Lac le parle

[Riverratpete]

My buddy put us in for the pits and we got drawn for this fall. If I understand correctly it's pretty much a pass shooting deal right? How many shells are you allowed? Is there a reason to bring dekes? Is there any shooting at ducks? Any lodging in the area? I've been trying to find information on it (lacleparle) and not having much success. Thanks for any help.

[Guest]

If you are talking about Lac QUI Parle, then yea, it is mostly a pass shooting deal.
We used to go out there quite a bit, but goose hunting has gotten so much better everywhere in the state so why bother with all the special regs out there.
If I remember right I think you are allowed only 6 shells per person, and you must stay within X feet of your assigned blind.
We used to not go out there until 8 am or so and then wait for the first groups to go back to the reg station with their geese. We'd then just sign up for the blids they were using and we'd usually get ours too that afternoon or late morning as the geese came back since they seem to use the same fly routes from the refuge that day.
As for ducks, any water West of the Milan bridge is fair game. You can use motors and there are no shell restrictions. The duck hunting can be good at times, but I would not bother if you plan on it for the state blinds. There is also a management area to the West of the bridge as well that used to have some darn good potholes, but with the dry conditions, not sure if they hold water now or not.
Good luck

[Guest]

Tom cleared it up quite well. I hunted the refuge once and never again. You can bring decoys, I did and they helped. We picked a field blind and they came in nicely, but we were done in no time. We also couldn't find our blind very well in the dark!!

I've been hunting around LQP for years as my buddy lives real close to there. We hunted west of Milan bridge all the time and it was poor. We won't go back there. Go to Marsh Lake. You'll get just as many geese (with less restrictions!) and lots of ducks to boot.

Water levels are not too bad this year with all the dry conditions. I'll be there next week, can't wait.

There is a Motel 8 in Appleton and another small motel kiddy corner to the Motel 8. Also a public campground in Appleton. They fill up, so call and make RSVP.

Good luck

[This message has been edited by CD (edited 10-03-2003).]

[Riverratpete]

Thanks for the info guys.

[icehousebob]

We have a group that goes out there every year and we have a good time. There is the state campground just off the refuge where we camp. Used to go to a place called Goose Camp, an old church camp now used for goose hunters, but the place isn't kept up and we weren't well treated. As for goose hunting, you see a lot of smart geese. They've heard all the calls and seen all the decoys, so its a challenge with only six shells. I always bring my boat and water decoys and try to get one of the six water blinds in the drawing. Several of the field blinds are pit blinds in harvested fields that work for decoys. We usually goose hunt the morning and then either pheasant hunt, duck hunt, or Walleye fish the river in the afternoon. Done right, Lac Que Parle[which means 'lake that talks' in French] can be a fun time.