had my buddy shot with his eyes actually open we would have more ducks to clean. Very little movement but the ducks we saw worked the decoys.

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cutter08 Collaborator

cutter08

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Hate to say it but i think the push of birds we got about 2 weeks ago was the mane push. I have been seeing goldin eyes the last 2 weeks and i don't usually see them till the mane migration is over. And it doesn't help that the Dakotas are real wet. Its going to take alot of scouting to find some birds. Just my two cents

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dan z Grand Master

dan z

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we seen the 1st flight a couple weeks ago. ringers, pintails, some bills, widgeons, teal. I would have to venture that the mallards havent had a reason to leave canada. I know its going to be a fast flight so go when you can and enjoy the time in the blind when the skies are empty. I just hope your in the blind the couple days it does happen cuz its gonna be mallard heaven. there are a bunch of ducks staged up at a local lake. so I can see ducks everyday if I wanted to.

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strait-meat Collaborator

strait-meat

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Ducks migrate from Canada when they are pushed by the cold temps food source and winds. But primarily the cold. This hasn't happened yet. The ducks will come when the cold comes---lets just hope it is during our hunting season and not a week later. And when the push happens it will be fast b/c by that time the cold will be here to stay so I am guessing 2-3 days of crazy amounts of birds. Good luck guys!

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