What are guys doing to extend your season once MN/WI/IA seasons are done??? Got a friend guiding in Texas, another going to Kansas, etc…
Putting some thoughts toward Nebraska… Colorado…and obviously southward. Just curious to see and hear what other opportunities are out there…
Mark
If you’re thinking Nebreska, I’d suggest leaving soon. Got a buddy down in the Southern part of the state hunting cattle ponds and rivers. He says there are lots of birds, but it’s freezing fast.
We’ll be hunting geese into January this year…..and then it’s only two short months until March….my favorite month! 
me and the gf are debating a mexico trip in two years… maybe even a cast and blast deal…probably shoot more ducks down there in a week than up here all year. ide miss the greenheads but it would be cool too shoot some new species. i guess you could say i extend my season a bit because we plan our north dakota trip during the wi split season. dont really have any connections to go anywhere else
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If you’re thinking Nebreska, I’d suggest leaving soon. Got a buddy down in the Southern part of the state hunting cattle ponds and rivers. He says there are lots of birds, but it’s freezing fast.
We’ll be hunting geese into January this year…..and then it’s only two short months until March….my favorite month!
what Jake said me too…
Jake,
Whats in march? 
The mother of all migrations. Millions of snow geese move back north. 20 bird per day limits, sore shoulders, empty pocket books and hardly any other hunters. It’s a magical time of the year. 
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Jake,
Whats in march?
March (and the first part of April) in the Dakotas can be absolutely mind blowing when you invest the time and money to figure it out and do it right! A waterfowling opportunity like never seen before in the modern era! With the boom hatch this year the spring flight should be incredible.
All these hunts took place in less than 2hrs!
Jake,
Are you guys shooting the Blackcloud? Got some reviews from the boys in SD, they are doing nothing but raving about it.
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Jake,
Are you guys shooting the Blackcloud? Got some reviews from the boys in SD, they are doing nothing but raving about it.
Not Jake, but I have been shooting BlackCloud at ducks for part of the past two seasons. I thought it was a gimmick, the little belted pellets and new wad, but it really isn’t. Wound channels are MUCH more deadly with the special pellets, and the wad seems to hold patterns tighter, though I haven’t done it on a patterning board. They are more expensive, but we have seen far less need for waterswats with BlackCloud, which cuts the cost some. For ducks that are coing right into the decoys and you are close to the dekes, I don’t think you need it and it rips up the ducks if you centerpunch them. But if you are pass-shooting, or need to sit a ways back from your decoys, it is some really good stuff. It’s not Hevishot as far as killing ducks GYD, but it is certainly better than regular steel from what me and my partners have seen over the past couple of seasons.
I have to imagine shooting a giant pile of white birds like that would take alot of shells, so it is going to be up to each person to decide if the extra expense is worth the money to them. IMO, it is a better shell than regular steel.
I shoot way too many bullets to be able to afford black cloud. I shoot the cheapest ammo I can buy for ducks….but we rarely take shots over 25-30yds, rarely hunt big water, and never hunt divers….and we have good dogs that will chase down cripples, so we don’t end up swattin too much.
3″ kent BB’s for snows. 
I’ve heard good things though.
My buddies who are pass shooting on public ground are loving the stuff. They said the amount of sailers on late season geese has almost went to none. Very rare anyway. They are shooting 3.5″ BBB, I guess a 60-70 yard kill shot is not uncommon.
Now what do you do with all the meat from that many birds ?? seeing you have to keep a wing or the head on them to transport.
The first spring I lived in NE SD, I shot 60 + snow geese. I ate so much goose I swear I was growing an oiler on my 
Thankfully, I found out the local food pantry at the Salvation Army would take donations of wild game. I just had to breast out the meat and freeze.
Bird hitch and a couple big coolers.
In 2006 (?) my buddies did a 126 and 262 back to back days…..decided that was probably enough, so they just mounded the full birds into the back of two pickups and came home. That got a lot of funny looks going through the cities on I94!
We eat it all over the summer and always have an empty freezer by Oct. 1. A lot gets made into jerky, but I like it on the grill too.
For those of you that haven’t done Snows I HIGHLY recommend putting it on your to do list. Last week of Feb, My buddies and I start following them from southern Missouri all the way up. I usually join them for the last 3 days in missouri, then drive back breast the birds, relax for a day then head to Nebraska for a week. Then they continue to SD, which I usually take a week off for and join them for the last 2-3 days there. I let my buddies do there own thin in ND as I don’t need to be yelled at by the wife any more by that point i the season.
They make great sticks, jerky, and AMAZING BRATS! you would be shocked how come September you are starting to ration what remains of 1,000 birds. 
By the way Jake how do you like that bird hitch? I as thinking about picking it up this year.
My buddies will only shoot black Cloud For late season birds, because it’s just too expensive to do a season, and don’t even bother with it for Snows. They swear by it, and if it were cheaper I know they would only shoot black cloud. but over $20 a box and for example Nebraska is usually a 2-3 Case trip per person. Um WAY too expensive.
ive had a patternmaster since before the stuff even came out. ive had such good luck with the pm i havent taken it out to even try the black cloud though a regular choke tube. im sure its good. but i can get 2 boxes of kent for the price of one black cloud. the flightstopper pellets dont look that impressive if you cut a shell open if you ask me anyways.
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ive had a patternmaster since before the stuff even came out. ive had such good luck with the pm i havent taken it out to even try the black cloud though a regular choke tube. im sure its good. but i can get 2 boxes of kent for the price of one black cloud. the flightstopper pellets dont look that impressive if you cut a shell open if you ask me anyways.
Where can you get Kent for $9.50 a box these days, or even 11 bucks? The cheapest I have seen Black Cloud this year was $18.95, and the cheapest Kent I saw was $12.95. Gander currently has 3 inch Kent for 15.95 I think. Both for 3 inch shells. Last year I got the Black Cloud for 15 or 16 bucks on sale, but never saw it that cheap this year.
I 100% agree the Flitestopper pellet looks like a complete gimmick, but the autopsy reports on dead ducks show it is not. It makes a heck of a wound channel.
BUT, if you always get close shots I don’t think Black Cloud is needed at all. I certainly don’t use it all the time, but it does work when conditions call for it. I like the Blue Box Federal for cheap shells. Better rounder shot than Expert and runs cleaner in my gun.
Also DO NOT shoot Black cloud with any kind of ported choke. The wad can get stuck in it.
i was getting it for 129 per case shipped to my house off of rogers. i would maybe try it if i goose hunted more, but i think it is over kill for ducks. unless you are the skybusters who i see out there shooting at the ducks next to the airplanes. i can see it for honkers tho…
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unless you are the skybusters who i see out there shooting at the ducks next to the airplanes.
Or unless you have a spot the ducks like but you can’t stand close to the dekes due to knee deep mud no cover, or 6 foot tall cattails or rice, and most shots are at 30-40 yards, or your dog gets old and can’t hunt anymore, and you want them to drop dead on arrival so you don’t lose any, or your shooting divers that like to submarine on impact if they are not dead. There ARE reasons other than skybusting.
To each their own I guess.
Black Cloud does some damage, but for the price difference between Kent and Black Cloud, I’m going to have to stick with Kris on this one.
didnt mean to offend anyone mr moss. im not saying that only sky busters use it. i just think it is way over kill for ducks. have you ever tried a patternmaster? i shoot the extended range choke. i kill a ton of ducks DEAD at 35 40 yards or more even. some guys i hunt with look at me when i dump a duck like i was crazy to even shoot at it. i am not a skybuster but i know i can get away with those shots when most people cant. i used to shoot fiochhis that i got on rogers for 105 shipped to the door but they quit stocking them. i probably shot 10 12 cases in the last 3 4 years and never had a dud or had the bbs rolled out of the barrel. i shot over 3 cases of shells this year. and it was a bad year!
Sounds like you guys need to work on your shooting to use less shells. 
Just joking!!
I have killed ducks at 50 yards + in the early 90’s pass shooting with the horrendous slow steel of that day. I just actually likes anything that ups my odds of a clean kill.
I really could care less what anyone uses. I got out 12 hunts on the river this year so I am probably going 1/2 to 1/3 as much as some of you guys. Everyone’s situations are different, I was just trying to relay some of my experience with Black Cloud over the past 2 years, and when and why someone might use it. I sure as heck am not being paid by Federal so if people think it is too expensive or junk or whatever no worries to me. 
If Hevishot was cheap I would use it 100% of the time. Stuff is awesome.
One of my hunting partners uses a Patternmaster and it is REALLY tight pattern. Would be an option I guess, but much like BlackCloud I don’t think I would want to use it at some places I hunt with tight shooting.
BTW, I would have to shoot 18 boxes of BlackCloud instead of cheap steel to pay for one pattermaster at the extra 20 cents per shell. 
Oh, and here is one wierd advantage I discovered to Black Cloud when you are the only one shooting it. When multiple people are shooting at the same bird, sometimes when you then clean the bird, you find the unique BlackCloud pellets and know you hit it and where. And sometimes when it’s a banded goose and you have the only shots through the chest, you get the band!
Hmmmm…., I should have started a thread on shotshells…
But I have been very entertained and enlightened by the shell conversation. I bought a case of 2 3/4″ Kent and loved the stuff. I had a friend buy me shells from Gander on the way back north and I got 3 1/2″ Kent. I think it a bit of overkill, but I had ’em so I shot ’em. I tried some Black Cloud, but am going to look over the which shell should I use situation for next year later.
Mark
HAHA,
Yeah, sorry Mark for semi-hijacking your thread. Back to regularly scheduled programming.
Boss:
Not any kind of problem at all!!! I wished I had more time to get to the river and play. I let my guys that I am unable to work all the time to take advantage of the duck hunting. When the economy comes back, I would love to take the 2 3/4 shells further south to kill some more ducks/geese and certainly get back to the river and its fantastic environs more often!!!
Mark
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