30 years.....

[Stringerless!]

I hunted 35 times last season and shot 12 ducks. It was a strange year for sure. I don't know if they came thru because I was not there every single day. If you are not out every day you can't tell what is happening. The abnormal migration made me seek out other spots where I found enough shooting to keep me happy. That was good because you can get into a rut. Not sure about the rest of you but I will do it all until I phsyically cannot anymore! Then I will turn into that old guy at the landing sitting in his pickup because he still can't get it out of his blood ! Even though he can't do it anymore. One day that will be me. And I am sure some of you.

[Beast26]

I also had a terrible year duck hunting in Minnesota. For the first time in over 15 years I didn't shoot a duck in the state. I did shoot plenty in NoDak and Canada. In fact I did not shoot any waterfowl in the state until the late goose season but I more than made up for it during December! We had outstanding hunting and I also managed to shoot my first banded bird. Thank goodness for geese! If not for this this year would have been a washout.

[hunterjames]

I have had decent duck hunting in the past but i got to say this year i feel like was my best year duck hunting in 13 years. i found a new wildlife area that is loaded with little pot holes with shrimp in them and the ducks were there. i never went home with out a bird once i found them sloughs. i cant wait for next year to see if they are that good again.

[NR]

My expectations for MN hunting are that it will suck, I might not see any ducks, I probably won't shoot any, and if I'm hunting public some jack handle will probably give me the shaft. Those expectations come from experience and experience has shown that if you lower your expectations you won't be disappointed!

That said, what makes it for me is seeing a ton of birds, near and far. I like to shoot nice ducks, but when the shooting is good enough to actually get a limit, I normally quit at 4, so killing numbers don't mean much to me. I like to see em, work em, shoot a few of em, and eat em.

What breaks it is going out and literally seeing 0-12 ducks in a morning and having none come in range. Or getting totally shafted by some hoser.

[Quackaddict9]

Another great year for me this fall. Plenty of great field shoots, flooded field shoots and water shoots from Early Goose to end of Duck season.

Looking forward to September! Stay warm through the winter fellas!

[Sergio M]

I have only been hunting in MN for 10 yrs and it has been better and better hunting each year. This year has been my most successful duck/goose hunting season yet. I shot a banded goose this year and the year befor as well. Even though I am shooting my fair share of ducks and geese I really enjoy watching my 5 year old chocolate lab work and can't wait until next season to watch her pup work aswell.

[Musky Buck]

MN used to be what ND is. You could count on a major end of October migration with the swarming mallard flocks. I've seen the 70's,80's,90's, through to today. There are pockets in MN where you talk duck hunting and it's a joke. Water quality must be a huge factor, I have tons of private water to hunt and years ago we snuck up on lots of these because there was no doubt every pond had birds on it from past history, now we walk gun over the shoulder to them because recent history tells us there won't be any birds on them and there rarely is. Water quality is poor and the beaver getting nearly wiped out/dams wrecked a lot of great duck habitat. Lakes I used to hunt aren't huntable anymore. Lots of issues. I know dozens of guys that if it weren't for the goose we'd likely switch to roosters.

[hockeybc69]

In the past several years, I have lessened my hours on the water, and chosen to pick up the bow more.

In truth, duck hunting is my favorite thing to do, but I can only get up so many mornings only to watch the sun come up without ducks to be seen.

Nice to have options in the fall though. No shortage of exciting things to do.

[Musky Buck]

There you go hockeybc, that is what many have done, just switched to bow, pheasants, or like me honkers. I think a lot of us still have that passion for ducks, but you need a good shoot occasionally and once it went from occasionally to season after season of not happening, we just found another fall activity, many keep their boat roaring later than years past as well.