reports

[shae1986]

Yeah Matt they are just starting to come down,Brady, Troy, and myself went out this morning and the geese were everywhere, they just didn't want to decoy, and now its deer hunting so hopefully i shoot my buck on saterday so i can goose hunt some more.

Andrew

[cubbies11]

Out today (10-31) by Hastings. Where are all the birds? Only had 4 or 5 birds worth calling to. By far our worst day of the year.

Cubbies

[Flipnripem]

Faribault county, woodys are gone, some nice flocks of gwt came down on sun and a few mallards. It will be a week or two, I`m hoping, til they get down here. Traditionally the first week of gun hunting is the best for mallards. We will see. Lots of geese! Flip

[jeff127]

I was in my deer stand(chanhassen) on sunday and saw thousands of divers heading due west in flocks of 50-100. Some were dropping altitude over head and sounded like jets(I love that sound). Also saw 2 large flocks of mallards and 2 flocks of approx. 75 woodies in each that buzzed over the tree I was in. I only wish I had been duck hunting that area---It would have been fun!.

My bro was in E.P. and saw a slough packed with hundreds of bluebills. Not an Ideal area to see them but good to know a few are making their way south.

jeff

[duckster]

Just got back from hunting in North Dakota on the 31st. Saw(heard) a movement of birds on Sunday night as we were packing up the truck to leave. On the way home on Monday across North Dakota and north western Minnesota saw several flocks of migrating geese, both snows, specs and Canadas. It must be geting cold in Canada....

Duckster

[ChuckN]

A friend and I snuck out to a corn field this morning near home after he has been seeing lots of ducks working another friend's field for the past few days. We hit it this morning....never seen so many wood ducks and mallards all season! Hundreds! Several flocks of up to 50 birds at a time circling the spread. In all the chaos we thought we had our limit, but ended up with 5, 2 woodies and 3 mallards. The birds left and never returned for clean up.

There are ducks around. They are hiding very well!!

[ddsbyday]

Hunted northern Mn. WMA Sun. Had good shooting. Picking up decoys I saw an amazing sight. The divers came bombing in with flaps set. I have never seen so many near mid air collisions since I flew to Fla. on NW airlines(joke). The ducks are there they are just nocturnal. I had fun just watching. I called my hunting buddy on my cell and he could actually hear the wings. I just wish I knew where they came from and where they gp during the day.

[Stenzel]

Hey Flip do you hunt Walnut often? I use to hunt it all the time but I have found that some people think they own the lake even when you get to a spot before them and they come out and threaten you because they have been hunting that spot for the past couple of weeks. Just wondering if you ran into any of that?

[Sartell Angler]

Stenzel,

If someone threatens you when you beat them to a public spot while out hunting, give the CO or Sheriff a call. They take those threats very seriously and I would bet that there would be consequences.

SA/wdw

[Flipnripem]

Yep, unfortunatlly that will happen about anywhere you go on a public body of water. The nice thing about Walnut is that there a number of good spots to set up and shoot birds. Now that the deer chasers are out there will be a lot more room on the lake. Won`t be there this weekend, got a score to settle with some honkers. Flip

[cubbies11]

Was out last night 10/4 and today 10/5. No birds flying at all...lots of hunters even with deer opener. When are all the birds gonna get here???

Cubbies

[Riverratpete]

was out this morning northern metro..shot at 1, still plenty of Coots around..birds are very decoy shy. We were the only people out there which was cool but only thing we had in the dekes was a deer swimming through getting away from the hunters. Looking forward to that artic cold up in Alaska letting loose one of these days.

[ironman]

hunted an hour north of Brainerd this weekend. Scouted all day Sat...hunted the till sundown on Portage Lake. The last hour the sky was filled with divers. Wouldn't come into my deks...headed to a different spot that had hunters and they shot the..blank..out of em. I did have one come through shot and crippled, off I went chasing him down with the boat only to lose him completely, watched the last few minutes of shooting tick off while watching more birds buzz my deks. I need a dog. I was excited for the next days hunt with so many birds. Fog was thick, didn't lift till 9:30...noting all day. The evening there were only a few divers around..and they didn't fly until after hours. What a dissapointment. My first skunk of the season. Better luck next weekend I hope.

[catmaster1557]

Me and my brother hunted lake lindsey( hour north of brinerd). We limited out on divers thursday and friday. Everything that flew by decoyed except mallards wouldn't. It was quite the site. We were picking up decoys and they were still comeing in.

[ironman]

I must not have the right set up..seems like birds just ignore me. I have about three doz mall deks..with some woodies and coots thrown in and a half doz ringnecks. maybe I need more divers? I've tried j-hooks and pocket set ups with no diff between the two. Need some help.

[Sartell Angler]

made it out for a weekday hunt this morning. Hunted solo because my buddy peared out for no apparent reason. Only threw out one little group of divers, 7 G&H mallard dekes, and 5 fullbody goose decoys on the shore. Pulled down a lone honker that peeled off of a big flock of geese, and then watched empty skies for an hour or so. Did see 2 groups of mallards, but they seemed really skittish and circled about 6 times before taking off. Did pull out one mallard that made the mistake of leaving the safety of the flock. We desperately need some cold weather up in Canada! I also hope it gets cold here pretty quick so I can bust ice on the big water and hunt some birds the real way!

SA/wdw

[TundraKing]

IRONMAN,

I've definitely had some years like that. The only piece of advice I can offer is Ducks Unlimited Online (www.ducks.org). Look under the Waterfowling tab. They have some good info on decoy spreads.

(Contact US Regarding This Word) Luck!

[cat-man]

Looks like the weather may take a turn for the good from this weekend on. A buddy and me got 3 rings and 2 golden eye last fri. but havnt seen much since cant wait to start bustin ice.

[bmc]

Lots of diver's around the Deer River area today. 3 of us shot our limits in a couple hours this afternoon. 11 ringies and 1 awesome mounter redhead drake. Everyone's bailing out on me for the morning, so I'm heading out solo, but the pooch will be with. I'll post a report tomorrow afternoon.

Brian

[ironman]

Was working in Fargo this week, got off early on Fri so decieded to do some eve hunt. Ended up south of Fergus Falls, ducks and geese filled the sky at times. I didn't manage to shoot any I was out of position. However hundreds of mallards and a few divers and I believe I even seen some woodies. Would like to hit that spot on Sun, but kinda a long drive for a day from Minneapolis. If anyone wants to get together and head up there, it would probably be worth it. Besides I need help bringing out the decoys. Two bags by myself was a bit much. All you'd really need are some hip boots if you dont have waders. If anyone is interested shoot me. [email protected], took this sites advice and studied on decoy placement...got some stuff I want to try out. Weather looks like it might cooperate. I'm taking tuesday off as well...thats suppose to be an actual winter day. As I was swatting mosquitos yesterday and sweating. What a november.