Posted By:
Peter-Brown
Field Editor
North Metro, Anoka Cty 10-07-2010 09:41
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 45-50 Degrees
Sorry I’m so late with this report, but it’s taken some time to get caught up after Saskatchewan trip.
I’ve hunted the last few days on Geo.watch and today Reshanu. It’s been pretty slow. I did get three ducks this AM.
I’m seeing mostly Woodies with the odd Teal and Mallards.
A bunch of shooting right at legal each day, then it realy drops off.
There seems to be a fair numbers of hunters out, with access seemingly easy with high water.
The high water is screwing up some of my best spots, but I’ll adjust.
Hunting for both ducks and geese is always better in this area with low water rather than high.
I’ll keep after then and report again after the weekend.
I’m headed north( Orr area) next week.
Posted By:
dstohlberg08
Web Member
thief lake 10-06-2010 17:47
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 40-45 Degrees
Hunted thief this mourning,it was a bit slow. Me and a buddy got eight. The majority of ducks around are ringers. Tally for the day was five ringers,two mallards and one blue bill. Also saw quite a few Canada geese and snows in the fields around the lake. Got two more days to hunt and ducks to cook.
Posted By:
CPAMAN
Guest
North Dakota 10-05-2010 16:49
Sunny & Clear, High Winds – 60-65 Degrees
See my depressing report on the North Dakota field reports. Yuck!
Posted By:
jasonmn24
Web Member
west central mn 10-04-2010 21:58
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lots of woodies around. a couple hundred today flying around. buddy and i shot 3 drakes
Posted By:
duckyboymn
Guest
Southern MN 10-04-2010 21:53
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – –
Four of us were out this morning on our private slough that we hunt after opening weekend. The birds continued to stack from Early goose to Take a kid and then after this weekend. There were roughly 200-250 ducks using it..mainly mallards, then woodies, teal, and even a few gads and pintails. And the Honkers recently came back.
We had a 4 man limit by 8:15. We were fortunate to get 12 drake mallards and stay at our 4 Hen limit. Three of the hens were taken early. Then a gad, woodies, GW and BW teal filled out our bag. Kicked out about 40 roosting honkers and ducks galore upon entry. By far a hunt that is isolated to that area. We didn’t hear any other shots other than our own. We were lucky to get them to commit like they did near the end as we had zero wind, which usually is the driving force to bring them down.
[Edited By duckyboymn on 2010-10-04 21:57]
Posted By:
Mendota Go-Devil
Guest
Rice and Skunk Lake Central MN 10-04-2010 19:01
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 50-60 Degrees
We hunted the Rice and Skunk area for opener. These lakes have lots of wild rice this year but the water level is higher than I’ve ever seen it in the fall. Our party did OK. Six of us shot 11 ducks on Saturday and four of us shot seven on Sunday (6 mallards, 8 teal, 2 pintails, 1 woodie and one spoonbill…ooops!).
Very few woodies were around. Both days large flocks of teal would periodically migrate through which would result in increased shooting around the two lakes for a half hour or so afterward.
We did not see very many mallards but shot well when some came in within range.
I do think there were more birds in the area this opener compared to last year.
Posted By:
kobear
Web Member
Douglas County 10-04-2010 09:35
Sunny & Clear, Winds Calm – 35-40 Degrees
Lots of birds around. Ringers moved in, teal still here. LOTS of shooting. More guys out than past years, good to see as most were very well mannered with little sky busting. Near limits for 5 guys Sat and 3 each Sun. Definitely need to shoot some Clays.
Seems the Youth that we had out there two weeks ago didn’t bother em too much.
Posted By:
Canman OMaddie
Web Member
Sibley 10-04-2010 09:04
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Birds around just not in the right spot either day. find a flooded feild and you are golden!!
Posted By:
webmaster
root
MN DNR REPORT 09-30-2010 18:06
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Most managers across the state are predicting a duck season similar to last year, which by most accounts was poor to fair. The number of breeding ducks in the state was unchanged from 2009; continental breeding duck numbers were also unchanged from last year for all species. The distribution of continental ducks once again showed large numbers of breeding ducks present in the eastern Dakotas in response to record spring wetland conditions. Most anecdotal reports indicate that production (number of young) was fair to good in most regions, including Minnesota.
Habitat conditions are generally very wet across most of the state. In southern Minnesota, many rivers remain under flood warnings with the excessive rainfall experienced last week. Lake levels also rose last week throughout much of the state. Extensive areas of sheet water and flooded fields are present and will likely disperse ducks early in the season. Wild rice crops were below average but highly variable across the state this year; stands have started to deteriorate on many rice lakes.
Waterfowl surveys conducted this week indicated that duck numbers in most locations were lower than last year at this time. Many blue-winged teal and wood ducks have already migrated out of the state. Fair numbers of migrant ring-necked ducks have moved into northern Minnesota but birds are fairly concentrated on a few lakes and numbers are near average for this time of year. In the northern 1/3 of the state, ring-necked ducks should dominate opening weekend bags. In other areas, mallards, blue-winged teal, and wood ducks will be more common.
Canada goose hunting should be good statewide; goose numbers have increased in many areas since mid September as flocks of molt migrant giant Canada geese have moved back into the state starting in mid-September. A few snow geese are present in extreme NW Minnesota.
Duck hunter numbers in 2009 were the 2nd lowest recorded since 1977 and likely to be similar or lower than that this season. Hunters can expect slightly below normal temperatures on opening weekend across the state, with daytime highs in the 50s to low 60s and lows in the upper 30s to the low 40s across most of the state. A mild cold front should move through the state Friday and Saturday with light north winds and a low chance of precipitation. Winds are expected to shift to the south by Sunday. Temperatures are forecast to be near normal most of next week with little chance of precipitation expected. Duck hunter numbers in 2009 were the 2nd lowest recorded since 1977 and likely to be similar or lower than that this season.
Hunters can expect slightly below normal temperatures on opening weekend across the state, with daytime highs in the 50s to low 60s and lows in the upper 30s to the low 40s across most of the state. A mild cold front should move through the state Friday and Saturday with light north winds and a low chance of precipitation. Winds are expected to shift to the south by Sunday. Temperatures are forecast to be near normal most of next week with little chance of precipitation expected.
Reminder:
Hunters should note that the duck season opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday October 2 and runs through Tuesday November 30. Shooting hours end at 4 p.m. through Saturday Oct. 9 and sunset the remainder of the season. Bag limits are 6 ducks/day. The bag limit for hen mallards, canvasbacks, and black ducks is 1/day. The bag limit for pintails, wood ducks, redheads, and scaup is 2/day. The daily bag limit for mergansers is 5/day, with no more than 2 hooded mergansers. The daily bag limit for coots is 15/day.
The regular Canada goose season opens statewide on Saturday October 2 and runs through December 25, except in the Rochester goose zone, where the season runs from Oct. 2 to Dec. 7 and Dec. 16 to Jan. 2. The bag limit is 3 Canada geese/day statewide for the entire season.
Motorized decoys are prohibited statewide through Saturday October 9th and on state wildlife management areas the entire season. Hunters should consult the 2010 Waterfowl Hunting regulations (available from license vendors or online at:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/hunting/index.html
for additional details and regulations. Be aware that the new drain plug law is in effect and hunters must remove drain plugs from boats before transporting them on public roads.
Safety Never Takes A Holiday: treat every gun as if it were loaded, be 100% certain of your target before pulling the trigger, wear your life vest, pay attention to other hunters and your hunting partners, and watch the weather.
[Edited By webmaster on 2010-09-30 18:09]
Posted By:
skankyringer
Web Member
central mn 09-30-2010 15:08
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Our youth hunt went pretty good. Both of our youths got plenty of shooting in, need to work a little on it, but they had a great time, as did their fathers watching. Neither shot a limit but both kids did manage to shoot four ducks. I think both kids will be hooked for life, fathers, not sure yet. I know they could see the excitement in their kids eyes. This weekend we will be trying our luck in the same area. Hope some of the teal and wood ducks have stuck around. Good luck everyone.
