Waterfowl Reports

[walleyeking19]

Well I had probably the worst duck opener weekend that anyone could ask for.

Saturday morning, my brother and I went out to some public land because our normal spot was dried up because the farmer tiled his field differently, so that was a bummer. But we got out to the lake at 4:30 and a guy was set up where we wanted to be, so we wandered over to a different spot and set up. People started shooting about 15 minutes before legal time and it was a pretty slow morning for us. We only got 2 woodies. Would've had more probably but the guys we talked to that beat us to our spot had 2 mojo's out in their spread and they were shooting like crazy. We'd see ducks across the lake and they'd make a beeline for the spinners. They must've shot 40 times by 9 o'clock. After we saw the mojo's I called TIP and got on the line with a Conservation Officer and on our way to our truck we met the CO going to talk to the guys. Wish I would've heard what happened to them.

Well on Sunday, tried a small private pond and all the birds that were there the day before didn't come back. I got one woody...would've had a few more if I could shoot straight.

And this morning decided to go out to a lake that I've never tried. Got out there early and started off down the channel towards the big lake. I wasnt going very fast and it took me a minute to realize what was wrong. The weeds and crud on top of the water were so thick it was clogging up my prop. I eventually got out to the main lake but it was white caps and it was a long drive across the lake so I decided to stay close to the landing, well away from where I've watched all the birds go. I was in a bad mood already and once it started raining I packed everything up and went in without firing a shot.

My season can only improve from here...right?!

[grey ghost]

Saturday of opening weekend in SW Mn: 3 man limit in a couple hours. Not many teal or wood ducks in our area, mostly larger ducks in the bag. Sunday was much slower like usual...bagged 5 but saw more teal than the previous day.

[fishersofmen]

Walleyeking that sounds a lot like my weekend. Duck hunting can be a lot of work for sure and frustrating at times as well. If only we could all have a couple hundred acres of private hunting land to ourselves.....

[dan z]

The opener was as good as it could be for me and my brother. We went to a public place and we pulled into the landing as the 9th rig at 330 and thought my spot would have been taken so we loaded up the boat. Headed out and my spot was open. a few shots later my limit was filled and people started to peter out and about 10a.m our limit was filled and high fives were had between the 2 of us. I thought it was great as I sat in the same exact spot last year and had the same out come.

[Lunker]

Cold, dark, and windy this morning. Plenty of birds around and they flew all morning. Would have been a great combo but my shooting was very rusty as was my eye for seeing the birds before they were on top of me or past. Ended up with a mallard, woody, and teal. Those species represented the majority of what was flying.

[walleyeking19]

Well went out this morning before the craziness of the weekend started again. With the wind and rain figured ducks would be flying, and I was right. The only crappy part was that a bunch of other guys had the same idea. Got to the spot about an hour before shooting light and there were already 3 trucks in the lot. Looked like 1 guy was bow hunting and the other two were duck hunting. I sat in my car and watched where they set up, and of course they went right where I wanted to. So i turned around and went to a different spot I knew of to try to salvage the morning.

By the time I got there it was already daylight and I didnt feel like walking all the way to the pond that late so I spent the morning scouting and just watching birds. I ended up meeting a farmer and I got permission to hunt his pond tomorrow, so hopefully my luck turns around! Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

[Stringerless!]

Small lake in Scandia. Saw about 200 geese total and 50 ducks total. Never took a shot. Nothing was close enough. No migration noted. Average amount of shots in the surrounding area.

[Polarisx54r]

Well the teal and wood ducks have definitely moved on from my corner of the world at least. Went out this morning, got one mallard drake. Only fired one shot. No significant flight noted. Only saw 2 other ducks and a half dozen geese flying by. Relatively little shooting in Pelican. Almost all barrages in multiples of 3, probably skybusting. Will have to sit tight and wait for some northern birds now.

[fishersofmen]

I agree most of the teal and woodies have left the area. We got a couple mallards and a banded redhead. Not a lot of shooting and a lot less birds flying than I thought would be. This was yesterday I didn't make it out today.

[Stringerless!]

Woody hen today. Same place,same time. Not nearly as many birds seen as yesterday. Ducks or geese. Only migration noted was robins moving through.

[Riverratpete]

Got out yesterday AM, northern Metro. Less birds then last weekend. Definitely got smart fast..getting very call and shot shy..seemed most of the blue wing teal have bailed, woodies still around...now if we can just do something about the sky busters..

[Riverratpete]

Got out yesterday AM, northern Metro. Less birds then last weekend. Definitely got smart fast..getting very call and shot shy..seemed most of the blue wing teal have bailed, woodies still around...now if we can just do something about the sky busters..

[CANOPY SAM]

NW Minnesota. After 3 days of strong west/northwest winds, and even blowing snow on Friday, all I've really noted is many of our local birds have moved on.

Big group of woodies in the river behind our house are still there this evening though. I'd wager we've still got a lot of teal and wood ducks in the NW part of the state.

This cold snap, coupled with 3 days of really strong winds has definitely dropped the water temp fast though! If this keeps up, or happens a few more times over the next few weeks, we're going to see a pretty early freeze up this year.

Can't say I saw any new birds coming in from Canada.

[jgrimmz]

Saw about 20 woodies and a few coots in Cass county this weekend. Unfortunately we weren't set up for duck hunting..

[Kettle]

Drove from Grand Forks to the Iron Range today and saw some birds in the western part of the state but not a ton. Once we got east of Bemidji there were very few birds. Will probably chase grouse the next week or so until I start seeing more.

Kettle

[Kettle]

Near Grand Rapids MN, some birds around, decoy shy and call shy, downsized my spread today and got 2 ringbills and 2 teal. Sunshine and a light breeze made for a nap in the duck boat, probably had a few burn me while I was snoozing

[Stringerless!]

Chisago cty lake. 1 woody hen. Only op we had. Only saw woodies and 1 mallard. 2 geese seen. Not many shots heard.

[westguy]

a lot more birds than last week with a lot of wigeon and gadwalls in the bag along with divers. A few nice greenheads as well.

[Stringerless!]

Carlos Avery tonight. Saw 8 ducks during legal hours. The occasional coot shots and hail mary volleys from the refuge road fools.They were still shooting at 6:46 ! A full 14 minutes after legal. Where is Ranger Rick ? This takes place routinely. And we wonder why the ducks become nocturnal.

[grey ghost]

SW MN over the weekend: Saturday 3 guys 8 ducks, a nice greenhead, couple woodies, rest GWT. Sunday never shot gun.

[Stringerless!]

Super slow. Washington County.1 high flock of divers before light. 3 woodies swam into dekes from cattails. Let them be. Saw 3 smaller birds high. Never heard or saw a goose. Barely any shooting heard. Slowest day of season for me and by the lack of shooting I heard I would say the same for others in the area as well.

[Archerysniper]

Super slow. Washington County.1 high flock of divers before light. 3 woodies swam into dekes from cattails. Let them be. Saw 3 smaller birds high. Never heard or saw a goose. Barely any shooting heard. Slowest day of season for me and by the lack of shooting I heard I would say the same for others in the area as well.

+1 here it was horrible this morning.

[shamalex72]

+2, we haven't fired a shot the last two days. Heard about a dozen shots this morning, less yesterday.

[Kettle]

Seeing an influx of more divers in North Central MN, most of the BWT and Woodies are gone. Some Mallards around but guessing that they are still MN resident birds. Saw some snowflakes this morning as well. Well see how the weather shapes up in the coming weeks.

Kettle

[Lunker]

Hunted pool 8 for WI second season opener this morning. Very slow. Not very many birds around yet.