Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

Alot of birds I shoot I have no idea what it is. Early season I can not tell drake woodies from hen woodies. Many diver ducks I can not tell a hen from a drake til it is hand.

And with all these do gooders how in Help do all these cross bred ducks get shot?

I have shot several cross bred ducks and enjoy it. When they were flying I ID'ed them wrong.

Iding ducks is very hard to do and I am better then most at it. While hunting with Bender I said I just dropped a hen black duck no one believed me until he ran out there (like a dog) and grabbed it and was shocked. So I can ID ducks but not close to everyone I shoot.

Do you know what your shooting every single time?

D.T. Hammer wrote:Do you know what your shooting every single time?

Nope, but I know it's legal.

I might not know if it's a hen or drake mallard at low light early in the year but if I'm pulling up and dropping a pair I'll have room in my bag for a pair of hen mallards if I'm rolling the dice. If I don't have room in my bag....well I won't roll the dice then.

Shooting a limit of teal would be absolutely no problem for me. I used to hunt the IA early split every year and although a regular season limit could be shot we targeted teal. I have all kinds of pics of 4 to 6 man limits of teal. No "mistake ducks" in the pile. It's easy.

Fish Felon wrote:

D.T. Hammer wrote:Do you know what your shooting every single time?

Nope, but I know it's legal.

I might not know if it's a hen or drake mallard at low light early in the year but if I'm pulling up and dropping a pair I'll have room in my bag for a pair of hen mallards if I'm rolling the dice. If I don't have room in my bag....well I won't roll the dice then.

Thanks for being honest. I believe that is how most guys hunt, myself included.

Hammer

I Id every duck before I pull the trigger, it just that I'm about 50% until the green heads color up. Ain't chitting either.

Good eye sight and being an avid bird watcher helps. And being a fat @ss, lazy bass turd who doesn't like to get up to early helps a lot. Hard to id birds when it's dark out. I get made fun of for how close I like birds and view 25 yards as a long shot. Prefer birds in that 10-15 yard range. Once again fat and lazy wins out. Everything is easier the closer birds are. It's usually cheaper on shells to.

Early season I usually have no clue. If it flies in, is brown and doesn't have a white bill, I just shoot and hope it isn't a species that's restricted.

Teal are hard to ID..........

emptymag wrote:

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Teal are hard to ID..........

Man thats alot of mallards.

sent from your under your bed

D.T. Hammer wrote:Alot of birds I shoot I have no idea what it is. Early season I can not tell drake woodies from hen woodies. Many diver ducks I can not tell a hen from a drake til it is hand.

And with all these do gooders how in Help do all these cross bred ducks get shot?

I have shot several cross bred ducks and enjoy it. When they were flying I ID'ed them wrong.

Iding ducks is very hard to do and I am better then most at it. While hunting with Bender I said I just dropped a hen black duck no one believed me until he ran out there (like a dog) and grabbed it and was shocked. So I can ID ducks but not close to everyone I shoot.

Do you know what your shooting every single time?

I was thinking about this today actually. And the answer is pretty darn close to yes, with a lot of what FF said about simply knowin it's a legal bird especially in low light. It's an incredibly rare day I pick up a bird and say "whoa... I was way off". and when it happens its usually hen divers. I haven't miss id'de a teal since youth day.

There was a time I wouldn't shoot anything unless it was a drake or a mistake. Wouldn't shoot teal, buffies, goldeneyes, gads, or spooners at various points in my career, too.

Which means I've cheated myself and my dog out of a lot of enjoyable mornings. Hunting just ain't that much fun when you've got your panties that bunched up!

These days I try to select drakes, but I don't sweat it at early light or early in the season.

Many blackducks got a free pass because I was sitting there withmy thumb up my butt wondering if it was a hen or drake mallard. Stupid.

Trigger wrote:I was thinking about this today actually. And the answer is pretty darn close to yes, with a lot of what FF said about simply knowin it's a legal bird especially in low light. It's an incredibly rare day I pick up a bird and say "whoa... I was way off". and when it happens its usually hen divers. I haven't miss id'de a teal since youth day.

Pretty much this besides early light. I don't do much shooting till light. Only because I want the roost birds to stick around.

sent from your under your bed