Minnesota Waterfowl Hunting

Bailey wrote:I get it but sand lake gets 250000 ducks in November. That's when things get fun.

Fun till there is so much pressure they fly out after sunset.

Timely spring and summer rains throughout North Dakota's Prairie Pothole Region aided breeding efforts for mallards, northern pintails, blue-winged teal, and other ducks. Since then, cool temperatures have sent some of those local birds packing for warmer climes, but new birds from the north have helped keep the action hot for hunters during the first weeks of the season.

Duck season opened for resident hunters in late September, and Joe Fladeland has since spent several days in the Devils Lake area enjoying successful field hunting. "We received some late rains this summer that have delayed the harvest, but those fields that are out are providing some great action for both ducks and geese," he says. "The pea fields have been especially good, and you can't keep the ducks out of them. The lack of cover in those fields makes it difficult to hide, but if you take a little extra time it can be done. And it's worth it."

Fladeland, a pro-staffer for Avery Outdoors, says that leading up to opening day the wetlands in the Devils Lake area were holding a wide variety of ducks, but chilly overnight temperatures ushered out many of the birds, primarily bluewings and pintails.

"But there's no doubt that we've already picked up new birds from Canada," Fladeland adds. "Last week in particular we watched some sizeable flocks of migrating mallards move into the area."

Fladeland says that having ducks from the Canadian breeding grounds arrive in North Dakota by the first week of October has been the exception rather than the rule in recent seasons. He notes that there have been other peculiarities in the first weeks of the 2014 hunting season as well. "The biggest surprise has been the number of sandhill cranes and swans that have already moved into the state, which is just very unusual," he says. "I've seen snow geese and some lesser Canadas too. And I shot a drake mallard on opening day that was fully colored and had two curls. That's a first for me in all my years of hunting."

Eric Lindstrom, government affairs representative at Ducks Unlimited's Great Plains office in Bismarck, has noticed the same patterns in the central part of the state. "I was surprised to shoot a greenhead on opening day that was all dressed out and looking like a bird you'd see later in October, but I also shot a banded drake mallard this fall that was obviously a duck hatched this summer," he says. "We had good water in places early in the spring, then North Dakota received those rains throughout the summer, and I think we're seeing the results of such an extended nesting season."

h2ofwlr wrote:TC, that actually is a very descriptive adjective to what happened last Friday and Sat. A "pulse" of birds.

Al, that's actually a noun.

tornadochaser wrote:

Bailey wrote:I get it but sand lake gets 250000 ducks in November. That's when things get fun.

Fun till there is so much pressure they fly out after sunset.

Or feed in Nodak.

Well who went out and got them this morning?

Saw a ton of mallards but we were hunting a hay field...geese were almost non existent. Everything we saw was pretty much heading back to the roost at daybreak. With a spinner probably could have shot a lot of mallards.

Bailey wrote:Well who went out and got them this morning?

I drank beer and bass fished today.

Caught some big fat girls.

My asian friend yelling dance fat girl dance as I fought a fattie to the boat was awesome.
Almost fell off the front deck of my Nitro Z9 because I was laughing so hard.

Nice. Im going to do some fishing for fat girls this afternoon.

Lots of mallards worked the hay this morning, had a good shoot that my girlfriend and another female got to partake in, they had fun.

Public ground south zone, didnt see another hunter. Lots of shooting around us. We Started shooting at 648 and we had our 12 ducks (9 teal 3 woodies) by 707. Dogs were madd as he77 but me, im doing well