Member Photo Credit: Canman OMaddie
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The auger took about a dozen pulls. Runs well. Some buddies to the south are smashing mallards. They are in an area that doesn’t hold mallards until Christmas.
Well folks. All the buildup and anticipation only to have a 2 day migration just sucks. At this rate, we will be ice fishing by the time season ends.
Reading reports in Nebraska and Missouri today were filled with quick limits and fresh birds.
I had some great memories in 2014, but this will go down as one of the worst hunting seasons for me. The warm weather, non-existent migration (with the exception of the first two weeks we hunted the same stale birds for the entire month of October)and the quick freeze migration (that I missed) made for a frustrating year.
Until next year…….
It was made crystal clear to me that I had to drop the kiddo off at daycare Wednesday, so I missed the early morning flight. However, it allowed me to scout for where the birds were working that day. At about 10am, I located a few birds working the west side of this bay and I decided to setup. I walked it slowly and spooked the birds off with as little disruption as I could and setup. From 10am to Noon the wind was out of the South and temps were in the mid to upper 40’s. At 12:10pm, the wind switched out of the Northwest violently and the snow and rain began.
I probably should’ve stayed at work, but there have been very few “ducky” days this year when I have been afield, so I wanted to see if the cloud cover would help me.
Had a couple flocks of Gadwall work my spread and finish just like they are supposed too and ended the mid-day hunt with 3 birds.
Could’ve shot 82 spoonies, but choose to let them live. Not a ton of birds seen, but a few more geese than the last time I was out. Was fun to at least hear them honking in the distance from time to time.
No mallards and very few divers other than one flock of 20 buffleheads that buzzed me when I was looking the opposite way.
The Northwest wind by about 3:30pm was too strong for my spot, so I picked up and moved but no additional birds taken in the second area I tried.
The continued mid-season lull in my area has been interesting. It seems to the North and even to the East of me I am hearing good reports, but my area is just void at the moment.
Temps starting tomorrow should get things started and the month of November as always should be game on.
Good luck to all that go out!
Fellow hunters, can you all relate? There are days when you should just stay home and try again.
Scouted hard Thursday evening and found a good bunch of dabblers. Should’ve been hunting Thursday as the weather was overcast with an extremely low ceiling and the strong winds kept them milling around in search for call waters.
With high expectations of cold temps Thursday night I set the alarm and was out.
Woke up Friday morning 45 minutes late due to the alarm not going off (This is the point of the story where I should’ve just went back to bed). Running late, I hurried to meet my dad and we arrived at the hunt. Busted ice along the shore to drag the decoys in our 10 foot John boat and placed the decoys.
With no wind, they immediately froze and looked horrible, however I pushed my dad and the dog into the cattails and we awaited the morning action.
Whiffed (6 shots)on a drake mallard 25 yards in the decoys with wings cupped (perfect way to start the day) and shortly after hit one of two Gadwall that buzzed through. After that quick action, about 20 – 40 birds (in singles and doubles) landed east of us about 200 yards, therefore I decided we should pick up and move to where they want to be. Upon pushing the boat out of the cattails, the yellow lab went to the same side as my dad and the boat capsized (End of the hunt).
Spent 30 minutes sifting through the water to find guns and other equipment while making sure the old man made it back to the truck to warm up.
Ended the day with one duck and was disappointed with the number of birds viewed. In this spot the previous day, there were over 100. It appeared the clear skies and North wind pushed them out and no new birds replaced.
It has settled into more seasonal temps the last two days, but the birds are still mainly to the North of us. Like most years, the action gets good about Deer Hunting time and this year will be right on queue perhaps a bit later.
More geese were witnessed than I have seen all year, but still pretty low numbers. The 10 day shows Canada should be locked up around the 10th – 12th of November.
Good luck to all that go out.
Been out of the loop here. Fit back from Manitoba last Sunday. Tons of BWT were still around. Cut back on hunting. Spent the day Friday chasing smallies wearing a t-shirt. Head to SD Friday night after the chittlins are sleeping.
Good reports all. Keep em coming!
3 Ringers on the slough behind my place. Haven’t seen a goose flying around here in nearly 2 weeks. I haven’t been looking that hard for them, but the action gets good, they are milling around all over the place.
Sitting and waiting.
Southern boys….. mid-70’s and a lot of sun are in store for tomorrow along with another mild forecast for next week. The result (unless you believe the geniuses that post on DU’s migration report that the migration is over) is a mid-season lull.
Spoke to two different sources in Saskatchewan and another in Manitoba and they believe there are still good numbers of birds to the North of them. They said it is going to take snow, not just cold weather to move the birds along.
Reports from the few I’ve talked with have been mainly poor with a few doing excellent.
The warm weather has me staying on the sidelines, but I will make up for it in November.
Good luck to all that venture out and post up.
Nice work. Pays to do your homework and get off the beaten path.
Trip to the western side of the state proved successful. Scouted Friday night and found a mess of Mallards in an area where all reports have been indicating Reds and other divers. Hunted all day Saturday and got our limit (action really picked up as the afternoon went on). The weather held in our favor and stayed overcast pretty much the whole day. Wind started out of the northest and gradually shifted to the south during the afternoon.
– 2 Woodies
– 1 Gadwall
– 1 BWT
– 8 Mallards
Saw over a thousand birds of various species throughout the course of the weekend between scouting and hunting. The birds are out there, just have to find them.
Hi Everyone,
Good to see some posting activity! I scouted hard this past Wednesday and found a spot with a fair amount of birds working. The adventure required a 1 1/2 mile walk with four decoy bags and gear split between two guys. With temperatures in the 50’s before sunrise I knew I was going to be soaked.
Bluebird skies and weather that should’ve had us fishing instead of duck hunting greeted us at sunrise, but the first half hour was actually pretty active. We ended the day with a true mixed bag limit of:
– 2 Greenheads
– 2 Gadwall
– 2 Widgeon
– 4 Ringers
– 2 Reds
It was a morning that tested our shooting skills as NONE of the birds finished. The decoys served the purpose of simply getting the birds within 40 yards.
All in all it was a good time considering the balmy October weather that seems to be the norm. I looked at my notes from last year and we experienced a very similar warm October.
I have two buddies that guide up in Canada and the snows are starting to move out of their areas, but the big geese and mallards haven’t shown up yet. Therefore, it is looking like mid November again this year before we hit our peak.
I also talked to a few friends (all really experienced hunters) that went out this morning in three different areas of the state. One group got some decent shooting on divers, but the others were skunked.
Good luck to all that go out!
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Up to this point my partner and I have had decent, consistent action to the north and west of the greater metro area. Mostly BWT, Woodies and Reds with the occasional Mallard making an appearance as well. BWT have been diminishing and I’d be surprised if we see many more in the area moving forward. Headed to the western side of the state this weekend for a change of scenery and hopefully a limit or two!
Appreciate the Honker Hotline reports. Southern MN re-open not as successful as last year with BW’s absent.
Warm, Warm, Warm.
Beautiful day for being on the lake or golfing, but not so much hunting. Balmy and zero wind with temps in the 60’s. Monitoring migration reports from other sites that claim the migration has already gone through make me laugh. Lots of time.
Canadians and mallards are just starting to show up on the Northern Prairies of Canada, so we are at least 4 weeks from peak.
Scouted tonight and found a decent batch, so I will be heading out in the morning.
Good luck to all.
P.S. Are Swamp and Honker the only two MN hunters that can post on this site?
Skipped hunting on Saturday to attend the Gophers Big Ten Home Opener against Northwestern. Great game and win for the young team. Some folks I have talked too in the Northern part of the state are doing very well on divers, but much of the migration is still yet to come.
The 10 day forecast still has highs in the mid-50’s, therefore I am predicting we will continue to see a nice trickle migration of Redheads, Cans, buffies, ringers and bills that will take us into early November until the weather turns.
Talking to a buddy of mine that guides up in Northern Canada, they are still hitting the mallards and geese near Saskatoon and new birds continue to arrive daily.
Good luck to all of you that go out.
Catching up on work the past few days while we await the re-opener here in Central Minnesota. Noticing a few flocks of woodies still milling around right before dark along with more Canada Goose activity.
Looking at the 10 day, temps look pretty steady with highs in the mid 50’s and lower 60’s.
Good luck to all that go out!
Webmaster, do you remember the Fall of 2012 where we had timely minor cold fronts and winds out of the NW that came through every 5-7 days throughout the season?
While I certainly have been afield during many times in past years where these weather patterns have failed to produce much of anything, this weekend things came together nicely and I am hoping for another Fall weather pattern like we had in 2012.
I scouted for about 5 hours on Friday and found a piece of public ground that was holding a mixed bag of around 100 birds. Nothing crazy, but with the Northwest wind I was hoping a few more would blow in.
The adventure required a long walk to haul the decoy bags and gear. Setup the decoys and awaited the results of 30 degree weather and 20 – 30 mph NW winds.
If you could shoot 40 minutes before sunrise, the hunt would’ve been the fastest action I have probably ever had as about 100 birds landed right on the “x” during those 10 minutes. However, we still had a good day.
Ended the morning with a two man limit of 8 mallards, 2 Gadwall and 2 Ringers.
From my assessment, these were mostly new birds. Many of these were extremely high and when they saw the spread of decoys, they descended without hesitation into the landing zone.
The only negative part of the morning is we had a group of two people that heard our shooting and decided it was ethical to slide in 100 – 150 yards directly downwind of us where all our birds were approaching from and proceed to pass shoot and sky bust from shore at the next 8 – 12 flocks that came overhead. It appeared they hit one bird that landed in the water (which they left as they must not have had waders…. nice work) and then left.
In telling the story locally, many say that is you get when going on public land, but I disagree with that passive response. There have been many times where I have had a group pull into the spot I am already setup (or vice versa) in before shooting hours and they either move on or we’ll chat and hunt together. It isn’t ok to slide in and cut people off. I hope they read this and change behavior.
Weather conditions appear to be highs in the upper 40’s and low 50’s during the mid-season close. I will be doing a little scouting, but focusing on work as I have upcoming trips in November and December to North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
Good luck to all that go afield!
HH —
I remember that season well. I think we’re settling into that sort of trend at the moment.
The cold from this weekend moved a nice amount of birds. One lake I drove past this weekend on the way to salmon fishing was void of birds Saturday and on Sunday was coated with coot and a smattering of divers that I could see rafted near the center of the lake — a mix of ringers, red heads and ruddies.
Let’s hope these mini fronts continue.
Let’s hope!
This week’s MN DNR report:
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/recreation/hunting/waterfowl/weekly_migration.pdf
The holder was the easy part. The immature addition and mounting hardware took a bit of brainstorming.
Will you be selling foam versions of that this fall? You can put the WFC logo on it if ya like. Hahaha
Nice work! Similar results for me as well. Bug spray and a thermacell were worth their weight in gold.
Not to many mallards for me. Plenty bwt to go around.
Not to many mallards for me. Plenty bwt to go around. Bonus band as well.
Love the game holder!!!
Nice! The only bands I’ve collected are from geese and mallards. That ads some icing to the day for sure.