2019 Waterfowl Reports

  • sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1880386

    My group got 4 ducks and a goose. I expected better to be honest with the ideal conditions. Not sure what to do with the goose. They really aren’t edible…

    Why did you shoot the goose then? Such a waste flame

    Andrew Pansch
    Posts: 107
    #1880397

    We had 6 guys limit out in one area and the 6 others about half our limits. Mix of woodies, teal and some mallards. Lots of woodies around which is nice to see

    Dusty Gesinger
    Minnetrista, Minnesota
    Posts: 2417
    #1880423

    I think goose is delicious if prepared properly. Only about 40-50 great options.

    MNdrifter
    Posts: 1671
    #1880434

    Saturday was pretty slow before we got rained out at 8:30. Good thing we were only 67 steps from the garage. Got a couple wood ducks Sunday. And a bonus goose while doing homework with the kids in the kitchen. I left decoys in to come in for breakfast, figured I’d go take them out this afternoon after football game. After breakfast a dozen or so geese landed in the decoys. Did moheakan sneak on them. Got one.

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    Smackem33
    Posts: 149
    #1880439

    9 yesterday 4 today. All woodys in east Bethel

    sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1880451

    A lot slower today, 1 teal 1 woody. Very few ducks moving.

    Charlie W
    TRF / Pool 3 / Grand Rapids, MN / SJU
    Posts: 1208
    #1880455

    We hunted a flooded meadow and did pretty well this morning. Lots of puddle ducks and lots of geese around for us this morning. Mallards would not finish how we wanted them to so we took what we could early on then packed up.

    Jeff mattingly
    Lonsdale, Mn
    Posts: 515
    #1880462

    Shot a five man limit of teal, mallards, and wood ducks on opener near Fergus falls. Today we did a field hunt on a wheat field near Breckenridge and shot 40 geese and 2 mallards. Great start to the year.

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    tornadochaser
    Posts: 756
    #1880505

    Shot a five man limit of teal, mallards, and wood ducks on opener near Fergus falls. Today we did a field hunt on a wheat field near Breckenridge and shot 40 geese and 2 mallards. Great start to the year.

    14+ guns in the field must have sounded like a machine gun shoot when big flocks came in.

    404 ERROR
    MN
    Posts: 3918
    #1880517

    Opener was slower than normal, but we managed a few limits of birds both days. We didn’t see nearly the amount of birds moving compared to years past in the same area. We actually did much better yesterday than Saturday in the same slough. Heading back out west in 2 weeks, hope the water comes down a bit(not holding my breath) and more birds move in.

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1880518

    Our group of three shot our limit Saturday morning in SW Minnesota. We had some storm action roll through but hunkered in and I think we missed the worst of it. Mix of woodies and teal, one mallard.

    Macy (my lab) did well on her 3rd season. Made most of the retrieves on her own, the rest she made either with hand signals or throwing a few rocks. She also had a double retrieve (with two ducks in her mouth) and found another one that sailed into the cattails.

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    JEREMY
    BP
    Posts: 3971
    #1880525

    Not sure what to do with the goose. They really aren’t edible…

    Apperently people have different tastes. I would take a goose over any kind of duck any day.

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1880527

    Opener was slower than normal, but we managed a few limits of birds both days. We didn’t see nearly the amount of birds moving compared to years past in the same area. We actually did much better yesterday than Saturday in the same slough. Heading back out west in 2 weeks, hope the water comes down a bit(not holding my breath) and more birds move in.

    We thought the same thing. Less flocks of ducks in general, not by a lot but slightly, and less shooting from nearby slews overall. We felt fortunate to limit out.

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1880545

    Sunday was slower as is typical. But we still shot 7 ducks and two geese. The geese were fun as they each decoyed separately.

    Should also mention that we spread my Dads ashes in the duck slew. He passed away earlier this year, but had been going down to the same spot since he was a kid basically and it was one of his favorite places.

    A few more pics of the weekend:

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    MNdrifter
    Posts: 1671
    #1880661

    Cool pic of dog @lindyrig79! Sorry about your dad. That sucks. But sounds like you will be with him every time you step into that swamp. I’m sure he’s happy about that. waytogo

    Charlie W
    TRF / Pool 3 / Grand Rapids, MN / SJU
    Posts: 1208
    #1880708

    A friend and I made it out this morning before class. Got 12 ducks and 2 geese before 8:30… and we made it back in time for class. If you can find sheetwater this weekend, get permission. They want it badly.

    sticker
    StillwaterMN/Ottertail county
    Posts: 4418
    #1880709

    A friend and I made it out this morning before class. Got 12 ducks and 2 geese before 8:30… and we made it back in time for class. If you can find sheetwater this weekend, get permission. They want it badly.

    waytogo waytogo waytogo

    Hunting24seven
    Posts: 102
    #1880724

    good number of birds in west central mn. Saw a ton of teal friday which seemed to half disappear come opener but there were plenty buzzing around all weekend. Lots of woodies which hasnt been the case the last couple of years for us. Overall was a fun weekend even with the storms, being too hot, and too many mosquitos whistling . A LOT of water this year compared to years past.

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1883111

    Any migration reports? The rain has kinda sidelined me along with a bunch of other stuff.

    Looking like a NW blow later this week and hopefully I’ll have a report soon

    ClownColor
    Inactive
    The Back 40
    Posts: 1955
    #1883113

    Nothing around Brainerd Aitkin area.

    gim
    Plymouth, MN
    Posts: 17834
    #1883124

    I was in central North Dakota all last week. It’s no wonder I haven’t been seeing any in central MN. They’re all out west!

    404 ERROR
    MN
    Posts: 3918
    #1883156

    Was out in the Big Stone/Traverse area and it started pretty dang slow. Scouted about 15-20 different areas on Saturday and found only 1 promising area. Went back for an evening hunt and scratched out 5, mostly divers. Hit the same area in the morning and scratched out 14 by 11am and headed in. Lots of divers and teal, hardly any Mallards in the area. Majority of birds shot were teal, redheads, buffies and ringers.

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1883206

    Was out in the Big Stone/Traverse area and it started pretty dang slow. Scouted about 15-20 different areas on Saturday and found only 1 promising area. Went back for an evening hunt and scratched out 5, mostly divers. Hit the same area in the morning and scratched out 14 by 11am and headed in. Lots of divers and teal, hardly any Mallards in the area. Majority of birds shot were teal, redheads, buffies and ringers.

    Nice report Merican. Just goes to show how much scouting a person can and should do to be successful. If only we had unlimited time….. grin

    Guess the benefit of some nasty weather moving in later this week is hopefully it brings some ducks with it.

    tornadochaser
    Posts: 756
    #1883232

    Was out in the Big Stone/Traverse area and it started pretty dang slow. Scouted about 15-20 different areas on Saturday and found only 1 promising area. Went back for an evening hunt and scratched out 5, mostly divers. Hit the same area in the morning and scratched out 14 by 11am and headed in. Lots of divers and teal, hardly any Mallards in the area. Majority of birds shot were teal, redheads, buffies and ringers.

    Mallards are in the flooded crop fields.

    Calendar birds showing up yesterday in SD. seeing more divers, some lesser canadas, more gadwall. Specks flying in the moonlight last night.

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1883909

    Anybody else getting excited about the forecast? Stiff wind, snow and precipitation for the next few days. Heard 2nd hand that some more divers, mainly ring-bills are moving in to the north central part of the state. Hope that’s true.

    ShldHveBenHreYserdy
    MN
    Posts: 190
    #1883911

    Anybody else getting excited about the forecast? Stiff wind, snow and precipitation for the next few days. Heard 2nd hand that some more divers, mainly ring-bills are moving in to the north central part of the state. Hope that’s true.

    Big Rice lake Refugue just south of mcgregor, had a duck count of 200,000 birds but that was a good week ago or so; i’m interested to see the DNR’s weekly report, usually released thursday afternoons. Some quick checking on the DU migration reports also show an increase of numbers coming in, ND and Southern manitoba had some stiff north winds the last couple of days and this new weather, should, by rights, bring more in…

    lindyrig79
    Forest Lake / Lake Mille Lacs
    Posts: 5949
    #1884338

    Hunted near Aitkin this morning. Quite a few ring-neck ducks flying around between 7-10am. High wind and snow made setting decoys in the dark difficult. Ended up getting 3 ducks including a nice drake GW Teal. Was tough getting ducks to decoy for some reason. Will change a few things up and try again tomorrow

    MNdrifter
    Posts: 1671
    #1884340

    A few northern birds down here by Clearwater. The boy got a triple curl! Wish I could have stayed longer. Only got to hunt a couple hours this morning.

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    basseyes
    Posts: 2569
    #1884345

    Great job kid! Beautiful bird!

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