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.
