Hotspotoutdoors

REFUGE!!!

Was in north metro this morning... saw a few (by "few" I mean three) birds but not worth even going. I am skipping it until I head WC MN again for deer opener. Maybe next week during week, if I see something move it, but diver should be going now, hopefully it is just late and not non-existent...

saw alot of birds this morning but they kinda flew out just before shooting managed to draw a blank this morning but it was great to be out in the rain. I also thought I lost the water pump (impeller) today and it would of been one long A$$ paddle to the access and considering its a 18ft jon. man I bet I would still be out there, came to find out that the motor sucked up a little mud and after tinkering with it it was running great. whew that was scary

pretty much the same ting but it was the state park

Elwood and I saw and heard ducks this morning.

At least the wind is finally going to switch to a decent direction! It's gonna blow WNW tonight.

We may finally see some dakota ducks!!

Saturday morning was good for me. Lots of birds in the area SE of Hugo. Had a three groups land just out of range of me before sunrise. Lots more came looking. Finally had three mallards commit and I got all three. Heard a good amount of shooting by other groups in the area.

Sunday was another story. Fewer birds, less shooting by others, no shots for me and no birds would come to my decoys.

Same here... Saturday was a good morning. Lots of decoying divers. Pretty constant action too. Managed to throw a limit in the bag. Mix of bills, redhead, and ringies. Sunday was less windy with high skies. Got a couple hoods and one very nice ringie. Fun weekend.

4 of us went out sunday morning. It was by far the best shoot I have had this year. We ended with a 4 man limit of 16 mallards(14 drakes), 4 cans(3 drakes),2 redheads, and 2 gadwalls. We were in west central MN.

I figured today would be another good day! Congrats on your hunt duckman! I sure wish I could have been out today.

hey duckman, very nice to hear the ducks are on the move--I hunt out in west central MN also so I might have to check out some of the spots and see how they all are---hunting all over water or some field hunting?

How are the fields--still wet out there? Any corn or beans picked yet?

The area of West Central I was in yesterday is still pretty much under water........ . It's kind of crazy.

out in sc minn not much flyin this morning, but did manage to fold a smilee and a honker

Today was the first day that i have noticed Goldeneyes on Lake Bemidji. Good numbers scattered along the South Shore. Finally something other than a million pencilbeaks on the lake.

Lots of swans in the area too...not a good sign for freeze up.

seen quite few birds tonight all rafted up and managed one bluebill and one buffie

Managed to limit out this morning and saw lots of birds flying. Saw quite a few buffies,goldies,redheads,bills and mallards. A buddy went this afternoon and said they were moving good.

Made a trip over to Green Bay(the bay, not the city) the last two days. Very cool hunt. Did not shoot a ton of ducks, but it was fun just watching the thousands of divers flying around the bay. I have never hunted big water like that or seen as many birds. The birds we got included bluebills, redheads, goldeneye, bufflehead, gadwall, green-wing teal, and ringneck.

Jumped a private slough that I have permission on about 0830 this morning.

Kicked about 20 Mallards up.

Did not shoot, hoped they would come back.

15 minutes or so later they started to filter back.

Let the first few land and then BANG BANG BANG.

2 Plump Green Heads hit the water.

While the dog was retrieving them a single Mallard dropped in and did not get away.

3 Plump Greenheads for 30 minutes of work.

Also forgot to mention I shot a ruddy duck on monday, though it was a hen. Never even seen one of those before.

Nice lunker. Shot my first one this year to

I thought shooting a ruddy is like shooting a coot. They can hardly even fly. I could have shot a boat load of em in ND but saved the cooler space for Mals, bills, and snows. =) Always fun to add another species to the list tho.

The one i shot came in like a normal diver. They can move pretty good if they are going with the wind

Got out this morning on the river, shot just one mallard, 1 shot the whole day = duck to the taxiderist! thats all i saw for ducks other than a pair of mallards that cam by before shooting and then a couple small groups of geese aswell... thats it.

11-7 I saw plenty of birds. The ducks weren't cooperating with my decoys, ended up with two mallards. Geese were flying all around, not to me, but around. Pass-shot two small ones. The deer hunters in the area were doing well from the sound of it.

11-8 no ducks would come to my decoys, geese were still flying though. Ended up with 1 large goose that made the mistake of flying over me, was big enough I weighed it just to see. 13lb 5oz.