Duck hunting 2023

Did the general waterfowl opener start today? Any field/pond reports?

It did. It’s really quiet in here. Thinking people must be leaving the forum ? I heard probably 200 shots from a few local hay fields while I was bow hunting. Shots rang for about a hour yesterday morning. And I just ran and got a coffee and the boys are parked back in the fields

I just looked back and last year the waterfowl thread thread was 2 pages long. Is there really no one duck hunting??

Got out this morning. Way less ducks than the youth hunt. Saw quite a few hunters out while driving around also. Too early for migration.

We were out Saturday and Sunday and I would say the hunting wasn’t too bad considering our two best spots are bone dry.Mostly bluewings and a few wood ducks. Did not see many mallards at all. Hunting pressure wasn’t too bad considering the lack of water in southwest Minnesota. My sixtieth straight opener so happy to still be able to get out.

Second year in a row I did not go. My old group had decent luck nothing to brag about, that’s for sure.

Bearcat89 wrote:

It’s really quiet in here. Thinking people must be leaving the forum ?

I hope not. Maybe with waterfowl opener, small game and archery deer just opening and some early fall fishing maybe everybody is busy.

John Rasmussen wrote:

I hope not. Maybe with waterfowl opener, small game and archery deer just opening and some early fall fishing maybe everybody is busy.

Possible. The waterfowl opener seems very early to me. I haven’t hunted for ducks in about 5 years now but the first Sat in October seems like a better start date than Sept 23. Maybe these annual summer droughts are playing a role too? Some of the ponds and shallow marsh areas have completely dried up. Half the mallards I saw while I was fishing had no plumage. Not sure how you’d identify hens versus drakes right now.

I see its supposed to reach 80 degrees again next weekend now too. Its still summer out there.

Hunted like we normally do for opener near Deer River. Lots of teal still around and lots of wild rice for them to eat. My father in law and I shot a limit on Saturday morning in an hour and were the first boat off the slew. 10 teal, 1 wigeon, 1 ringneck. Sunday we had motor issues so we were not able to get to or spot from the day before. Ended up scratching together 2 mallards, 2 woodies and a teal about 50 yards from the boat launch. Couple game wardens walked out and checked us on Sunday without any issue.

I did not go out this year. Decided to get in a round of golf instead. I checked in with a few friends who did make it out in central Minnesota and they said their hunts were rather poor with not many birds being seen. The few they got were all wood ducks. They said the amount of shooting around them was way down. Lots of rice in the area this year so not sure if that was a factor or not. It just seems like there is not near the local breeding population in the area as there use to be. A lot of the northern flights seem to have shifted more to the West. The northern flights that do seem to pass through Minnesota do so really late each year and tend to pass thru rather fast. Good luck to all of you the remainder of the season. Shoot straight and often !!!

Couple pictures

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6 man limit on Saturday and although I did not go Sunday the group shot a 5 man limit on Sunday. Mostly all ringers with a few teal and redheads mixed in. Lots of people hunting around us.

Never made it out, up on Vermillion fishing instead this year but son and his buddies were out by Lac la Parle and did ok on some private slough, mostly Blue Wing, couple Mallards. Normally make a run out to Nodak for the Non-Res opener but gonna wait until later this year, tired of shooting little ducks in the heat.

Parking lots were full with lots of shooting by the WMA by my house this weekend and even this morning, with poor results. Talked to 2 groups that each shot 1, and should have had their limits

saturday was great, sunday not so much. was kind of shocking with so many less birds around than there were during teal season. shot mostly bluewing and greenwings with a few geese added in. water levels also probably dropped 6-12″ in the 3 weeks between teal and general opener.

Got 4 Saturday and 5 Sunday. Definitely not the shot I once was. Didnt see many mallards. Gotta young drake bufflehead dont ever remember getting one so early.

John Rasmussen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
It’s really quiet in here. Thinking people must be leaving the forum ?

I hope not. Maybe with waterfowl opener, small game and archery deer just opening and some early fall fishing maybe everybody is busy.

If you pay close attention to fishing and hunting forums, lots of the guys that chirped in with lots of knowledge are now gone. The other pointless threads are the same 13 of us

Bearcat89 wrote:

If you pay close attention to fishing and hunting forums, lots of the guys that chirped in with lots of knowledge are now gone.

I think you’re right. There is an article in the Duluth News Tribune about a week ago about the rapid decline of waterfowl hunters not only in MN, but across the rest of the country and in Canada. We’ve lost over 50% of them in the last 24 years alone.

Sale of state waterfowl hunting stamps, required of all duck and goose hunters, fell to 62,686 in 2021, less than half the 128,924 stamps sold in 1999 and down from the modern high of nearly 150,000 in 1980. As baby boomers get older. the number of hunters is plummeting in Minnesota, Wisconsin and nationally.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/northland-outdoors/as-another-waterfowl-season-begins-more-hunters-are-aging-out

They say hunter numbers are declining but im not seeing that around here. I drove by a couple public hunting areas on my way north last Friday and saw quite a few guys camped at landings already waiting to be the first out there on Saturday. Lots of pressure on the birds around here. I stopped and talked to a local farmer I know about accessing his land and he said I was about the 20th person to stop and ask in the last week..
Maybe in certain areas it’s true but not from what I’ve seen in east central mn.

Bearcat89 wrote:

If you pay close attention to fishing and hunting forums, lots of the guys that chirped in with lots of knowledge are now gone. The other pointless threads are the same 13 of us

I guess I would agree to a point. Some are still around and only engage in certain situations. Randy for instance he is still around just chooses to be selective in his posts.

There was a ton of shooting on the river near my house saturday morning. Not sure if they had any luck, but that was more shooting than I have heard in quite a while. Even when the goose opener happened.

Saturday morning was decent for us, with 14 mixed bag birds for 4 guys. Should have had more if it weren’t for opening morning rust. Quite a bit of shooting for the first hour or two, then quieted down after that. Sunday was complete opposite. It was dead the whole time. Very little flying and very little shooting around.

Got our birds pretty quick Saturday and pretty slow Sunday. Saw lots of ducks scouting but they were very concentrated this year. Lots of old reliable spots were pretty empty on our scouting mission on Friday.

Another great opener in the books. Only one I have missed one in 25 years was for grandpa’s funeral. He was an avid duck hunter and I am sure he was rolling over in his grave knowing his son and grandsons missed an opener to pay our respects. Some of his ashes went to his favorite duck marsh.

I used to go a lot more. Now I’m definitely not going out in 70 degree temps.

Duck season doesn’t start for quite a while for me. The hardcore guys that I run with don’t even hunt the opener due to the idiots out packing spots 10 minutes before light on the river. I love late season breaking ice setting up by islands with current and not a soul for miles.

Hunted Red think this was my 42 year up there and 36 years duck hunting up there. we did well lots of birds moving. Seen one Moose a lot more tracks, deer are loving that beans are up that far. Been a few years now of rotating rice and beans.

Wont be back up till ice fishing time to start to sit more bow stands.

My kid and his buddy had a quick morning today!

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Fleet farm has steel shot 10% off. Same shells I bought 2 weeks ago went up 8 dollars a box.

Jackfish wrote:

My kid and his buddy had a quick morning today!

That is awesome! Good for your kid and his buddy.

It was pretty slow here in wcmn this morning. Only one flock of woodies and a handful of geese flying by.