Reports 10/29

[EW6]

So how was it for everyone this week. I had a great weekend of hunting. On Saturday I arrived to my spot around 4:30 in the morning and the lake was completly ice free, by shooting time the entire lake was covered in ice and I had about one of the only holes of open water around my dekes. The ducks responded well and we filled out by the time the wind came up and started eating away at the ice.

Sunday Morning the entire lake was ice free and I anticipated a great hunt but for the most part the ducks were gone. We still bagged a few, cans and redheads with some Mallards, but it was amazing to see all those ducks disappear when the water opened back up. We did get quite a show Sunday morning before the sun came up that was worth it all. I've never seen northern lights quite like that at all, they were awesome, I hope you all got to get out and see those.

Hey did anyone hunt Mud Lake? I thought that it may have frozen up but I hope that it didn't. Did everyone sense that a lot of the birds left on Saturday or was that just the case for the lake I was hunting? Hope you all had some good luck,
E.W.

[Guest]

I was up in Kimball, st cloud area, and saturday morning for the first hour was pretty cool. Had to break ice all the way out, spent 15 minutes breaking up enough ice for 12 duck dekes and 3 goose dekes. but did the job I could not even get my coffee poured and had 15 mallards come in and land on the ice the ones that landed were slipping and sliding. took 2 shots at the ones that were stil in the air and 2 mallards dropped. I then went out to see and just verify that I did get the drakes. wanted to be safe and make sure I did not shoot 2 hens then acidentally et another one, you know (CYOA) and had 10 more land 10 feet from the boat. just sat there and laughed as the gun was empty of course for travel in the boat while I was out getting those 2. Then after I was back in the blind I called and called and called to 20 mallards and heard one calling back. then boom they were gone. all of a sudden I look up and there was a hen mallard staring right at me quacking standing on the ice looking just dumb founded. I was laughing so hard in the boat and felt so sorry that I just let it leave. it was pretty fun. Sunday did not see a thing could not figure out where they went. But the guys behind me were blastng away until 9:00.

broncosguy

[Guest]

I hunted a lake (near Moorhead) that did not have any ice whatsoever. Most of the other lakes were frozen solid. Sat. was a blast. We had ducks all over the place for the first hour, and into the day too. Sunday, the birds were almost all gone! We had 3 geese come in, 2 went down. 2 flocks of bluebills came in late in the morning and got 2. They were moving, fast! Tough to get them, but they played with my decoy spread and it was fun to watch. All the local mallards had left the area Sat. or Sat. night. I thought the strong south winds we had would have stopped the birds from heading south, boy was I wrong!

[Flick]

EW6 were you in the area of your college. I never got out there because we were scouting for deer hunting but I thought it would be good.

[GullGuide]

Hello all,
Well, there is a 50/50 chance that the "Big Push" has come and gone. Reports that I have been hearing is that in some parts of Canada, such as Alberta and Saskatchewan are nearly void of ducks after last weeks storm. HOWEVER, Southern Manitoba is jam-packed with birds. Also, a good friend of mine from the Bemidji area shot 2 woodies and a GREEN-WING TEAL on Sunday. My belief is that most of the birds that we shot over the weekend were Eastern North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota birds. Almost all of the drakes were still full of pin feathers and not fully colored. Another sign that the Northern flight has not came through is that most of the divers were Ringbills, there were still quite a few Widgeon and Gadwall and there were still a number of Canvasbacks. We did not see any Bufflehead or Goldeneye either, a true sign that the flight is not over. BUT we did see quite a few flocks of swans.
I honestly think that the best Mallard shooting is yet to come as long as everything stays ice-free.
As for our hunting this weekend, on Friday I decided to venture out on my own. I could have easily shot my birds by 8am, but passed on many flocks in order to better identify drakes. Friday- Tons of birds.
On Saturday we headed out to the same lake but set up in the wrong spot. We eventually ended up bagging 4 Mallards, but there were a heck of a lot of ducks flying. Lake was totally ice-free until about 5 am, then completely froze over with about a half inch of ice by 8. Had to constantly break up the ice and clear it from our spread. We did witness however, 3 massive flights of divers, one of which stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. Saturday- Quite a few birds.
Sunday we lucked out and got into a spot where the birds wanted to go. Lake was completely ice free except for a few small patches in the rice beds. Hardly any activity until around 9. Had a number of Widgeon working over our dekes as well as the occasional flock of Ringbills. The Mallards were almost non-existent, only ended up seeing 2 or 3 flocks all morning. We ended up with 3 Widgeon, 1 Gadwall, 5 Ringbills and 1 goose. Sunday- Not very many ducks, but a good shoot nonetheless.
On Monday, Duck-O-Holic and I hooked up and went to the same lake. Empty skies for most of the morning until around 8:30. The Mallards were back. We ended up bagging 7 before we had to pick up. There were a couple of large flights of divers on the lake again, as well as numerous smaller flocks. Monday- Good shoot, the birds that did come into the lake wanted in and decoyed nicely.
Other reports from the area-
Long Lake- Fantastic on Saturday, slow on Sunday.
Solomon- Good shooting all weekend.
Elizabeth- Loaded with divers.
Ringo- Fairly decent shooting on Saturday.
>"////=<

[Guest]

This is the time of year I honestly don't have any idea about the migration. A storm like we had can really put a lull to the season.
I talked to my cousin who hunted the Alexandria/Elbow Lake area over the weekend and he said there was a total mixed bag of ducks. What surprised me is he saw flock after flock of Goldeneyes! I am guessing these cannot be the far Canadian migrants, its long too soon.
Bemidji area was plum full of buffleheads (which always is after a cold front), bluebills, ringbills, and Goldeneyes.
I hunt big lakes, like Winni, very late in the season and the very last birds left on the lake are the big American (?) Mergansers and Goldeneyes. The bluebills tend to scurry out and Goldeneyes stay until complete ice up. There is still A LOT of water in Ontario and the bulk of the divers are still hanging on there, I would guess. It will take a real cold front to move them on and for the next week looks like warm, bluebird weather. I remember the days when I was deer hunting every opener with snow on the ground and single digit lows! The last few years its been way too warm, and I have had a long duck hunting season

[Borch]

Well hunting near Rockville Saturday was interesting. Whole lake had skim ice on it as I went out. Rowed around in front of my blind right up to 10 mintues to shooting time through out a few dekes and rowed into the blind. Had ringnecks buzzing the dekes as I left them. Ended up with 1 drake woodie, 1 drake green wing teal, 1 hen mallard and a meganser(oops). The guys really nailed them on Grand Lake. They must have gone through 2-3 boxes of shells in the first hour. By the time I left there was 1/2-3/4 inch of ice on the entire lake. Made for an interesting row, banging the oars through the ice as I went hoping I didn't break one before getting to shore. I did see lots of buffle heads, ring necks, one flock of blue bills, and a few mallards. Sunday I hunted another slough near Avon where my brother described the second coming of the diver bonanza that I did not dare miss. Well I went and still ended up missing it. They were gone! Beautiful northern lights though. Made it all worth while. Now I concentrate on deer for a few weeks.

Best of Luck!

[EW6]

I sure hope you guys are right that the big push is coming still, but I kind of think that most of the ducks are through. I saw lots of Buffleheads and Goldeneyes, plus more Bluebills than Ringbills for the first time. I saw about 40 swans land near my dekes Saturday that was pretty cool. But all of the birds seemed to have packed up and left for warmer climates Sunday. I did see a couple of flocks of Mallards that were migrators for sure. One of about 30 and another of about 70, they never even circled just dropped straight down then approached the dekes from the wave tops, the Locals never do that.

It is actually kind of strange because I encountered this same sort of situation last year. We hunted a big lake on Thanksgiving Saturday and it was mostly ice and the ducks were everywhere. It then opened up completely and the ducks all left for Sunday still puzzles me.

I think that for the most part they are through but you can still count on the really late birds, Goldeneyes, Buffies, Bills, and then a lot of Mallards too, coming through and using the big lakes. And it always seems like these late birds are a little easier to hunt because they don't have as many places to sit. Here's hoping it doesn't freeze til Thanksgiving,
E.W.

[Guest]

I hunted near Hutchinson this past weekend and was pretty impressed with the number of ducks I saw buzzing between lakes and the amount of shooting I heard. The only problem was I was sitting in corn field goose hunting. And, the geese didn't show. So, Sunday I went duck hunting. Problem there was the mallards I saw the day before weren't there. I did see a fairly impressive number of divers, though. Problem there, they don't seem to want to use the slough I've been hunting this year. I tell you, I have no one to blame but myself, but I have strung together a season of poor decisions. You know though, even if I'm not killing many birds and even though I'm getting frustrated with myself, I still want to go. I mean, I have to go. One special day can make a whole season, so you've got to go.

[walleyewacker]

I hunted near Lake lillian this past monday morning and there were few ducks. I ended up shooting some local mallards and a teal. I guess this kind of convices me that the peak hunting has yet to come. When driving by the lake I did see alot of mallards.

[Sartell Angler]

Hunted the river this morning with a spread of 4 dozen duck decoys and a dozen goose decoys. Only saw 2 flocks of mallards way up in the exospere, and lots of geese but none interested. Only duck withing 100 yards of us all morning was a hen canvasback, so our options were nonexistent at best. We did manage to bag a 40+ pound beaver after duck hunting proved worthless. Skinning him out took about an hour, but it wasn't too bad. Does anyone have a good method of tanning a beaver hide??? Any help would be appreciated. Three of us are planning on hunting Marsh Lake near Lac La Parle on monday (day off from school!), so i'll report back with the results. Would like to hear other reports from the area, if anyone managed to fit in some waterfowling amongst the deer opener.
Take care,

Sartell Angler