Canada report

It was a great trip, but not the numbers we were hoping for. The weather was a little too warm, a lot of fields not harvested yet and a heck of a lot of fields in canola, which geese wont use.

The local birds were very decoy shy and the farmers told us they have been pounded pretty good. No new birds moved down until Thursday night, Friday was our last day. Some large canada geese, hardly any cacklers or snows. We did find one small group of snows and got 11 of them one morning.

The first day my group with me my 2 sons and my nephew was decent. We found a decent wheat field holding geese set up the first morning and got 16 geese and 14 mallards. The boys had fun, the other group only got 3 geese. Day 2,3,4 were very slow with only 1-3 geese each day, but the duck hunting the whole week was very good. Hours and hours and many miles of scouting did not produce much. small batches of geese scattered all over the area we were in. You had to have outstanding cover and a great spread to even get them close and even then a lot of the geese have seen decoys and been shot at so they were very shy.

The night before the last day we found an area with good numbers of new birds and got permission in 2 different fields. Dad’s group of 4 had their limit of canada geese by 9am and we had 6 at that point. We slipped into their fields by 10am. They had the spot on the spot, the geese just had to be in that field for whatever reason. By noon quitting time we were 2 short of our limit on geese and 16 mallards. Great way to end the week. We ended up with the most ducks we have ever got on this annual trip and 86 geese. The boys had a ton of fun and burnt a lot of powder, we all enjoyed the week very much. Here are some pics. If you are heading to south west Manitoba this week you timed it right the new birds were coming in like mad.

Looks like a couple nice piles Way to drop some birds in the tough conditions. Do you guys typically get into the mallards or do you really focus on the canadians?

Sticker: I went up for the week of September 24. Our results were the same as yours. Duck numbers were not there in our bag, but dark geese were up. All local birds and decoy shy by the time we started. Crops of the same condition as you describe (unharvested). Lots of rain during the week too.
Going up for another week on 10/13. Should be all new birds. Hoping more crops harvested and fields open to hunt. I’d love to see some dry weather this time too. I took 1/2 of Manitoba home with me on my truck/trailer last time.

We really are there for the geese, but mallards decoying into the goose decoys are fair game. In Manitoba the first few weeks you can only hunt dark geese until noon. After lunch I scout for new fields for the next day and some of the guys hit the pot holes for ducks. The area we hunt is loaded with pot holes and they typically hold tons of ducks.

A lot of the fields were being harvested the second half of the week. The farmers were very busy. New birds were pouring in on our last day. Your next trip should be awesome!! There is something about the soil up there when it rains. The fields instantly become pure grease and you will never get all of it off your truck

Awesome report, Canada waterfowl is on our wish list

This is definitely a bucket list item for me. I’ve always wanted to go up there. Looks like a great time. Congrats!!

I agree with everything you’ve said Sticker. I’ve been going to Manitoba for the last 12 years – twice each year (two different weeks). I would not miss it for the world. I’ve all but given up on duck hunting in MN now – for a few reasons: 1) I have plenty of birds to eat; 2) I just can’t hunt here from a mental perspective – once you think about what you see and do up there – you just can’t; and, 3) I hit it bow hunting pretty hard once I’m back in the states (before gun starts), so I have little time left.
For those that have not tried and and you’re thinking about it, you just have to pack up your truck and gear and hit it yourself. That’s what me and my buddy did 12 years ago. We just planned to waste a whole week and a bunch of money scouting for prime ground and learning the lay of the land (and laws). Once we did that, we’ve been going back ever since. It gets less expensive after the first yeat or so too because you start to find what you need close to your base. Then you can save on fuel money by not having to drive for hours and hours each day.
….Next week can’t come fast enough though. It should be great!

Gotta love a tall stack of canadians We’ve been doing NoDak for I believe 11 years now. I have been trying to convince the guys that we need to go to Canada, but they are less receptive. NoDak has been great to us, several different large areas that we have hunted; but the amount of posted land and hunter numbers/rhetoric there have certainly changed over the last decade. I am also very intrigued by other opportunities that parts of Canada provide (i.e. specks, more snows, plus the canadians and mallards). Have either of you guys gone to Saskatchewan?

I have not hunted there, but my buddy (the guy I hunt Manitoba with most) hunted there for 10 years before sticking to Manitoba. No real reason, just don’t have to travel that far to get the birds. There are really no specs in SW Manitoba though, so if you’re looking for those, you need to go west.

I agree, I have never seen a spec in Manitoba. The snow goose numbers are also higher in Sach, but it is quite a bit farther from MN to Sach than Mani.

I have buddies that go to Sach and do very well on snows, but less on Canadas

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There are really no specs in SW Manitoba though, so if you’re looking for those, you need to go west.

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Right. Thats why I am really hoping that if the guys heed my direction, that we do go to sask.

Without getting too lengthy I should have prefaced that post with the fact that we grew up chasing canadians (the big guys, lessers, and true hutchinsons) off the refuge for many many years. First day of early season to last day of the late season, we got after it. We have some great land to hunt with great landowner relationships. NoDak is the trip to experience duck numbers and pile up greenheads. Like I said, the landscape has changed, cropping is changing, posting is changing, guides leasing up land, and so are the hunters that can’t accept not hunting a field cause we slept in the truck in the field on the X while they went to the bar. We have changed locations in NoDak before, and could do it again (which very likely would change the attributes as it has before), it just gets harder to leave the friends and connections made. But man, I know canada is something special as well and I am just itching to explore and just do it.

A quick Canada report: I just got back after just 2 days in Manitoba. We hunt SW Manitoba about 50-60 miles west of Brandon (a surrounding 60 mile radius of that area). Went up Sunday afternoon, came home yesterday. If you know the drive, it’s 10.5 hours. So if you’re computing it, you can tell we did not hunt. The reason: NO BIRDS! After what seemed like 400 more miles of scouting around that area, we found litterally no birds. There were many many many more on opener there. Now the place is like Dakota County, MN in terms of numbers. We debated about heading up to Dauphin Lake (another 200 m north), but decided the weather forecast was too nice, so we decided to come back home to bowhunt in MN.
The plan is to go back again in antoher 2+/- weeks when the weather gets worse. The CO’s told us no other birds have come down yet and all the locals dropped down to the Whitewater or into North Dakota (Devils area now has a lot of birds there). The US Fish Cop at the border told us a party just came back through and they had 9 ducks and 20 geese for 5 guys (BAD HUNTING)! It got down to 24 at night and up to 45 daytime. It’s still way too nice! So now I’m heading to a treestand for the rest of the week. …Can’t waste a weeks vacation!
Splitshot

That is a bummer, but at least you are still hunting!

Sorry to hear that. But atleast you are still making the most of your week of vacation. Not an easy call considering the amount of money and time that is put into going up that far. Hitting duck camp between the time the locals have left and before a new push of birds has arrived is not a very fun time; been there Good luck bow hunting this week and I hope you guys can hit it when a good flight of birds makes it to your area