Brainerd Waterfowl Opener

I spent this past opener of waterfowl season much like I have since I was the tender age of twelve. Every year about ten of us will gather on a private slough near Brainerd to enjoy the pleasures of waterfowl hunting. The slough hosts a healthy local duck and goose population and occasionally will attract migrant visitors.

Saturday was warmer than I prefer for sake of comfort, but we had a good overcast with a favorable wind for our spread.
In the past about 75% of our bag is comprised of mallards with the remainder wood ducks and teal. This year we did not see the mallard flocks as we have in the past. We did see more wood ducks than I can remember. We don’t target wood duck, so we don’t come equipped with calls or decoys. I would be interested to get insight from someone that targets wood ducks to hear how they respond to calling and decoys. All the wood ducks we take are by pass shooting.

We found the geese responded very well to calling and their behavior indicated we were on home water for them. We found the ducks to be rather skittish. They were closely examining our spread and didn’t respond very well to aggressive calling. I found the best results to be with a mix of feeding and greeting calls. When I would hit them with a high ball it wasn’t doing anything to enhance my situation.

Sunday was much slower for us, but that is typical of this spot. I had my morning hunt shortened with the discovery my hunting jacket isn’t as rain proof as it was last year.
I’m looking forward to two straight weekends at the end of the month hunting hear Appleton, MN. I hope the fowl cooperate.

Sully