Depressed hunters only

[norwall]

well said de chise, i couldnt agree more. On the Arkansas thing,Im very tempted to do that. At one point I seen more swans and coots than ducks around. Id probally have more success if i was umemployeed though ,as id be able to get 30-35 days in

[Musky Buck]

If any of you would've grew up duck hunting with me you wouldn't even consider ND or Arkansas or Canada, we had it every bit as good as any of those places easily, now well I still have access to all of those places from the early 80's, we tried planting rice from that Nursery in Wausau Wisc, we added some ponds to what was already there, the people trap and shoot furbearers as often as they can, we put up dozens and dozens of woody boxes, I'm not sure what else a guy could do really. It's ok really, the goose replaced the duck, the turkey if you get drawn replaced the grouse, pheasants were coming back, now they're knocked down and out again. In a way the demise of the duck has really cost the town I live in a lot of income, it was once booming during duck season, now there is no one during duck season. The camo you see in town now they have a Matthew's in hand, not a shotgun, I got very lucky to have hunted the 80's and those memories are incredible whether we got em or not, you could barely sleep anticipating what tomorrow would be. Then the curly tails would come down a week or 2 later with rafts of bluebills by the thousands on Rush Lake. I wish I had video of those days, I wish it were 1/50 as good today even 1/100th as good but we're beyond those numbers unfortunately.

[Scott M]

Good post Tyler. I believe everyone agrees its not time to do the same. There will have to be changes. For some, it means leaving their respective areas and familiar waters and fields. For others, it means making due with less and tempering expectations. I've noticed the SC MN shift to geese, and that will probably have to be my emphasis. I've already started to make that adjustment a few years back. The reality is, as I mentioned, the habitat war is lost in this region, remaking this landscape is going to be as fruitless as Sisyphus rolling his boulder up the side of the mountain. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; if you have good hunting in your area, do your best to protect it or it will some day be gone. As I mentioned, I will probably pick up the bow more, particularly if pheasant numbers languish for a third year in a row and waterfowl numbers stay stable or decrease. I will likely head out of state or to in-state points north and west to do my duck hunting.

[Gordie]

Great Post Tyler and once again we are thinking the same..

I just walked in to type some of the same anlogy's or close to it as you.

I know that this is a tough bite to chew but quiting hunting waterfowl in Minnesota will not bring the birds back.

[Musky Buck]

I agree da chise, but unfortunately I can't afford the wear and tear on an already old truck and gas to boot to maybe find some action, we have protected the habitat the best we can, we still can hunt 90% of the spots we once did, plus I try to hunt 4 counties and isn't that plenty really, what are there 87 counties total ? So we all fight over the goose hunting in the area, they sit in town and plenty of us are following them out of town and mauling the few farm/farmers they use. I hope they get the duck situation figured out soon, not for me, but the hundreds of kids who are missing out and the DNR needs to put a sock in it when they bark out record numbers blah before season opens. When $ is involved the truth gets stretched. Our water quality and or the food that used to grow in it for ducks must be pitiful in many areas. Yes, if you have good duck hunting cherish it big time.

[TylerS]

Well, then I guess you're stuck. Sisyphus and his boulder is a good visual. Actually, I foresee a similar fate for many, many more areas in the very near future. North Dakota stands to lose an additional 800,000 acres of CRP next year. Hunters and landowners complained this year about the lack of deer and pheasants. To that I say a big "HA, YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET BOYS!!!"

[Musky Buck]

Right on tyler, the loss of crp is a bad deal making a delicate duck situation appear to be in more trouble. I worked for an irrigation company, we were in ND, and was stunned years back driving the 4 wheeler through crp that was to become cropland again and the volume of hens that had nests in that stuff was amazing really, I flushed a lot of hens and was praying I didn't drive over any nests and many of these nests were quite a distance away from potholes. You would think some the southern states would take note of the crp losses up here.

[airdriver]

I do a lot of reading on here, and post very little. So, it takes quite the topic for me to write. As already posted, I have answered to all zeros on the HIP. I have come very close to saying enough on duck hunting. MN can be a tough place to hunt. Ducks over in the NE nothing in SW. Now ducks in SC nothing in NW. It can make you want to pull your hair out. However, this year has been my best year in a long time. Saw a lot of ducks, many different breeds. Last year I only got four. This year I did much better. So, my hunting has improved. Also, another reason not to hang it up, and the reason I don't is the long term weather cycle. I learned about this from a MN wildlife biologist. I am lucky, he is a friend of mine, and I get to hunt with him. He made a point a few years ago, when I was ready to hang it up. I have known him for years, and know he has a good pulse on the ducks in MN. He has been on studies of ducks from the north boarder to the south. So, when he tells me something, I do listen. Plus, I have read reports online that back up what he has said. The long term weather cycle, right now doesn't favor MN. It is favoring west right now. Look at the flooding, rain, and snow amounts in ND and SD. You can recall the flooding all the way back to 1997 out west. Prior to that they had a drought. The drought was mid 80's into the 90's. People have posted the hunting was rather good in the 80's. Heck, even I can recall the hunting then. See the connection? The cycle will swing to the east, thus the birds will too. The is an article out there, that addresses to swinging of the flyway east and west. It will swing back east, the question is just "when"? Look at the hunting reports and stories. I was great in the 50's and 60's. It was good in the 80's. That's the cycle, not always 20 years, but it is close. We are getting close to the cycle swing its way east. Next year? maybe five, maybe more. With long term cycles it tough to tell, but sometime in the near future, you'll be saying you are glad your not out west.

[Musky Buck]

Sounds good airdriver, we are close to that 20 year period, I can't wait ! Should be easy to see it happen as we hunt geese a lot and always had early AM woodies in the dekes and later October Mallards in the dekes or at least we saw flocks flying around and bow hunters always had the best duck reports as they are out many evenings in the fall, problem is though, can I go plug up all the old beaver dams that used to be around, that was where we found our birds primarily.

[Gordie]

Airdriver thanks for your post. and I hope you post a bit more its nice to hear things from the people that have a in So to speak. It must be fun to hunt with a guy that knows the birds from North to South.

The past is the future its just a matter of time .. I will wait and if it doesn't happen in my time it should happen in my kids time

[Moonie]

I'm depressed that the season didn't go longer! I had some great shoots this year and got out quite a bit. The location and timing have to be right.... but u can still shoot ducks in MN. I'm like u elwood..... I have a passion for this stuff too. I'll always be out there no matter what

[Scott M]

Geez I hope you guys are right about the wet cycle. Visited some friends in NoDak that have a hunting shack in Petersburg off Highway 2. The guys that run the place have volunteered for Delta forever. They keep worrying about the wet cycle shift, and planning for it, but from what I have heard, and I'm not trying to be contrarian here, but the Dakotas are in the middle of a wet cycle. We'll have to get to the bottom of it some time with some data.

I guess I'm still a little worried if we're basing our hopes on a 20 year swing in precipitation and climate. I mean, the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics lists the U.S.' generation time as 25 years. If we are waiting 20 years for this swing, we have a whole generation that doesn't get to experience decent hunting. Yuck.

For what it's worth, what I've seen in North Dakota makes me think that even if things dry up out there and stay wet here, I don't think we'll still see the ducks. I don't see healthy or abundant wetlands here, except in extreme northern Minnesota. Our wetlands are just too nuked to hold ducks for anything more than a half day of rest while migrating. Too little vegetation, too little invertebrates, too many chemicals, too much fluctuation in water levels, too little seasonal sheetwater that goes undrained, too much drainage, too few wetlands.

[FishandFowl]

We had a decent season early on but the migration of northern ducks we missed by a day just before Deer season. As I sat in my deer spot I watched thousands of mallards work a corn field 1/2 mile away. They just kept coming from every direction. they were in the area for about a week then moved on. The year before it happened just before Thanksgiving. They do pass through but just as location is important so is timing. You might get a few days that you can really experience a great hunt. I have hunted ducks in canada and seen unbelievable amounts of birds that simply have no pressure on them. They wait up there eating Peas and Rye with nobody but a few scattered hunters and millions of acres of grain until the weather forces them out it is here that the opportunity comes to MN.

There are still opportunities in MN to have a great hunt if you time it right. My plan for next year is hunt the local birds then take a few weeks off and start up again around Holloween to the end of the duck season. We will see what happens but I am not quite ready to give it up yet.

fnf

[honker23]

I'd like to throw out a few more opinions regarding the decline of duck hunting. Our habitat has shrunk, forcing a BUNCH of hunters into smaller decent areas. These areas are pressured so heavily that birds are not here for long. 50 years ago how many workers could take off 40 days during duck season. How many sloughs had hunters on them mon-fri 50 yrs ago? So even when we raise a few birds here, they get chased off in no time. I would like to see no hunting on Wed, close the season at 2 everyday but Sat or something like that. Just as hunters need to change I think the DNR may need to make drastic changes in the future. They have made a lot of changes already and I give them credit.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

We can go back and forth about wet/dry cycles, afternoon closures, season splits, blah blah blah, but those are all feel-good relief to the symptoms. The cancer is water quality. We don't have very many healthy sloughs and shallow lakes left. Sago pond weed and freshwater shrimp have been replaced with carp, bullheads, and fathead minnows. clear running creeks are now straightened judicial ditches that deliver drain tiled runoff to our bodies of water much faster, with less chance to filter. Couple the degraded water quality with lack of suitable breeding habitat, and its a wonder that we actually see the flights of ducks in MN that we do. Say we were to get a "wet cycle" in MN again in a few years. What will hold the water? The landscape has more pattern tile, parking lots, 1 acre yards, and ditched/straightened waterways than ever before. Where will the ducks breed? The reason duck production in SD and ND has been phenomenal is grass. Temporary wetlands that farmers cannot seed in the spring provide additional habitat on top of semi permanent and permanent stands of grass, be it CRP, pasture, or other grasslands. With funding for conservation programs on the chopping block, there will be less habitat than ever in MN to produce ducks. And if we cannot produce ducks, and the Dakotas/prairie Canada gets a drought cycle...where will the ducks come from???

[morefishplease]

For what it's worth, what I've seen in North Dakota makes me think that even if things dry up out there and stay wet here, I don't think we'll still see the ducks. I don't see healthy or abundant wetlands here, except in extreme northern Minnesota. Our wetlands are just too nuked to hold ducks for anything more than a half day of rest while migrating. Too little vegetation, too little invertebrates, too many chemicals, too much fluctuation in water levels, too little seasonal sheetwater that goes undrained, too much drainage, too few wetlands.

You hit the nail on the head there! And that is one main reason why I am a depressed hunter. For those of you this season that shot ducks thats great. For some people that have not been hunting for many years they don't have anything to compare it to so maybe to them they did see alot of ducks and shot a few. Even down here in SC MN on the opener people did well with many groups limiting out on teal and woodies. But after the second week there were no ducks and no new ducks ever arrived. Sure if you had the time and spent 40-50 days out there you would get lucky I'm sure and get something to come in. But you would be waiting all season to see that no big push of mallards ever arrived here. I kind of laugh at the ones on here that said I need to scout more, no all the scouting I need to do is to drive around the entire game refuge and if I see a large influx of geese or start seeing flocks of mallards leaving the refuge in the hundreds then I know new ducks have pushed down. If there are not ducks on the refuge, well they sure as heck aint on the surrounding lakes either. And for some that told me to pick a different lake...well I hunted Geneva most of the time. The lake is very clean, very good habitat, contains sago pondweed, and is mostly rid of carp due to the DNR and DU partnering to reclaim the lake and installation of the new dam. Pickerel was another that was reclaimed and really turned out well, Bear is another that has been in the process to be reclaimed for some years now, and state line lake most recently is in the planning stages to be reclaimed. So even with a lake like Geneva that is clear, contains sago pondweed, good cover and habitat, all the things a duck would want, it still didn't matter. Only at the end of the season did I see about 100+ mallards out in the middle along with about 100 mixed divers. The next day I seen the raft was half the size. These ducks don't stay around, they rest for a day then gone. They are resting lakes and the ducks know where the middle is. So yes it was a depressing season me, waiting on something that was never gonna happen.

[Musky Buck]

I sit by or near a refuge also, there wasn't more than 30 ducks in it at any time really the last 5-10 years, I can see it from early goose Sept 3rd to November 1st every year at a distance, put binocs on it thousands of times in my life as I started waterfowling near it in 1979. I also own a flooded swamp that has a pair of mallards in it sometimes, not the hundreds of woodies and mallards from the past, it goes unhunted, always has, always will and it's bunk. Oh well, got the goose instead and turkeys if you get drawn or want to hit late May.

[Heartman]

The cycle continues...best one can say is to stay the course. We're hunting, not shooting - not an excuse for lack of ducks, but habitat, water levels, and weather can only be controlled so much by humans, the rest is a roll of the dice.

[Musky Buck]

No doubt and depressed hunters only, the only part about being depressed is that so many kids can't experience what many of us did as a kid. That's the depressing part, for me I've shot enough ducks really for a lifetime, I wouldn't say I shot tons of them, but enough. Trying to picture being 10 again and what I would think of duck hunting today, wow, it would be depressing. We actually had to use strategy back then as every pond held birds, now it's a hope if we'll see any ducks, no wonder I'm getting fatter, there's no need to sneak up on the duck ponds anymore, sit in goose dekes and eat a bunch of crud, lol, no wonder.

[castmaster]

Well for me this will be the last year I buy a license in MN for the foreseeable future. I have just had it with sitting in a layout blind late season goose hunting while having flock after flock of big nob headed greenies come dumping in. Hunted 17 days in MN this season and shot 6 ducks, didnt really see too many more either. And then the season closes and within days/weeks the northern birds start coming through town. See this only happens once everything else has frozen up and the birds are forced to travel the Mississippi River corridor to find open water. It happens every year around here come December.

I think next year I will use my license $ towards an Audubon Society membership and become a full fledged bird watcher, cause thats pretty much what we have been doing this past decade anyway.

When will the folks at the DNR finally come to the realization that in a state that stretches as far north to south as MN you MUST have a split zone/spilt season framework in place. To expect one season to work for the guys on LOTW and guys on the Iowa border is ridiculous. Other states dont seem to have a problem using split zones/seasons, but here its supposedly impossible to implement. Seems pretty odd to me!

Looking at my records I have personally shot 14 drake mallards in the past 3 seasons in MN. Our group could have easily doubled that total just this morning in one hunt.

[Scott M]

The North/South Zone is a start. Hard for the DNR to predict the weather, this year was definitely not "typical" as far as freeze up. In an interview earlier in the year, Landwehr was suggesting three zones. I guess we'll see how hard it gets pushed.