Waterfowl Reports

[waterfowl101]

geese around my area have been feeding anywhere from 540pm to 620, for the past 3 weeks, really weird

[Stringerless!]

That makes me feel better waterfowl 101. A new party has been given permission and I had visions of them shooting late every night. Just my imagination I hope.

[CANOPY SAM]

Stringer, it's also very likely that they've been shot out of more than one nearby field since the season opened till sunset. They all start coming out much later, real fast, once the season stays open later in the day. They get smart quick, or they land permanently.

[fishuhalik]

Get the autos cleaned & oiled, get out the super magnums & dust off the heavy camo jackets. It's migration time!! I dunno about you guys, but I've been looking forward to the next 2 weeks for 50 weeks now. Should be seeing a lot of fresh mallards snows & honkers. Guessing "The Big Push" is gonna happen any day now, if it hasn't already started. Most smaller potholes froze over last night, bigger potholes are frozen around the edges. Guessing alotta ponds in Canada will be locked up in the next 3 days.

[booger]

Hunted the north metro, missed 2 Buffies and a ringbill. The ringbill burned me while I was messing with my cover.

There were quite a few birds on the lake (no other hunters) I also had swans fly right over the top of me. Local geese are still around also. There was thin ice around some of the cattails. The birds on the lake were very skittish they got up and landed back where they were a few times for seemingly no reason. They all left (but came back) after I missed. Not sure if I was seeing some of the same birds but saw a couple bigger flocks of about 20 and 40. Also some singles and some smaller bunches that didn't really give me a look.

[Musky Buck]

Out raking sat.,sun,mon., doing deer stands etc, never saw a duck or a goose. Geese I'm told have found a field no one is allowed to hunt and at 440 acres they'll be in there awhile unless they can overgraze it, but being safe they'll hang there for awhile or until the big $ boys show up and lease it for video hunting etc. that's the only way that field gets hunted.

[dan z]

I always chuckle at the big push. Yes there is a major push but asany days as I get out I usually see some type of migration. I seen the 1st loon the other day and that's usually a tell tale sign of the start of a push coming. I can't wait for the guys to put on the blaze orange as it opens up some water space. Were having a pretty good year as the numbers show 49 ducks and 24 geese in the bag. Our goal is 100 ducks a season. And all the geese are just bonus. We haven't had a year less than 100 ducks for a few years so its been pretty good recently. And to top it off its usually less than an hour for from the the garage and its 95% public land.

[Stringerless!]

Nice job Dan ! Geese were a complete no show tonight. Did hear a few distant shot volleys. 19th hunt this season. Goal of 40 hunts is not looking good as time change is gonna screw me for going out after work.

[Bryce]

Working on the north side of Rochester. Tonite was the biggest flight of geese seen yet by far. Not sure if that means new birds or a shift in the feeding pattern.

[Pherris]

The farmer who's land we hunt in No Dak called yesterday and said that the mallards started piling into his sloughs on Monday we are heading out tomorrow.

[onthefly]

Good to hear, Pherris! Headed that way Friday morning for a 6 day run.

[FowlSki]

I always chuckle at the big push. Yes there is a major push but asany days as I get out I usually see some type of migration. I seen the 1st loon the other day and that's usually a tell tale sign of the start of a push coming.

If you do not believe in a final big push you have never seen one. In my 15 years of duck hunting I have been fortunate enough to hit it twice. When you can hear the roar of the ducks getting up from miles away and the mass stretches the entire horizon literally blocking out the sun you will believe in "the big push". Certain years there reaches a tipping point where a large amount of the ducks decide to boogie because everything is locking up. It will probably only last a day or two and most of the ducks will do a flyover but if you can time it right it is a sight to see. It may not happen every year depending on the weather but when it does it is something to witness.

Yes there is a trickle migration throughout the season but there is also a major push on certain years and if you don't believe in it you have never seen it. Hunting will be good before and after the push but during it is nothing short of spectacular.

We have found a decent number of divers the last couple of weeks and put the hurt on em. I wish I could have been out yesterday morning. There was a nice push of birds after the low temps and winds in Canada. If the weather patterns hold we should have a good number of birds on the move starting next week.

[BrdHunter01]

Weekend Report (as usual):

Saturday was a mixed bag of 8 between 4 of us. No mallards, although we should have taken a few.

Sunday we never fire our guns. Little wind in the morning and little ducks on the move.

Monday started slow but around 8:00am the mallards showed for the 1st time all year! Flocks of 20-60 setting into the decoys. Two us ended with our 8 greenheads by 10:30. Never saw another flock as we were picking up or on our way off the lake. We also bagged a bonus blackduck 20 minutes before sunrise.

[dan z]

Fowl ski trust me I have seen it! I just chuckle when people only hunt when the big push is in the works. Kinda like walleye fisherman they only fish when the waters prime temp.

[fishuhalik]

I hear ya Dan. As long as ducks are out there, I'm hunting em! I don't need to see 1,000,000 birds to have a good day! I've only seen the big push once. Temp dropped 60 degrees overnight in Canada and all the birds up there were forced to leave in one big migration. Pretty cool to see!

[Lunker]

Drove by one of the Pool 8 refuges today. Tens of thousands of birds holding there. Leave for a Missouri bow in 2 days, so I guess they are safe from me for now.

[Stringerless!]

Forest. Nothin. Saw a little flock of 5 divers that skirted us out of range. 4 mallards in a flock. Pair of mallards got out of cattails behind us and one lone Suzy that landed in the middle of lake. Oh yeah and 5 geese flying. Fog was thick !

[strait-meat]

I thought the "big push" was when you ate to much and you find yourself on the toilet. The big push/migration isn't a few days out of the season--it starts in Sept and ends in Dec. sometime. Yes some days can have more movement than others but it is a process.

Hey Stringerless--I am glad you are getting out to hunt and all and I see your reports on DU map but don't you get tried of not getting some reward for all that hard work you put in?? I would suggest drive around more and see where the ducks are at and then hunt them--just b/c you are out hunting a pond/slough does mean ducks are going to be there. I guess it depends on your expectations. Good luck the rest of the season.

[dan z]

I thought the "big push" was when you ate to much and you find yourself on the toilet. The big push/migration isn't a few days out of the season--it starts in Sept and ends in Dec. sometime. Yes some days can have more movement than others but it is a proces

[Finlander]

The Big Push in Minnesota is when the summer type weather in fall turns to winter type weather and all the waterfowl fly over Minnesota!

[Stringerless!]

No time for driving around strait. Work in concrete construction. Always seems to be something that "has to be done today " . Late concrete," This has to be 100% ready for mud in the morning", then add gridlock traffic coming home

from cities. Drive like a bat out of hell to get home and by the time I get set up somewhere usually only have an hour to an hour and a half hunting time. Like Dan Z I hunt 95% public. Most of my spots are within 15 miles from home for that reason. Pretty sure I will retire before next duck season. Then I will drive around. As far as the hard work. I love it. Part of the hunt that I enjoy just as much as seeing birds cupped up. Makes it that much more rewarding when it does happen. Everywhere I go I have had some great shoots at some point or another over the last 20 years. All about timing . Miss one day and you would never know they were there.

[FowlSki]

The big push/migration isn't a few days out of the season--it starts in Sept and ends in Dec. sometime.

The big push is a myth! Most of the ducks are probably south of us and the best hunting of the year is over.

My as well concentrate on deer....I hear the rut is starting.

[CANOPY SAM]

The entire migration is a process. The "big push" is when the majority/glut of migratory birds are forced by inclement weather to make a big move south...not necessarily all the way south, but from our perspective alone, out of Canada, and into the Dakotas and Minnesota.

There is a very clear difference between the entire migrational season, and the "big push". Any waterfowler who's ever seen it, or experienced it, knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Many years ago, probably 15 years now, I witnessed a "big push" out of Canada while hunting central North Dakota. The birds moving were so numerous they actually had to shut down all airports and landing strips across North Dakota for safety purposes. You could see clouds of birds migrating on the weather radars across the entire state. It's truly epic.

Unfortunate part of the big push (including the primary migrational route of the Mississippi flyway), most of it has moved west across the Dakotas toward the Missouri river (where there is ample water/sloughs/potholes) vs. Minnesota, where the vast majority of our original wetlands have been tiled and drained.

Fowlski, just for the sake of clarification, to my knowledge the "big push" has not even begun. There are hundreds of millions of birds still in Canada right now. It will happen sometime in the next couple of weeks. Hope I have some free time when it does!

[FowlSki]

Fowlski, just for the sake of clarification, to my knowledge the "big push" has not even begun. There are hundreds of millions of birds still in Canada right now. It will happen sometime in the next couple of weeks. Hope I have some free time when it does!

Yes I am aware Sam. It was sarcasim. I was just pointing out that the trickle often turns into a flood or "big push" at the end of the year if the weather plays out right. Folks who don't believe in it have never seen it. They are probably the guys who decide to stay home because the weather is too nasty to hunt.

Good luck guys. Should be a good few weeks until the season shuts down.

[CANOPY SAM]

Gotcha Fowlski. There were others here that seemed to be doubting the validity of the "big push" as well, so I just took the liberty of pointing out the obvious. No "foul" intended...har har har....

I was thinking...another analogy (besides the others listed above) would be to compare migrational bird movement to the birthing process. Not sure how many of you guys have been present at the birth of your own, or others children, but if you have you know there is quite a bit of noteable activity throughout the entire process, but the real exciting stuff happens with that last "big push"!!!

If you miss that one, you're going to be regretting it for years!