Thief Lake

[lzika]

I hunted Thief Lake last Thursday and Friday and there were lots of red heads. We also shot a few cans, bills, and ringers. Has anybody had any luck on Thief?

[CANOPY SAM]

I know a few guys have hunted "around" the Thief Lake area, and have done well on Honkers and Cranes.

Just guessing, but I'd wager there's likely a bunch of birds piling in there now, and will be over the next couple weeks.

You can follow the Thief Lake bird counts at the MN DNR HSOforum under Waterfowl Migration Reports. They also report on a lot of bag checks, and how hunters are doing around the area. Think it's updated every couple days at this time of year.

[Stringerless!]

They do the surveys on Tuesdays and usually update on Thursday . I believe. Not sure how much faith to put in the numbers. Talked to one manager and he said they "skip" a 30 06 round through the refuge and take a wild guess at the number.

[CANOPY SAM]

Yea. It's entirely possible he may have been pulling on your leg, just a little.

[lzika]

Thanks for the information, Canopy Sam.

Regarding how well hunters are doing...I've only had a couple of trips when my ducks were not checked by one of the DNR workers. They're pretty diligent in checking hunter success. I was also checked two times by a conservation officer this year on Thief.

[norwall]

Weve had moderate success ,havent been there in 2yrs but it was ok,if there were new birds present.mix bag of ringos redhead bluebills and a few cans.as for the survey.yes they do.they have a plane to go up and survey...30-06? Wow ok haha.pretty big lake to conduct that type of method,not to mention moronic

[Matt Breuer]

I realize this post is uber-late, but after talking to buddies back home, and seeing pics of hunts from TLWMA I can tell you that it was a great year out there. Sounds like more redheads than I can ever recall hearing about... I did hear just today from 2 different people that it's gotten tough now, and that they are between pushes. Ice has formed a few mornings as well the way it sounds....

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks Matt. I'd heard the landings were locked up pretty tight, and the temps we're having this morning certainly aren't helping that situation.

My concern is by the time that second push starts this way, much, if not all our water is going to be frozen, so they'll likely just blow on thru.

I'm sitting here by the front window watching hundreds of geese pour into the cut corn field just a couple hundred yards in front of our house. Just one more of the few area fields that I cannot get hunting permission for!

[srj]

Thief froze over early last week but opened up on Sunday with the warmer temps and big wind. There was no ice yesterday. Supposed to get down to 14 tonight so I expect it freeze over again. With the cool temps forecast, I would guess it won't reopen.

Good numbers of divers but the mallards were still very scarce. Several big flocks of divers migrating.

I called one of the farmers in Sask where we hunt yesterday on the way home. He said there were huge numbers of ducks still there but the white geese mostly left 2 or 3 weeks ago. Not much reason for the ducks to leave with the table set, no pressure and water still open. Temps have been pretty mild in Canada. The first major snowstorm on the Sask/MB prairies should send quite a bunch our way.

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks srj! Great report!

Yea, it's WAY cold, and very still this morning. I'd be surprised if there's open water anywhere up here.

[zero]

Went on an afternoon hunt on thief lake today. Shot five ducks saw a bunch of mallards. It was a lot of work, but fun.

[srj]

Good going Zero. Breaking ice and getting rewarded is pretty gratifying. One of my hunting partners went out of the river yesterday....the river was even iced over. They didn't do great but saw a fair amount, most of which were sitting in the open water holes in the middle. About time the mallards showed. Guess they won't be staying long.

My farmer friend in Saskatchewan called me today as I was returning from Appleton. He called to tell me "GO HUNTING". It was minus 4 F at this place yesterday morning and by evening he said all the ducks had left. North Dakota should be filling up about now. It was good down SW MN but there weren't many migrators. Wish I could have stayed a couple more days. Ice all the way to Morris now, even on some bigger water. I don't think I have ever seen so many coots in MN this late.