The Big Push!

[h2ofwlr]

Actually I predict it'll be happening Thursday (tomorrow) and Fri. I suspect it's picking up wind in ND over night and they'll ride the wind into Mn. Winds down here are to switch to the NW and gusty by mid afternoon. I think that tomorrow will be prime time for new ducks arriving.
What I'm worried about is it'll be a 1 and done. Meaning they blow right on past Mn down another 400 miles S of us and come Sat many (especially the mid migration ducks (Eg Widgeon, Gadwall's, Ring bill's, etc) will be mostly gone.

BTW I just looked at DL, ND - the 10 day forecast is 30s for the highs all next week and 20 for lows and low 30s for highs W-F, that'll start making ice up there by end of next week, (forecast via Intellicast). In S Mn they are talking 8 degrees warmer, so not worried about ice for a at least a couple of weeks yet.

As for Snow down here via NWS:
Rain will develop Thursday evening across Minnesota but will
transition to snow overnight and continue through Friday. There
may be occasional bursts of heavier snowfall rates. The snow may
also mix with rain again for a time Friday afternoon. Precipitation
will end Friday night.

There are a few complicating factors for accumulating snow. These
include near or above freezing temperatures, warm ground temperatures,
and rain mixing with the snow. Each could limit the amount of
accumulation significantly.

The forecast calls for 2 to 4 inches west of I-35 but accumulation
will likely be confined mainly to grassy areas. Slick spots may
form on the roads as temperatures fall several degrees below
freezing Friday night, or any time the snow falls heavily. Little
or no accumulation is expected in Wisconsin.

Map updated 4pm Wed.

[lanyard]

I'll be out this afternoon hunting a sheltered shore to catch the wind change as it moves from SW to NW.

May not get a lot of birds, but I'm high in anticipation.

Out tomorrow also. Will see what happens.

[h2ofwlr]

if the temps drop 2 degrees, there could be a LOT more snow than this.
Respect the wind guys as 35 to 60(western MN) MPH
map prediction is of 6AM this morning

[9manfan]

I hope it pushes way east of here........

[Bailey]

Thanks, ya wasn't the best this morning. Had a couple decent groups of ringers land right in the decoys 10 min before shooting time, pretty much no ringers flying once shooting opened. Had a flock of about 60 mallards come down from way up, thought for sure they'd come down right on top of us but they landed on the other side of the 60 acre lake. Once we got done decoy hunting we hit up 3 other small lakes, one had no ducks, one had 6, the third had a decent amount of ringers out there. Wish we could have hunted this afternoon and tomorrow, temps dropping all day and strong nw wind I'm sure there will be a few new birds. Seemed to be a lot of geese around, lot of swans as well. Fun to get up there was hoping for a few more birds around, gf has never been part of a ringer shoot

Heading to South Dakota Saturday. Buddy said the mallards are in. He found a lot of them this morning so the BIG PUSH is on.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk

[randywatson]

wednesday: bluebird day 58 variable wind. lots of buffies around. mallards are stale, some snows making their way in. feeds of 1-2k. not many tho.
thursday: winds nnw 30 gusting to 55. been out all day jumping protected sloughs. have shot a few fat grn heads. rest are ringers. not much for migration as we sit on a slough. hoping more birds roll in tom when the winds subside some.

[Bailey]

Just got the DU migration alert for South Dakota. As fowler said the BIG PUSH is on!

A series of cold fronts featuring strong winds out of the northwest have ushered the first migrating waterfowl of the season into South Dakota. Another round of wind and even some snow scheduled to hit the state in the coming days is expected to bring additional birds out of the north.
Locally produced ducks and geese provided steady action through the opening weeks of the season, says avid hunter and guide Ben Fujan, while recent hunts have been aided with the influx of fresh mallards into the northeastern corner of the state. “Mallard numbers are decent in some areas up here, but I’d say that our Canada goose and diver numbers are well above average for this time of the year,” he adds.

“We are in the midst of a large migration of gadwalls and wigeon right now, and this cold front is sure to bring in even more birds from the north,” Murano explains. “There are good numbers of canvasbacks and redheads showing up in the state, too, so all signs are pointing toward some really good hunting for the next couple of weeks.
“We are by no means at peak levels, in terms of mallard numbers, but with what we have for overall duck numbers in the state right now and what I expect us to pick up in the coming days, things are looking as good as they have for hunters in a long time.”

[maplelakeduckslayer]

Lot of mallards came in today around me

[maplelakeduckslayer]

Everything stopped to feed fields are ffull already

[Bailey]

Wed Oct 25, 2017 10:44 pm

Actually I predict it'll be happening Thursday (tomorrow) and Fri. I suspect it's picking up wind in ND over night and they'll ride the wind into Mn. Winds down here are to switch to the NW and gusty by mid afternoon. I think that tomorrow will be prime time for new ducks arriving.
What I'm worried about is it'll be a 1 and done. Meaning they blow right on past Mn down another 400 miles S of us and come Sat many (especially the mid migration ducks (Eg Widgeon, Gadwall's, Ring bill's, etc) will be mostly gone.

Once again Fowler is right on the money. The BIG PUSH is no myth!