Category: Wisconsin

Posted By:
webmaster
root

IL/WI Border 12-07-2011 13:13
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I hunt both Northern IL and Southern WI. Normally our season in IL ends around the 15th of December.

I can tell you that in the past 20-years, we freeze out and ducks are gone by the close (except in very limited areas near cooling ponds). Basically anything past Thanksgiving here is a gamble.

So be careful what you wish for. Having days to hunt with ice and no ducks is as bad as closing early and still seeing ducks. Last year with the early snow storms, EVERYTHING was gone by Thanksgiving including the geese.

It’s a dice roll no matter how you look at it. Guess it depends on how you want to roll it.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

12-07-2011 11:50
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Trial Lawyer- I think your idea has merit. My main concern with the later end date and split is if we get a early cold snap, the back waters and small ponds freeze up. Also with a split, when would it be? We have good numbers of birds by the end of October and normally hold them through November with new birds arriving through out that period.

Posted By:
huntingcaliber
Guest

12-06-2011 14:27
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Trial Lawyer, I know that all of my fellow duck hunters in my area would support the cause. We are located in southern Walworth County and would like to see the season open up 3 weeks later with a 10 day split and go through December!! Let me know what we all can do to help??

Posted By:
Trial Lawyer
Web Member

western wisconsin 12-05-2011 15:59
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Every year it’s the same thing for those of us in the northern zone. Duck hunting really starts to pick up after Veterans Day and is closed about 1 1/2 weeks later.

I’ve spent most of my adult life producing and arguing evidence to convince juries and judges about the merits of my client’s case and I think with a coordinated effort, we should be able to overcome the shouting of the “good old boys” and convince the DNR of the merits of having a split season for the northern zone with the season ending in mid-December. If all of us on this list work in a coordinated effort, we should be able to overcome the resistance to change. The dates of the migration have changed and so should our season dates change.

Let me know how many of you think having a split season with a mid-December closure would be a good idea by posting your comments to our list. If we have sufficient interest, it seems to me we could pool our talents and resources to confront the status quo and maybe have our collective voices heard by our decision-makers.

I for one, believe that facts overcome conjecture and science overcomes fiction.

Joel W. Brodd

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Columbia cty 12-05-2011 11:10
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Ended the season with 4 mallards. My dog had a couple great retrieves. Worked some birds in real close and had a good hunt to end 2011. Next year will be more wood duck houses, some habitat work and hopefully some good ducks numbers.

Over all a good year, I didn’t see the numbers the FWS said was out there but I don’t think we get a lot of Migrators where I hunt. New ducks did arrive in good numbers back in October but they did not stick around for very long.

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

12-05-2011 10:55
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Does this mean Webbie is fixing things?!
Kearney got a double post instead of the triple post after mine? 🙂

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Pool 4 Mississipi/ Lake Pepin 12-05-2011 09:30
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 25-30 Degrees – Open Water
Ended the season on Saturday with a friend. We ended up with 3 mallards, 8 Goldeneye and 1 Canada goose. Didnt go Sunday, went to check spot where I could walk in Sunday and saw over 100 mallards sitting. Mallards are here now and season is over.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 12-05-2011 08:54
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Great end to the season, but that is how it has gone for the last 5 years. Last weekend is always the best.

Ducks – mallards everywhere, go figure! Too bad.

Geese – Eau Claire is loaded, Chippewa Falls is loaded, Altoona is loaded, Stanley is loaded, Boyd is loaded…get the hint. Limits in the fields both Saturday and Sunday. Tried a cold field (no geese in it yet) on Saturday and still had 5 shooting opportunities. WOW. Sunday was on the X and got our limit in the first three flocks. Watched a thousand or more pile in the field for the next hour. My buddy hunted outside Altoona on Saturday and limited on geese. He could have limited on mallards – twice.

All in all a tough season, below normal numbers of birds until the last two weeks for me. 10 months to go!

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 12-05-2011 05:37
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After the warm weather on Friday and Saturday we decided to go back to the marsh for one final try on Sunday. Apparently we weren’t the only ones that thought it would be a good idea. There were about a dozen groups in the marsh. We were all there to watch the ducks fly around at 100 yards high or more and totally ignore any decoys and calling. There were a lot of ducks around in big flocks but we might have heard one shot in the distance but we are not even sure. Talked to a few guys at the dock and everyone was complaing about how bad the end of the season was. 10 months to go and we can start this all over again!

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 12-01-2011 17:10
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Horicon is a little over half frozen over. The main ditch is open and of course Green head but places like West Lake and Stoney Bay were frozen.The ice was about a half inch thick this morning. Don’t know if the 40 degree day melted much. We left about 11:00 after not firing a shot only hearing one shot and seeing only three birds. There was probably a half dozen groups in the marsh.
One of the local guys we met at the launch said there are still a lot of birds on the federal refuge but he figures they will be gone by Sunday as everything in the marsh will freeze. They followed a flock for 20 miles and found where they were feeding and limited out on mallards. I really need to learn how to do this field hunting thing.

Posted By:
Duck Toller
Field Editor

Southeast 11-30-2011 19:26
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Pretty cold this AM. Made it out in the PM and it was warmer. The back bays had skim ice but it was pleasant. Did not see many birds. Was able to get a drake Gadwall. My lab made a nice retreive. Saw another pair but unable to bag them. While picking up a flock of local Canada Geese started to come in…guns were un-loaded as it was to late to shoot. Will try again latter in the week if we do not get froze out.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Pool 4 Mississipi/ Lake Pepin 11-29-2011 20:49
Cloudy, Winds Calm – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
Hunted last Friday with calm winds and cloudy and did well with mallards. Hunted Saturday because wind and rain/snow forcasted and shot 1 mallard-Go Figure?

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 11-27-2011 19:23
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Isn’t there some Charles Dickens book that starts out, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” Well that was how it was at Horicon today.
Left in the rain in Milwaukee because the radar said no rain in Horicon but a possiblity of snow showers. The rain ended about a mile from Horicon but we never got the snow showers. It was perfect conditions with north winds and overcast. We went further north then we usually do because of the north wind. All season long the ducks had been flying east of us so we moved further east. Naturally the duck flights today were more to the west of us. We never fired a shot.
There were lots of flocks flying around and hunters to the west and east of us had success to the point where they had two to three birds per hunter. We just picked the wrong spot again. It has been weeks since I have even had a shot at a duck. It seems no matter what spot we pick, it’s not the hot spot that day.
I’m pretty sure the sandhill cranes were migrating today. Hugh flocks up high and going south.
Why has the marsh been drained so low. It has to be six inches lower than earlier in the year. It almost seems like they raised the level for the trappers and then lowered it after they were done. On Friday were were hung up in the mud on Stoney Bay. We had to get out of the boat and drag it into the reeds.
One week left and it looks like the only possibility for freeze out will be on Friday.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 11-23-2011 08:24
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Hey, I’m going to keep trying getting things changed. Don’t give up. Never give up. One day the northern zone will start a week later, have a split, and be north of highway 64 again. Some may say I a dreamer but actually I’m just a teacher – hopefully optimistic and believing that educating people is the answer. I know, kind of silly, but oh well.

On to a report;

The mallards and geese are starting still coming down. Large flocks of mallards circling fields between Eau Claire and Augusta. Large flocks of ducks on Dell’s Pond in Eau Claire. Oh yeh, can’t hunt them anymore!

Geese using the field across from Welke’s Auto in Altoona, it’s inside the city limits. Geese using the field next to highway T northwest of Eau Claire, town ordinance says no shooting. Dang – they get smart quick! Soon they will eat those fields dry and move on. Stanley/Boyd/Cadott is a good bet right now. Chippewa Falls/Lake Wissota is getting hot too. Got one report that if you are hunting the Mississippi there is birds (tens of thousands) but you need to be in the right place and these guys were and OH MY did they have fun!

Posted By:
timschessi
Guest

Southern Zone 11-22-2011 15:43
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Wish away trial lawyer. I have a friend on the conservation congress waterfowl commitee. He has tried for years to get the seasons changed, but there is no way. When the good old boys in Ashland and the Mississippi River stand up and raise hell nothing ever changes. We have written resolutions gone to the state meetings in march and its the same old song and dance. This year we had a chance with the three zones but still could’nt get it done. We will close here on Dec 6th and the birds still have not arrived.

Posted By:
Trial Lawyer
Web Member

Western Wisconsin 11-22-2011 14:29
Cloudy, Snow Flurries – 25-30 Degrees – Ice
I hunted this past Saturday Sunday and Monday on the water and had some great shoots. I had to break 1/3″ ice on Sunday and Monday. The northern mallards finally arrived earlier in the week with their red orange legs, triple curly tails and fat deposits. I sure wish our season in the northern zone was split so that those of us who hunt in the cold could continue to go field hunting through mid-December.

Best wishes to all of you for a safe and healthy holiday.

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 11-21-2011 09:57
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Hunted Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. We saw lots of birds on Saturday morning but nothing even close to shooting. One guy in the boat fired at one bird and the other two never took a shot. When we got to the dock, one boat had a drake canvasback and another boat had a drake mallard. Both reported the same thing that the birds did not decoy and you had to get your birds in the first half hour. We saw another boat in the marsh that was close to us get two birds. They seemed to have the “lucky” spot as they had other shooting too. Naturally this was a spot we passed up.
On Sunday we did not see as many birds. No shots were fired. Did talk to one guy at the dock that hunted all day and got two ducks. He was further north than we were. He said birds came to the decoys from 8:30 to 10:00. In the afternoon all he could get was passing shots. Talked to another guy at the dock and he said on Thursday he had his limit in two hours but Saturday he had nothing.
October was OK for me but November has been horrible. We have tried different locations, different decoy spreads, with and without spinners and we have not even shot at a bird in 4 or 5 outings.

Posted By:
euexpress1
Web Member

wisconsin 11-21-2011 06:41
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
very slow on the bay of Green Bay
divers not here yet. Only birds that have
been around for 2 weeks. Need new birds.

hopefully he get a push.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Appleton 11-18-2011 14:03
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I was on my way home from Appleton from a meeting yesterday. I was on hwy 26 cutting over to 151 and holy cow the sky was full of ducks and geese. Seen the first ever tornado of canada geese. Ducks were swarming the fields. Had to be 10,000+ geese and at least a couple a thousand ducks in the air.

Posted By:
huntingcaliber
Guest

Southern Walworth County 11-17-2011 14:54
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We currently have more Sandhill Cranes than we do ducks and geese combined in our area!! Absolutely depressing numbers!! The weather patterns certainly are not helping out much. 23 degrees this morning and 50 degrees this weekend. Bring it on!! Winter!!! 17 days and counting down.

Posted By:
webmaster
root

MISSISSIPPI RIVER 11-17-2011 13:18
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Pools 4-14:

Mallard 75,460
Black Duck 65
Pintail 5,085
Gadwall 33,515
Widgeon 5,545
Shoveler 900
BWT 10
GWT 4,075
Woodduck 90
Red Head 840
Canvasback 332,155
Ring Neck 32,605
Scaup 48,850
Goldeneye 2,820
Bufflehead 5,280
Merganser 170
Rudy Duck 1,580

TOTAL Ducks, geese swans: 650,290
Puddle Ducks 124,745
Diving Ducks 424,300

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 11-17-2011 10:23
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The ducks started showing up yesterday. More geese. I finally will say the migration has started. If your not deer hunting NOW IS THE TIME.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Columbia cty 11-14-2011 15:47
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The ducks that were there are now gone. Went from a couple hundred green heads to a handful of birds. The geese did show up in huge numbers. I wonder if the geese pushed the ducks off the water. The river is not very big and there is only so much area to use.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Pool 4 Mississipi/ Lake Pepin 11-14-2011 10:55
Cloudy, Occassional Rain Showers – 30-34 Degrees – Ice
Hunted Sunday by myself, only 1 mallard and nothing decoyed. Did not see much, very little wind. Suppose to get a little colder this week but no snow or wind to speak of. Will be sitting in tree this coming weekend for deer but may get out during Thanksgiving.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 11-14-2011 08:47
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Better goose numbers, but ducks are still low. Lots of hunting pressure around Eau Claire and Elk Mound, little pressure in Augusta/Fall Creek and Stanley/Boyd areas.

West of Menomonie the roost that was always hot must have got hunted because I didn’t see a bird on it both times I drove by. Not good; the roost goes, so goes the hunting!

Best hunting was around Stanley/Boyd. Too bad we only have this week left before the crazies in orange go out. If you can get out this week, go there. Trust me. Maybe, just maybe, if the water doesn’t freeze we might have another week after deer hunting for geese over there.

Otherwise, as always, I think my ex-wife is tuning up! Mark this year down as one of the toughest for me.

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

11-10-2011 16:02
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Now THAT was duck hunting! Walked in and all the miscellaneous water had skim ice. Stood in the water up to our knees for 5 hours. It was sunny, cloudy, and snowing all in the same day. Had ducks working the decoys, but would not finish. Had a blast. Almost ran out of shells because for some reason today I and my buddies could not shoot straight. Up until this point I had been reasonably accurate. 🙁

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 11-10-2011 08:37
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Just been scouting for the last two weeks. Definitely both goose and duck numbers increasing but you have to be in the right place – NOT like they are everywhere. Where they are though…good hunting numbers! Unfortunately, LOTS of hunting pressure where they are. Every place I got permission so did the other 10 guys that are hunting that area. I’ve been seeing guys hunting all week, lucky guys, pushing them around. The birds are educating fast.

Eau Claire – geese are piling into Dells Pond, the Oakwood mall ponds are also a good place to start. Buddy hunting the river north of Dells Pond says it has been tough decoying and most birds flying high on the way out to the fields.

Chippewa/Hallie – birds using the field behind my buddies place inside the highway P/40th no shooting zone. Good luck trying to hunt them!

Stanley – only report was from my father driving by on highway 29 saying he saw a ‘buttload’ of geese flying around the prison pond.

Fall Creek/Augusta – not many birds, but the ones in Fall Creek were on the pond and in the field inside city limits.

Posted By:
Duck Toller
Field Editor

Canada 11-09-2011 16:59
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Just got back from Canada. Was there for a week. Got there with warm temps and left with 17 degrees. Small waters were hard yesterday! We shot mallards and greenwing teal on arrival. Had a good ringneck shoot one day. Spent most of our time chasing mallards. This time of year they were hard to finish. Whatever, there were quite a few mallards in the north 2 days ago. Not sure what this weather will do…? But, would think we will be seeing more soon.

Posted By:
1gander
Guest

na 11-07-2011 22:34
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
hey rearney the tundras r coming were migrating all day long here north of minneapolis

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Columbia County 11-07-2011 13:13
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Some new birds arrived on Friday afternoon. I was bow hunting saturday so decided to hunt ducks on Sunday morning. The new birds made for some fun decoying action. 35 minutes and 4 green heads in the bag. Did see some woodies but they would not commit.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Pool 4 Mississipi/ Lake pepin 11-07-2011 11:56
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Three of us got out Sunday and with very few other hunters around, winds were pretty brisk out of SE. We shot 6 mallards and one drake blue bill. These mallards seemed like northern mallards and decoyed very easy. We should have had a 7th mallard but a bald eagle came down and took it from outside our decoys. This is the second time this has happened this year. Saw a few swans come through but not much. Everything is late. We should be seeing alot of swans and mallards coming through at this time of year. Not much cold weather predicted through the next 2 weeks. Good thing we can hunt until early December.

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 11-06-2011 22:10
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Did an afternoon hunt because I thought people would be watching the Packers. Wrong! Lots of boats there and not so much shooting. Tried to get the spot we had last Sunday but it was occupied. My buddy’s son got a Shoveler today. That was the only shot of the day. In the last hour we saw a few big flocks of mallards but that was about it for the day. Whoever had last Sunday’s spot did much better.
The marsh is down about another inch. My boat is starting to hang up on the bottom in some spots.

Posted By:
webmaster
root

Lake Koshkonong 11-06-2011 21:11
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Took my boys up to Koshkonong for an evening shoot. The draw down on the lake seems quite severe this year and the water is a good 50-60 yds from shore along the public lands.

It’s a shame — we saw A LOT of ducks. Teal, pintail, mallards, bufflehead, scaup and a few Cans.

Birds were swarming over a huge raft in the center.

The puddle ducks were heading to off the lake at sunset for either calmer roosts or an evening meal. While the public lands are an exercise in frustration, nearby hunting should be good.

[Edited By webmaster on 2011-11-06 21:12]

Posted By:
Trial Lawyer
Web Member

western wisconsin 11-03-2011 20:26
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 40-45 Degrees
Spotted 400-500 greaters in a chisel plowed field Tuesday am and got permission. The birds showed up the next morning at 8:15 and didn’t like that new object sticking up in the field, despite my best efforts to grass the finisher. I saw a flock of 26 swans, a flock of 125-150 mallards and managed to bag 1 big greater. Hopefully the colder weather up north will push some new birds into our area.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 10-31-2011 15:01
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A few more ducks and geese showing up. I would say the migration has started to trickle. Birds are pushed into roosts that are very safe. Geese are VERY decoy shy on the west side of Eau Claire. Watched a couple days where they landed in the same field as other hunters, but didn’t even give the hunters a fly-by pass shot. Smart little devils.

Did manage a few mallards myself, but the geese switched fields. Boy I like hunting fields over the water.

I got hope that next weekend the migration will start and be great for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully it doesn’t rain on my parade…I’m hoping for snow!

Posted By:
Duck Toller
Field Editor

SE Wisconsin 10-31-2011 13:16
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
I’m back as a Field Editor after a few year’s absence. So, Friday night on my way to a HS football game I saw 3 or 4 flocks of mallards heading to Lake Geneva after feeding on the Big Foot Prairie. Nothing like the “swarms” I’m looking for, though. Wednesday I will be heading back to southern Ontario for my 3rd trip of the season. The first in September was very good with mostly mallards and bluewing teal, along with some local ringnecks and woodies. The second was a bit of a disappointment as I went for the ringnecks. While we did get a few, the mallards and greenwings were still there and made up most of our bag. I’m leaving Wednesday for the last time of the year. My contact informed me this AM that there are still few ringnecks but very good numbers of mallards. Don’t get me wrong I love hunting mallards but when the ringneck flight is on it can’t be beat! And, since there is an abundance of rice they are very good table fare as well! Especially since the walleyes have been hitting like gangbusters each time I go.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Mississipi River/ Lake Pepin 10-31-2011 10:44
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 30-34 Degrees – Open Water
Hunted Saturday and shot 3 bufflehead and(2) mallards, could have finished out with Buffleheads but I had (3) that I will struggle to eat so I didnt shoot anymore, unfortunately while dog was getting one mallard in the decoys a Bald eagle came down and took the other one. This has been happening more and more as my brother had this happen to him on opening weekend. When you shoot it is like ringing the dinner bell to these Eagles. I will have to train dog to swim faster I guess. Sunday I shot (3) mallards and (1) gadwall.

Posted By:
Stu-Soper
Field Editor

Potosi 10-31-2011 10:11
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Was out over the weekend. More birds working there way down the river. Water levels still low, so be careful.

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 10-30-2011 18:03
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H2O,
Hope your prayers were answered at Children’s Hospital. As for the person that took your skiff and decoys, that is pretty low. We have hunted the marsh for years and have seen a few skiffs on the other side of the Island but always just remarked that it must be neat to hunt that side without too many people there. Is it at all possible the DNR would have taken them? One of my buddies told me you are not supposed to leave stuff on public hunting grounds.

We hunted Horicon today and there were hunters everywhere. We drove around to our usual spots and took our third choice and it was still 20 to 30 minutes before we could put the decoys out. Some of the guys must not have checked the weather forecast because they were set up on the wrong side for the south wind. We had ducks in the decoys before shooting (which left before it was legal to shoot). It was so dark that the first 15 minutes that we had ducks blow by us before we could even get the gun up. Ended up with a hen and drake mallard. This was the first day we could get them to decoy this season. It was also the first day we didn’t use a roboduck. Hmmmm, makes a person think.

[Edited By MallardKingWI on 2011-10-31 11:36]

Posted By:
h2ofwlwis
Web Member

Horicon 10-29-2011 22:44
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Dear Horicon Marsh Scumbag, I would like to thank you for stealing my skiff and decoys. I’m sure you a true sportsman who felt that my equipment would get better use under your care. Don’t worry about the fact that you have tarnished the image of every Honest waterfowler that enjoys a day on the marsh and would never think of taking something that isn’t theirs. Your parents will be glad to know they did a fine job of raising such a fine, upstanding person. You probably figured since no one had used the skiff in the past several days that it was yours for the taking. I guess that is my fault since I have spent the past week at the side of my son’s bed at Children’s Hospital! I have done a lot of praying over the past week. You too should pray that I NEVER find you! Have an enjoyable season, Scumbag!

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 10-27-2011 10:48
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Geese flying west at night out of Eau Claire. Good luck though, the farmer I talked to said ok to hunt but I was the 5th guy to ask in the last 3 weeks!

Geese on the Fall Creek pond are increasing in numbers. Almost enough to call huntable.

Anyone hunting by Stanley yet? Planning on scouting there Friday. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted By:
DarrenDuck
Guest

? about pool 4 – 14 10-27-2011 09:17
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Does that mean the report is for pools 4 to 14? Alma to Clinton? If so that seems lile a decent push. I know the Illinois River survey is reporting a similiar trend. We will see this weekend!

Posted By:
Stu-Soper
Field Editor

Potosi 10-27-2011 08:22
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Was out yesterday afternoon. Talked to a Federal Warden, he was confirming what was just posted about the birds starting to stack up in the upper pools. Slow conditions here, and low water.

Posted By:
webmaster
root

MISSISSIPPI RIVER 10-25-2011 11:27
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INHS Survey Totals Pool 4-14 as of 10/17:

Canada Geese – 16,620
Mallard – 22,935
Black Duck – 10
Pintail – 13,220
Gadwall – 19,775
Widgeon – 13,730
N. Shoveler – 3,560
BW Teal – 320
GW Teal – 11,350
Wood Duck – 370
Red Head – 545
Canvasback – 76,600 (Pools 8 & 9 primarily)
Ringneck 22,685
Scaup 33,105
C. Goldeneye 10
Bufflehead 30
Merganser – 0
Ruddy Duck 13,390

TOTAL Ducks, Geese, Swans – 248,529

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Columbia cty 10-24-2011 11:55
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Hunted sat morning in a small pond in the middle of a bean field. Nothing flying at all. Didn’t even see a goose. Sat night I was bow hunting a half mile away and seen good numbers of ducks right at LST. They must have been headed out to feed. Woodies, mallards and some others mixed in. Local ponds are down in numbers, not seeing the birds that were here last week.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Mississipi River Pool 4 10-24-2011 11:35
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Hunted Sunday with very little action. Shot a can and 2 wegions, only birds I saw. Weather is just too nice and no wind. Had a great hunt in Manitoba last week with limits of Dark geese every day and mallards were every where. We filled every day. Mornings were cold and afternoons were in the 50s. Even shot Hungarian Partridge which seem to be up this year. Brought back (2) beautiful snow geese to have mounted. Even shot some white fronted geese. Most people in Manitoba are as nice as can be and we had no other hunters around us which was great. I will get out this weekend and try at least one morning otherwise I will be sitting in tree waiting for MR. Big Rack!

Posted By:
Stu-Soper
Field Editor

Potosi 10-24-2011 10:39
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Not to many birds around. It’s been along time since I seen the water this low. Be careful with the sandbars. Water level under seven feet, so the back water areas are pretty skinny.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Dane County 10-21-2011 08:24
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The green heads have arrived in force. Yesterday, hardly a duck to be seen. This morning they were everywhere. Hitting ponds, fields and moving around. It should be a good weekend!

Posted By:
pipewrench
Web Member

Mississippi Pool 4 Nelson 10-20-2011 20:55
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 35-40 Degrees
Hunted this morning with my 11 yr.old dog, Remington! He still has that drive to go all out! He pays for it later on, but is ready to go the next morning!! Don’t want to replace him yet! Buddies had to work, so I did some more scouting! Refuges were full of mallards and geese! Where I set up for the morning hunt there wasn’t much movement! 1st hour, I shot 1 mallard drake, 1 pintail and 1 gadwall! Didn’t see any movement of anything anywhere. Heard a few shots in the distance at first light and that was about it! Packed up at 10AM! Walked back into some potholes off the river and not a duck to be seen. Nothing was flying on the river, either. Wondering if anybody has been successful in the Nelson Bottoms. I haven’t hunted there yet, but did some scouting! Was a few ducks on Big Lake today! Alot more rice around the dyke road. The rice got wiped out by the high water this summer where I hunt! No vegetation and low water conditions. Last year was just the opposite(8 feet higher than normal)Cold weather is on its way! Should be a push of ducks real soon. Within 2 weeks, North Dakota could be froze up with the predicted weather report. Well, good luck to all you hunters and take a kid hunting if you can! I’ll keep posting. Plan on going back down on Sat. morning!

[Edited By pipewrench on 2011-10-20 20:57]

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 10-18-2011 12:03
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Geese showing up, ducks…not so. I did see two ducks flying over Altoona on the way to work today. That seemed better than the last 5 days. Dells Ponds in Eau Claire has geese. Flights every direction out though. Lots of corn coming off. Too many options right now for them.

Side note: the field I watched the sun rise in last week had birds in it again this morning. What kind of pattern is that; one using it, 5 day break, one day using it, ?

Posted By:
Swamp Gas 916
Field Editor

Winona & Trempeleau 10-17-2011 09:12
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 60-65 Degrees
Hunted Trepeleau on 10/15 in the AM, saw more duck boats than ducks. First time in the area in three years and set up in the open so I could see ended up being near one of the main routes in and out. seemed like a duck boat super highway most the morning. Did manage a few birds. Guys at the launch limited out by 10:00am they where a bit south of us and in the trees. Scouting pockets in the trees seems to be the key.

10/16 hunted north of Winona and managed more birds and saw many groups all heading down stream high. This trip was an are scouting trip and we did a lot of driving in the boat saw birds back in the woods. Seems to be the key.

Swamp Gas –
one of the
“The Quack Shack Boys”

Posted By:
pipewrench
Web Member

Mississippi Pool 4 10-16-2011 16:58
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted this morning and saw very few ducks. Saw some gaddies,woodies,teal,couple of geese, and a few mallards. Birds seem to have moved out, but good weather is in the forecast so some migrators should be moving in this week! Scouting is the key! Found some promising spots once the ducks start moving in! Birds that we seen seemed really hesitant to decoy in! Good luck to everyone and shoot’em with there feet down! Wish I had some better info., but this was the slowest I’ve seen this year so far!

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Augusta 10-14-2011 12:13
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Got a field with 20 birds in it yesterday morning. Went this morning. They didn’t show. Didn’t even get a duck to fly by.

Still birds flying west out of Eau Claire at sunset every night. Not much anywhere else.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

10-13-2011 15:35
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Heading up to Manitoba for annual 7 day trip. Talked to friends that arrived yesterday and they said they are covered up with Canadas (Big and Small) snow geese and more mallards than they have seen in a long time. NW wind is blowing and new birds every where. Also said no hunters around. They will have a choice of 5 different fields with huntable birds tomorrow and said they have a field for Saturday morning with 5-7000 birds on it for all of us to hunt Saturday. Hopefully this is an indication of some great duck hunting coming our way this fall.Good luck this weekend.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

10-10-2011 13:44
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Nice weather weekend and that made the duck hunting a bit slow. Handful of woodies around. They are getting a bit smarter. Did see a nice flock of greenwings swing in and as luck would have it, the dog was out in the water. Some weather coming down should help with the hunting.

Posted By:
Stu-Soper
Field Editor

SW 10-10-2011 11:43
Mostly Sunny, No Precipitation – 60-65 Degrees
Plenty of Woodies at our local lake. Geese are staying put. Will be out on the river this coming weekend.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Eau Claire 10-07-2011 11:34
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Okay, so for the last two nights I’ve seen 8-12 flocks of 10 to 50 geese flying over my house west out of Eau Claire right at sunset. Either the locals got pushed to Dell’s Pond or we have some migrators showing up! Ducks…I’m not so convinced on much of a migration yet.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Pardeeville 10-04-2011 16:40
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Hunted a small pond last night. Jumped a group of woodies when we arrived. 3 came back but were out of range. Did see some small ponds holding some geese and saw the first flock if mallards in some time. Horicon zone geese are everwhere.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Mississipi River Pool 4 10-04-2011 13:11
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted last Saturday with not many ducks seen. Ended the morning with 3 Drake mallards and a wood duck. Went walleye fishing on Saturday because of mild weather and no wind. Be heading to Manitoba the 14th where our friends just got back and had the usual terrific hunt on geese and ducks. To top it off no hunters to compete with. But it was in the 70s and low 80s also up there.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Nelson Bottoms 10-03-2011 15:02
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A lot of work for little payoff. Quite a bit of shooting, but if the birds were like they were when they were flying by us it was just sky blasting. We had little shooting because we were not going to sky blast. In the end we actually had one teal decoy (on a death mission), and another teal and wood duck fly by low enough to shoot. 3 birds for 3 guys hunting for a day and a half. Few boats had birds at the landing and the boats that had birds had few. VERY low numbers according to my buddy that has hunted there for years. Water was low, mud motor boats did the best. I’m sure some people must have gotten some, but I’m sure they were far from limits. Field hunting for geese should have been good though because I did see good numbers of them, and bigger flocks of geese too. Maybe a few of those could have been migrators. Ducks…I’m not convinced of any migration yet for those.

SwampGas 916, I should have tried to contact you. But then again I don’t know if it would have mattered. We didn’t have the right boat to get where you probably would have sent us! Thanks for the offer, maybe I’ll contact you just before freeze-up when the migration picks up.

[Edited By Kris-Bertelsen on 2011-10-03 15:05]

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

10-03-2011 12:58
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Hunted around the pardeevile area on Sat morning. Lots and Lots of shooting to the north, maybe the grand river marsh. Our area had a few woodies and that was it for ducks. I did see a record, 9 trucks on one little marsh. Never seen so many hunters hunt that pot hole. Seemed all the shooting in the area stopped by 10:00.

We really need to get rid of the 9:00 opener!

Posted By:
Swamp Gas 916
Field Editor

10-02-2011 16:37
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 60-65 Degrees
Hunted Saturday & Sunday near the house in SE Wisconsin. Hunters out numbered the birds two to one. Speaking with a few freinds seems like a few woodies and teal mixed in here and there is all that was taken. My neighbor got to his blind opening morning only to find a a boat lind guy five feet away. With a new youngster in the boat, my neighbor did the right thing and left for another area. While completely legal, not cool, this guy is giveing all boat blind hunt a bad name.

Posted By:
Swamp Gas 916
Field Editor

10-02-2011 16:27
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Kris – Email me and I can give you some areaa in Nelson to check out.
flemcke@wi.rr.com

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 09-30-2011 12:00
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Haven’t seen hardly anything on my way to work and back this week. Seriously, less than any week in the last 2 months. A few geese flying over my house west out of Eau Claire right at sunset most nights, but only 20 or 30 at the most.

I’m heading to the Nelson Bottoms for the first time ever. My buddy goes once or twice a year, but I was hoping for any advice anyone has to give. Only person we talked to said last week they got shooting, but couldn’t get to the good spots because the water was low. The guys with mud motors had it made. We don’t have a mud motor.

Posted By:
MallardKingWI
Web Member

Horicon 09-29-2011 20:14
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Scouted Horicon today but not much to report other than the water is down about 4 to 6 inches from last year. This made it a little more difficult for guys like me with a “standard” set up.
If you are coming in from the city make sure to stay in the center of the main ditch. It seems like a couple of new trees fell down.
Saw a couple of big flocks of teal. Looks like they are getting ready to leave. Not many other ducks around but it was the middle of the day and was raining most of the time.

Posted By:
Swamp Gas 916
Field Editor

Mississippi River Nelson to Trempeleau 09-26-2011 21:29
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
Hunted tthe openner out of Meric State Park. We got on the river about 5:15 for a 9:00 openner only to 3-4 guys in the spot we had scouted. We saw good numbers of woodies few BW but not much else. With our late arrival we only mannaged 1 BW. We should have know we were in for trouble when after watching the guys in the spot we came out for down about 7 woodies the first duck through the dekes end in a load “click” Yes the first shot of the new season was a dud – much like our morning. Things improved that night and the following morning as we moved to other pools and and ended up with 10 woodies and 2 BW for the two days.

Swamp Gas One of the “Quack Shack Boys”

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Menomonie 09-26-2011 11:52
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Had a tough hunt this weekend. Too many places for the birds to land! Numbers seemed lower than last weekend when I scouted. Managed to scratch a couple with a friend of mine, but definitely didn’t dial in the honey-hole this year. Still managed to be close to some sky-blasters though. Trully awful shooting on their part, sending numerous ducks sailing away to be eaten by the predators.

Geese are grouping up, but I would not say we have any migration yet to speak of. Now the long wait until the end of season for the real migration. I hope it gets here this year before season closes.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Mississipi River Pool 4 09-26-2011 10:32
Mostly Cloudy, No Precipitation – 45-50 Degrees
Had a great opener being with friends. We didnt see alot on opening day. Had to drive across the bay in front of us because group was shooting at 6:30 a.m. thinking the opener was half hour before sunrise. I asked them if they knew that they were hunting WI and they said ” Yea, So what”. I told them that it didnt open till 9:00 a.m. Boy did they scramble to pick up decoys and scamper out of there. Any way I did not see the wardens till early afternoon. We ended up with 4 BW Teal and a wood duck on opener. Sunday we filled out before 8:00 with 11 BW Teal and drake mallard. Alot of teal were around and had constant flocks into decoys. My buddy shot a banded drake wood duck which was pretty cool. He was hunting a couple hundred yards away. Good Hunting!!

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Mississipi River Pool 4 09-23-2011 15:05
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Scouted a little today and saw some early flights of birds but not much. Seems alot of Teal bugged out. Water is very low in Lake Pepin and hopefully people have scouted ahead of time. Outboard motors will struggle so prepare to walk boats for some distances. I had no problem with my surface drive until I slowed down. Then it is slow go but can still move.

Posted By:
DU870
Web Member

Southern Wisco 09-23-2011 13:23
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Birds numbers are now a bit lower with the cooler temps. Last scouting mission resulted in only a handful of ducks. Geese are still everywhere.

Water levels are low and getting lower by the day it seems.

Posted By:
webmaster
root

Central Wisconsin 09-19-2011 13:17
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Teal numbers took a nice jump in Central WI this weekend. A friend called from the Portage area and said they were covered up in Teal while fishing.

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

Chippewa Valley 09-19-2011 11:11
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A couple fields are being green-chopped around Eau Claire, but on my way to Lacrosse this weekend I was amazed at the number of green-chopped fields. The water levels are low still, but maybe this week the rain will help.

My spot in Menomonie had plenty of birds, but didn’t see many anywhere else. I haven’t seen any migration yet – just locals. It will take scouting this opening weekend around here. I have encountered a little hunting pressure already this year. Seems like all the places I’ve been asking to hunt have had others ask as well.

Good luck, leave the skyblasting to past years, don’t crowd someone unless you get permission, and be safe.

Posted By:
Steelie Steve
Web Member

Sheboygan Marsh (no Water) 09-05-2011 19:49
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Anyone thinking about hunting the marsh should check to see if the lake has been refilled. Currently there IS NO WATER IN THE LAKE. The culvert that controls the water levels is open and no water is being held. The only water near the boat landing is a small creek about five feet across and maybe three or four inches deep. that water is about 25 or 30 yards from the end of the boat landing. It isn’t any better at Keller’s on the west side. According to some people at the Marsh Lodge the Sheboygan County Board and the DNR won’t be starting to fill the marsh until sometime next week. The marsh will not be ready for the youth hunt and maybe not ready for the southern opener for ducks. The county did make a very nice new pier at the boat landing.

Posted By:
Trial Lawyer
Web Member

08-31-2011 21:28
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Kris,

Thanks for the report. I’m hoping to get into the locals Saturday am and will report.

Posted By:
REARNEY
Web Member

Mississipi River Pool 4 08-31-2011 09:25
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – Over 70 Degrees
Decided to get out with buddy and take a drive around the back bays. It is nice to see water levels back to some what normal. Water is still flooded into the trees but lots of food for the ducks and I will tell you, that we saw probably the most wood ducks I have seen in years. Not to get over hyped but it didnt seem real. The high water really killed the bullrushes and very little cover is some areas. But there is some kind of weed growth that sticks up about 12-20 inches and is loaded with food and it was wave after wave of woodies feeding in these areas. Very little Teal with only 1/2 dozen blue wings seen. We did see alot of young wood ducks that could not even fly yet. Some could not even flap their wings yet and were probably less than a 1/2 pound in size.

[Edited By REARNEY on 2011-08-31 09:27]

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

08-26-2011 07:19
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The season dates and regulations have been posted for a couple days but I thought I would bring the new items to your attention.

1) The Collins Zone has been eliminated and is part of the exterior zone this year.

2) A new Mississippi zone has been added for both ducks and geese.

As always pick up the regulations and refresh your memory, but with the zone changes this year be certain that you know the boundaries and dates.

Early goose starts in less than a week and from what I’ve read there is plenty of opportunity to have some great days. I haven’t been able to do much scouting but in the Eau Claire area we have good numbers. Like every year though, pattern them and then expect a change because the fields are changing rapidly right now. I even saw a couple corn fields being green chopped this week on my travels up past Bloomer and back. Good luck and leave a few for me!

Posted By:
Stu-Soper
Field Editor

08-20-2011 08:39
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Grant County Ducks Unlimited Banquet is being held at the Platteville Country Club September 6th. For Tickets contact: Arnie Roper 608-778-2666

Posted By:
Kris-Bertelsen
Field Editor

05-19-2011 14:51
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The first batch of goslings popped out on the Fall Creek yesterday. I’ve also been seeing what I’m believing to be lots of one-year old geese in the fields in larger flocks on the way to work and back. I’m thinking one-year olds because they are flocked up yet. Numerous fields also had nesting pairs or a single goose feeding. All good signs for the fall! Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Keep in mind that the DNR should be reporting results in August (like normal) on the restructing of waterfowl seasons and framework after collecting data from conferences and the spring breeding results. It looks like there might be the possibility of an adjustment to the framework of zones in the next 5-year plan starting in a few years, and the seasons depend a lot on the breeding success.