Scouting, success and wind...

[lanyard]

Had to change opening spots for work schedule, went to old haunt. Beavers had moved in and water was 2' deeper than what it used to be. Pass shot, but no dog, and dropping birds into the 50 yard swath of beans was not working to my favor. Shot one, lost it. Lots of birds. If I'd had a boat, would have been a better story. 7 miles from the SD border south of Hwy 12

Sunday, went to old reliable. Bro in-law hunted there Saturday in fog, one BWT and missed opportunities. Got there Sunday a.m. and had my limit by 7:15, bro in-law added 4. We packed up at 7:30, while ducks continued to fly.....

Sometimes knowing where the spots are can work for you, tried and true. But these are spots I'm accustomed to shooting ducks at. I don't really go back to places I get regularly skunked.

The South wind... this should keep the ducks from leaving MN. I think I read that in the 50 year plan: "Global warming is anticipated to increase prevalent south winds, which will allow for more 'short stopping' of ducks before they head south."

I know, I'm just an internet hack with no credibility. Maybe one day the guys that get paid to be good will rub off on me and I'll get good like them. Apparently they earn a living at it.

[cstemig]

Sounds like you had a good time anyway. Truth be known, you are not any different than the rest of us. Some days are better than others.

The south winds theory is interesting. Personally, I think that the general climate warming will be shifting the migration routes and locations. Already I've heard that some of the traditional wintering grounds in the south have pushed north by 200 miles or so.

[lanyard]

i had a great time!

The musings were more about the ebb and flow of life and hunting.... and the annual Duck Opener Outdoors columns in the STrib.

DA's duck opener column is the new Ron Schara deer opener column. But where Ron's was something me and my friends could laugh at, DA's just comes across ignorant and arrogant..... and that's a bad combination.

Where Ron would write, "6:10 a.m. walking to stand, moose scares me.... 9:47 walking to cabin, I scare moose", DA writes: "on the unholy backwater of the most polluted river in the country that has no habitat for holding ducks other than a few woodies willing to feed on the few tainted acorns in this prairie drainage, we shot no ducks, again, from this well fashioned blind with people that have travelled from out of state to partake in this great tradition....." Which ends up sounding like guys that have hunted the same piece of land for 40 years but still kind find their way to a stand in the dark AND know they aren't going to shoot anything. Seriously, you're dropping out of state license coin to hunt THAT spot AND let some chucklehead post it in the largest paper in a 5 state area?

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old and the cantankery is setting in. But when the people that are experts, because they are paid to be experts, blot out common sense to allow their opinion to become gospel I get a bit vexed. Each experience is different if you allow it to be, and this creates knowledge. An annual retread of a 20 year swan song is like hearing, one more time, The Who are having their LAST TOUR ever......

[maplelakeduckslayer]

Haha, when are Anderson's daughters going to come defend him? His article truly was retarded. I have hunted the same spot for 15 years and it's gone downhill. I could find something better for opener but its tradition and its an easy spot for the gf to shoot and see from, and get some shooting. I in no way feel duck numbers are on the verge of collapse just because my dumb ass keeps hitting the same spot on opener. Hunting a 200 miles radius I know there's ducks in mn, just depends when I'm able to get there

[Fish Felon]

DA's duck opener column is the new Ron Schara deer opener column. But where Ron's was something me and my friends could laugh at, DA's just comes across ignorant and arrogant..... and that's a bad combination.

Ignorant and arrogant is spot on.

Schara is greatly missed. His outdoor newspaper columnist writing style was a lot like MacQuarrie's. He wrote what he experienced with a carefree style that was fun. The few issues that he thought were of importance would be offered in a suggestive manner that was very subtle.

DA likes to ram his bullshyte down people's throats. Even in the pieces he writes where he's trying to be lighthearted it comes across forced and full of fake personality. The guy has always been a dry, arrogant dbag but winning that Pulitzer for 'single-handedly saving the continent's ducks from the Louisiana poachers' in the 80's made him worse and really ruined him for good.

His shtick is unchanged today, 'shooting fewer ducks is conservation and righteous.'

The problem is we're not wanting to poach hundreds of ducks daily during the worst drought and lowest duck populations in modern times, we'd just like to get a crack at bwt before they migrate out while they're at record highs.

He's too ignorant to find a distinction between the two and too arrogant to ever contemplate being wrong.

[prairie hunter]

DA has to hunt there.

Remember when we parked his pickup camper on or near a WMA which was against the DNR overnight parking regs ?

With tail between legs he goes back to the dead hole.

His kids are older now and off on their own. Why would they return to hunt where no ducks fly ? They are more likely to meet up in the Dakotas or further west.

[Nershi]

I'm glad to hear you had a good shoot Lanyard. Mine was slow, which was expected after last weekends scouting. I knew where I could have gone to shoot ducks but it was a ways away and I would have missed out on the opening weekend shenanigans at the duck shack. It may have been my Grandpa's last time being able to partake in the tradition so I wanted to be there more than I wanted to travel to kill more ducks. We took a lot of shots, but most involved whiskey, not ammunition.

[lanyard]

I know that area too well Nershi. Find your self a spot off the channel, watch the birds fly the gauntlet just out of range, and listen to the pepper as they pass each stand. Always saw birds, but always seemed the other guy was in the better spot. Never hunted it enough to develop a "best" spot. Mostly down the Flowage.

I think tradition and not shooting is fine, or swapping out time in the blind for time around the card table. I don't have a problem with that, as you know! But when someone decides to forgo shooting for ambiance, I puke a little when they "report" how bad it was.

A guy I knew worked for an Orthopedic clinic and after a knee replacement at 45 years old the guy asks the doc, "Anything I can do to keep this one awhile?"... Doc answers, "Lose 200 lbs".

Just seems to me Anderson blames the knee. I didn't shoot ducks on the first day because I DIDN'T scout. Birds were there, but my spot wasn't huntable for the equipment I had. Rather than blame the knee, I figured I'd have been better off if I'd been able to get out there ahead of setting decoys and know what to expect. I blamed the guy that agreed to work in Yankton, SD on duck opener.

I saw the space station both mornings, several shooting stars and a wicked bright moon.... and am 1.7 birds away from MN Avg per hunter for last 2014....

Looks like I'll have a chance for a Thursday a.m. hunt, hopefully I claw above the average. There is one annual test question I work hard to answer: How many ducks did you shoot last year?

[Stute Slap]

Fun reading these posts.

I don't really duck hunt in MN anymore - mainly have the limited time I do have in other areas, and crow hunting is the ultimate for me.

But it's funny, when I think about MN opener and not hunting I didn't miss not shooting ducks last saturday - I missed going out drinking with my buddies, seeing the old places where I grew up and all the hunting I used to do there, all the old memories and not the hunting. (and we used to shoot a lot of ducks)

Kind made me sad that old tradition for me is probly gone, I had a lot of fun over the years. If you told me 18 years ago I wouldn't hunt MN opener I would have laughed in your face.

[lanyard]

Texting the guy I started hunting with at 6 a.m. opening day with a half hour to hunt before a 3 hour drive to Yankton to find out he's working on call all weekend.

We used to hunt 30+ days of a 60 day season. The only break was deer hunting, and even then we'd find a way to a blind. I tend to be outside the normal set of things that make me misty. Two things I was missing this last week with opener were my dog (2012) and my dad (2014).

For me the ritual is the guessing how early the first shot will be ahead of shooting time, mash stank in the nostrils, and the exhilaration of that cleaning the skunk out of the barrel with the first bird down. I've spent enough time hungover in a blind, back when I could pull it off. Too old, too lame to do that anymore. If I ever get advanced warning I'm going to be pushing daisies, hanging with friends or a tradition is not on my list. Finding opportunities to chase the skunk out of a barrel or grab a fish behind the gills, be cold and miserable, and pray I did enough just in case there's some ever after

Cleaning birds last night was great. Just the right amount. The days of two of us heading out duck and pheasant to come home and clean a couple limits of each make me tired just thinking about them.