ducks and pheasants

[ole matty]

will head south for annual huntin trip with my old man 11/10-11/14.. will stay at clear lake city area.. hows the report on pheasant and ducks?? anybody see any good numbers of ducks?

thanks..

matty

[KabNam]

Still lots of corn in north central Iowa, however another week of dry weather and much of that will be out. Pheasant numbers have been hit and miss for most folks. You may walk miles and see nothing and then hit a spot with multiple birds.

Duck hunting was real good 2 weeks ago and now we have had warm weather and south winds with not many new birds arriving. The next cold weather push should hopefully have the gadwalls showing up in good numbers.

[eelpout50]

Corn is starting to come out and the birds are flying. We got our limit by noon on Sat and today. The hunting should just get better from here. All our birds were in thick grass by corn that just came out.

[bhs91]

EP50,

were you around the clear lake area? Pub land or private?

Headed down this weekend, can't wait!!

BHS

[KabNam]

Dress appropriately for the weather. On Friday and Saturday it is supposed to be in the high 30's for temps. with strong northwest winds and chance of snow. You should get some shooting!

[ole matty]

plan on huntin in mn during those conditions then hit the road to iowa early monday am...

dont want to look for honey spot but do anyboedy know a good spots for walk in duck hunting? was plan on bring boat but dont really trust leave it alone at hotel awhile huntin for roosters..

[KabNam]

Your best bet would be Union Hills Wildlife Area which is 7 miles south of Clear Lake. It is 2000+ acres of upland and wetlands. There are 30+ pothole wetlands and many of them should have ducks after this weather change happens. If you get bored you can walk the uplands for pheasants. Lots of other DNR and county conservation areas in the west half of Cerro Gordo County.

[bhs91]

Many moons ago when I played Juniors for the North Iowa Huskies (1991-1993) we had good luck in the Joice/Kensett area. However that was mostly local ducks; this cold front may push some in by Sat or Sunday.

Good Luck,

BHS

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

I talked to some of the local duckers in Worth County and they haven't seen a duck in about 2 weeks. There are geese over by Rice Lake BUT it is a no Goose Hunting Zone, so you can try and get permission on private ground to try and intercept them, but they are pretty smart birds and will go the other direction than you will think they will go.

[ole matty]

Thanks for reply I think I ll try union hills area.. Can't wait to come down south n get away from cities!

[lookincalifornia]

my buddy is head of the DU chapter in clearlake. i still haven't heard how he has been doing. winnebago and hancock counties have tons of public land, most offer both upland and waterfoul hunting. don't forget about the huns. they seem to have years where the are every where, then you don't see em'. not too sure how they are looking this year. they like cut bean fields so they can be tough to spot. i know the winnebago county conservation board site will show you all the public land. i assume the other counties are similar.

[bhs91]

Just got back tonight from 2 days of Pheasant hunting in Garner. Yesterday was brutal, 35-45 MPH, saw birds but only managed one. Today winds were more manageable and we had 5 by 12:00 and had to hit the road. Quite a bit of crops still in, we will be back in december for late season stuff.

Good luck to all!

BHS