Since I do not do late season Goose, my season is officially over here in MN and it’s time to reflect. I figured it was a good time to hear some of the funny stories or reports from the year. After reading reports from multiple hunters on this forum and others, it seemed to be a mixed success year. Some hunters say it was the worst they’ve seen in years and others say it was one of the best. For me, it was easily one of the best.
My season started out in western MN for opener. 9 of us packed up our gear and headed out there for the weekend. Opening morning all 9 of us were limited out by 9am, mostly teal. Sunday was a little slower for us but we managed to shoot around 35-40 birds. From there, we all knew it would be tough to beat those two days.
After opener, I focused my attention to the Mississippi river from P2 all the way to P6. I did spend one day in central MN with just 1 bird to show…not great. Each weekend during the season, a buddy and I would head to a section of the river and almost always manage close to a 2 man limit. One hunt specifically, will stick in my mind forever. We decided to head to the river on November 6th at about 12:30pm. The first couple hours were slow with a few birds flying but nothing to commit. Once 3pm rolled around, the sky turned black with Mallards…The flocks came in by the dozens. We were in a small backwater slough and the slough eventually became completely filled with birds. We managed to shoot our limit and we decided to sit and watch. We stayed there until at least an hour after shooting time and they just kept coming. I would conservatively say there was close to 1,000 Mallards in the slough, we were in awe. There were birds trying to land in our spread while we were out picking up in the dark, lights on and all.
One other trip that comes to mind is a buddy and I decided to hunt a small section of river in the far south metro one morning. We took my canoe out and paddled up river a bit and set up. Right at shooting light, a Drake and Hen Mallard came in and we dropped both. I walked out to grab them, rang both necks and tossed them in the canoe behind me. We go back to our positions and wait for the next round of birds, me in the canoe and my buddy in a chair next to it. About 20 minutes rolls by and my buddy notices the Drake Mallard stand up in the canoe, but he doesn’t tell me. The Mallard waddled up behind me and tried biting me in the back! I freak out and almost go for a swim, all while my buddy can hardly breathe from laughing so hard! I quickly grab it and ring it like I’ve never rung a bird before. We go back to hunting and managed a few more birds, but not the best day by any means.
All in all, the year was a great success. I have one beautiful Drake Woodie at the taxidermist also. We had our share of accidents, even one that landed a buddy in the hospital with a massive cut on his hand that required 12+ stitches. He is a member here, maybe he will chime in 
. Let’s hear some other success or funny stories from the rest of you!