2006 Waterfowl Migration Report Update

Quicky report….

Last week with the wind we did Well to Execlent!!! Lots of bird moving down the river Wednesday and Thursday……The wind kept them off the big water and into our (and everyone else’s) dekes.

This weekend I was deer hunting, but reports from the marsh were down right poor…..sunny skies and no wind, birds are here but never moved out of the closed areas .

Did a quick hunt this morning…..got beat to MY spot……ended up having the slowest shoot of the year……5 shots and only 2 mallards .

Colder weather expected for the end of the week, should start things up again for the rest of the season!!!

since the mallards are on lock down in summer temps went and scouted a spot in minn. for some divers lots of birds in the area but only manged 1 short of a limit. it was fun though

since the mallards are on lock down in summer temps went and scouted a spot in minn. for some divers lots of birds in the area but only manged 1 short of a limit. it was fun though

ck out the colors on this mounter

ck out the colors on this mounter

That is a awesome duck!

That is a awesome duck!

That looks like a nice bufflehead!

I miss diver hunting.. not much meat to those little guys but they look really cool and they are not decoy shy. Mallards, pintails, and teal here and there are the only things finding my boat. I am still seeing the occasional wood duck but cant hit them for some reason.

I have seen way more pintails this year than I have in any year past in Minnesota, but the mallards are seriously lacking in numbers compared to normal. It almost seems like their flyway shifted?

That looks like a nice bufflehead!

I miss diver hunting.. not much meat to those little guys but they look really cool and they are not decoy shy. Mallards, pintails, and teal here and there are the only things finding my boat. I am still seeing the occasional wood duck but cant hit them for some reason.

I have seen way more pintails this year than I have in any year past in Minnesota, but the mallards are seriously lacking in numbers compared to normal. It almost seems like their flyway shifted?

Mallards have been fine down here, normal to above I would say. The one thing that has been up is Gads. Seems each year over the past 3 or 4 we have had more and more gads.

Woodies were WAY down for us this year. I have only seen two confirmed pinnies this year, but I don’t see many usually.

Mallards have been fine down here, normal to above I would say. The one thing that has been up is Gads. Seems each year over the past 3 or 4 we have had more and more gads.

Woodies were WAY down for us this year. I have only seen two confirmed pinnies this year, but I don’t see many usually.

Moss Boss… It sounds like you have my ducks. We usually get quite a few gads and wigeons around here. I havent seen any number of widgeons… and no gads.

I wonder if that cold snap pushed the birds a little further south than usual?

Moss Boss… It sounds like you have my ducks. We usually get quite a few gads and wigeons around here. I havent seen any number of widgeons… and no gads.

I wonder if that cold snap pushed the birds a little further south than usual?

OK KIDS! The big push is here! The NW winds moved a ton of birds into the area. At 12:00 yesterday I was getting calls from Grand forks ND, Brainerd Mn, and St cloud talking about birds moving into the area.

Last night my scouting trip took me from the Missippi around anoka across to Stcloud and down to Montrose. I found a ton of geese and Mallards all holding around fields.

This am I scouted from Montrose into New hope. Same thing!

I will be making calls to Appelton and Alex today. I will let you know what I hear. I assume the same will hold true!

OK KIDS! The big push is here! The NW winds moved a ton of birds into the area. At 12:00 yesterday I was getting calls from Grand forks ND, Brainerd Mn, and St cloud talking about birds moving into the area.

Last night my scouting trip took me from the Missippi around anoka across to Stcloud and down to Montrose. I found a ton of geese and Mallards all holding around fields.

This am I scouted from Montrose into New hope. Same thing!

I will be making calls to Appelton and Alex today. I will let you know what I hear. I assume the same will hold true!

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OK KIDS! The big push is here!

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I could not agree more
Unfortunately for me, my northern Minnesota hunting may have come to an end.
The Blue Bills and big-dog Mallards have dispersed across most of minnesota. The largest concentrations appear to still be well up north, but the ice is changing that.
I have been focusing on big water divers, in the Winnie area, for the past few weeks. Hunting has been fantastic
The tight ice-up that hit that area the week of October 30 thru November 4 had most of my best boat landings closed up solid
We were still able to get on some of the big bodies of water, but doing so normally included some rough and tough boat rides to reach our destinations.
Every time that we have put forth the effort to get to the good spot, we have benefitted huge
November 5 thru 9 weather pretty much opened everything back up, until November 10 and things snapped hard again.
On Saturday I had to break the thickest ice ever (all the way across the lake) and I’m sure I will not be getting back into that lake again this year.
Last Friday (November 10)I saw the first real big rafts of Bills showing up. The Mergansers and Goldeneyes, Redheads are finally here in large numbers too. But holy crap, where did all of these Swans come from?
I will try to add photos and additional infromation soon.
Hey Chriss, I think the time has come for us to research some of those NW Metro haunts that we have discussd
cheers

Quote:

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OK KIDS! The big push is here!

---

I could not agree more
Unfortunately for me, my northern Minnesota hunting may have come to an end.
The Blue Bills and big-dog Mallards have dispersed across most of minnesota. The largest concentrations appear to still be well up north, but the ice is changing that.
I have been focusing on big water divers, in the Winnie area, for the past few weeks. Hunting has been fantastic
The tight ice-up that hit that area the week of October 30 thru November 4 had most of my best boat landings closed up solid
We were still able to get on some of the big bodies of water, but doing so normally included some rough and tough boat rides to reach our destinations.
Every time that we have put forth the effort to get to the good spot, we have benefitted huge
November 5 thru 9 weather pretty much opened everything back up, until November 10 and things snapped hard again.
On Saturday I had to break the thickest ice ever (all the way across the lake) and I’m sure I will not be getting back into that lake again this year.
Last Friday (November 10)I saw the first real big rafts of Bills showing up. The Mergansers and Goldeneyes, Redheads are finally here in large numbers too. But holy crap, where did all of these Swans come from?
I will try to add photos and additional infromation soon.
Hey Chriss, I think the time has come for us to research some of those NW Metro haunts that we have discussd
cheers

Spent the weekend in just those areas! The big greenies are there!

Spent the weekend in just those areas! The big greenies are there!

We need some weather to get the river rockin again …Birds are touchy and un-commitive (is that a word?).

We were out today and shot some birds, but not anything like it should be this time of year

here’s one of the nicest widgeon I’ve ever seen….sprig and all.

once we start breakin ice, we’ll start shootin birds again…….hopefully before MN season closes!!!

We need some weather to get the river rockin again …Birds are touchy and un-commitive (is that a word?).

We were out today and shot some birds, but not anything like it should be this time of year

here’s one of the nicest widgeon I’ve ever seen….sprig and all.

once we start breakin ice, we’ll start shootin birds again…….hopefully before MN season closes!!!

beautiful widgeon ikilled my mallards yesterday on 7 but it took a while…did notice lots of birds in the sky after hrs—had the chance to watch cause i had 10 dozen deeks out day before i spent 8 hrs on the big water for a can and a buff—-very slow

beautiful widgeon ikilled my mallards yesterday on 7 but it took a while…did notice lots of birds in the sky after hrs—had the chance to watch cause i had 10 dozen deeks out day before i spent 8 hrs on the big water for a can and a buff—-very slow

Quote:

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We need some weather to get the river rockin again …Birds are touchy and un-commitive (is that a word?).

We were out today and shot some birds, but not anything like it should be this time of year
here’s one of the nicest widgeon I’ve ever seen….sprig and all.

once we start breakin ice, we’ll start shootin birds again…….hopefully before MN season closes!!!

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Great Widgeon. I got one like it on my wall, possibly my favorite duck. I think they look cool as hell.

Quote:

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We need some weather to get the river rockin again …Birds are touchy and un-commitive (is that a word?).

We were out today and shot some birds, but not anything like it should be this time of year
here’s one of the nicest widgeon I’ve ever seen….sprig and all.

once we start breakin ice, we’ll start shootin birds again…….hopefully before MN season closes!!!

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Great Widgeon. I got one like it on my wall, possibly my favorite duck. I think they look cool as hell.

i agree. i tink they are a very under-appreciated, under-rated bird. everyone talks about how pintails and cans are the birds to get. ill take one of thos widgeon just as fast as a big bull or a sprig.

i agree. i tink they are a very under-appreciated, under-rated bird. everyone talks about how pintails and cans are the birds to get. ill take one of thos widgeon just as fast as a big bull or a sprig.

Beauty of a bird!! Beauty of a picture

Gundy

Beauty of a bird!! Beauty of a picture

Gundy

OK here’s the report to get everyones weekend rolling.

There are still a great number of birds around. The past few days have locked up all the small stuff and moved the birds.

Big water and moving water are where you will track down the birds. Most of what I saw yesterday seemed to relating to fields. Big water around tillable acerage held the majority. (Good numbers on Pelican.)

Bird: LOTS of Mallards with a few decent sized groups of Divers were spotted. And everyone knows the Geese are still thick.

Good luck and rip em up. This could very well be my last hunt of the year. My little girl is getting ready to make her first apperance and I don’t want to be late!