How was your opener?

Rick Kyte

Rick Kyte

Well-known member
To tell the truth, I wasn't all that excited about the WI opener this season. In several scouting trips the past few weeks, I haven't seen as many birds as usual. And my favorite early season spots were filled in with vegetation due to low water levels through most of the summer.

But how could I face Mickey if I didn't give him a chance to prove himself right out of the blocks in his second season? We've been working the dummies pretty hard for the past 9 months. I could tell he was doing better after a so-so season last year. He made some good retrieves last year, but he was hesitant about jumping out of the boat and didn't like to swim through weeds and muck. He's been doing better with dummies, but there's nothing like the real thing to measure progress.

The only place I had seen a fair number of ducks in the past couple of weeks was on the Minnesota side of Pool 8 on the Upper Mississippi. So that's were we headed at 3:30am Saturday. I had never set up there before, and didn't know how popular it would be, so I got an early start. Turns out I was plenty early; it was another hour before the next boat arrived, but he came straight to the area I had come to, and after that it was one boat after another until the 9am shooting time.

What a morning! The best opener I've had in years, and I knew it was the best even before the first shot was fired. Ducks were everywhere: flocks of mallards setting down on top of us, woodies criss-crossing the marsh in every direction, huge flocks of blue-wings doing their synchonized aerial acrobatics.

And Mickey didn't disappoint. We were set up in some of the nastiest gunk the Mississippi backwaters have to offer, and he marked every bird, charged to the retrieve, and brought every one to hand.

TL1.JPG

We still have a few things to work on. He didn't hold until released. That wasn't a problem last season, and it generally isn't a problem during training with dummies. But dummies ain't birds, and his heart was pumping this weekend.

He also likes to take his time on retrieves. He'll charge to the bird, but once he gets it he changes to a leisurely pace. Here he is bring back a ring-neck, slowing down to see what the guys across the marsh are calling to.

TL2.JPG

All in all, a great opener. Lots of ducks, none lost, and a dog that seems to be maturing at the start of his second season.

Rick
 
Glad you had a good opener.
We had too much lightning and wind saturday morning to hunt in. We waited it out but couldn't get the boat in so we walked in to a smaller pond and just got a couple shots at teal flying by with a strong tail wind.

Sunday looked much better on radar when we left and the wind wasn't nearly as strong. We got the boat in and got set up an hour before shooting time. Then the lightning started to the west of us again. It was sliding NE so it stayed far enough to the west that it didn't threaten us. My brother in law checked the radar with his phone and to our surprise a large chunk of rain had built up to the south of us and was headed our way. The wind started to come up and it began to rain. Luckily there was very little lightning with this one so we decided to wait until the sun comes up to pick up.

About ten minutes after shooting time a teal landed near the decoys so we figured what the heck, there hadn't been the lighting we expected so there was no sense keeping the guns cased. Couldn't get that teal to fly but another flew over and I hit that one. Over the next hour we managed to get 5 teal in the rain and wind. Our hopes soared when we could see the clouds start to break up. We were wrong. As soon as the rain stopped so did the wind and in turn the ducks. Suddenly is was a very pleasant morning...with no ducks flying.

Well at least we got to shoot a couple ducks, get wet, bit by mosquitoes and step in a little smelly mud. Duck season has started.

Tim
 
11 days till our opener cant hardly wait especially when i hear of you all seeing woodies man id love too get my pups mouth on one of them dang always seem too take out before the opener in these parts one of the few birds i really and greadily want on my wall congrats too all
 
Rick:
Sounds like you had a great opening! I bypassed the Mississippi opener at pool 11 and hunted with my son on the Pestigo river in a heavy fog until noon. No ducks but lots of geese one to hand. Bow hunted deer in the evening--no deer. The color was outstanding and actually at peak in our area. Great weekend however.
wis boz
 
Carl,
At least you get the ducks when they're looking good. Early season ducks up here are all different shades of brown.
Rick
 
Tim,

Sorry to hear that the lightning ruined your opener. We had some rain late Saturday morning, but no lightning. My family all went to the annual Octoberfest parade in La Crosse and got soaked with all the other festers.

Hope the rest of your season goes well.

Rick
 
They might be pretty by time they get here but they sure are smart.
Heck, even the coots & buffies are a little blind shy by time I get a crack at them!
 
Rick,

Glad it went well for ya, we were about 5 miles north of you Sat. lookin at the west side firing line. Seemed to be more hunters than ducks. We tried out the blind I bought from Charlie S and I'm pretty happy with it, specially in the rain. Everybody else ran for cover when it started. I had a severe case of CHS (couldn't hit stuff), finally figured I hadn't changed chokes after goose hunting. Think I'm gonna hold off till next week then start taking some vacation time during the week so I can enjoy the peace and quiet out there.

George
 
that must suck having a 9am opener, ours is just after it gets light out like 5:45am or something.

glad you guys had a good one tho.

eddie
 
Minn and Wis both have 9am openers, after having noon openers for many years. The main reason I've heard, according to the DNR, is that having a 1/2 hour before sunrise opener would result in lots of accidents from hunters who are unfamiliar with locations and are setting up for the first time in the dark. The thing is, most of the guys are setting up in the dark anyway, and then just sitting for 3-4 hours.

Rick
 
Rick,

Good looking spot you had there. Glad you had a good opener and you had ducks. Not seeing much down here yet but we don't open until the 20th. Send them south would ya...;-)

Take care,

Ed L.
 
Great report! Thanks! It's been some 25 years since experiencing an opener in Wis. It brought back memories of the late morning arrivals, crowds at the ramps, and shot raining down, oh yeah and a couple topless female companions shedding the long johns on a warm afternoon. Hmm wasn't so bad!

Twas a bit less hectic here in Montana. But the wind did blow and the rain poured. I also had a case of CHS - almost two boxes for 7 birds.

Dave
 
It was an OK opener - nothing like last years excellent opener. Saturday saw me getting up at 3:00 to get a decent spot. As I walked into a local Qwik Trip. I ran into a former collegue getting ready to hunt the same area with his Dad and another buddy. Small world at 3:20 am. The race was now on to get the coveted spot on pool 4, Big Lake area.

Got to the landing ahead of my buddy and took the cover off the boat and was all set to launch, park and full throttle out to "the spot". Buddy has a 27 hp long tail and I knew I could beat him in the open water but I knew he had me the last mile or so where a mud motor has an advantage. Hopped in the truck and the keys were nowhere to be found. Got out of the truck and looked all over and couldn't find the suckers. Watch buddy jump ahead and launch. Ten minutes of looking and I found keys on rear bumper. Launch boat and head out. Pass who I thought was my former work collegue and smile only to find out later it wasn't him.

Get out to Big Lake and watch a group of two boats just pull into "the spot". Darn - this is the spot the ducks want to be. I set up in the same general area and get ready for the 5 hour wait until opener. Good thing I brought my Ipod, I'll just listen to some music for awhile until the sun comes up. Wait, where are the earbuds? Oh yeah, they are in the truck - darn again!!!

In the darkness I hear an airboat coming into the area I'm sitting in. I shine my light so he sees me. He is coming right at me - fast. I keep shining my light and he is still coming. I'm getting worried he is asleep at the wheel and get ready to bail out of the boat. At the last minute he turns and misses me by 15 feet or so. Turns his boat around to head out of the area I'm in and hits the throttle hard. I get blasted by his air and swamp water mixture. Lovely.

Around 7:30 my Dad, my son and a couple family friends make their way towards me (it was my job to get up early and reserve two spots for hunting). We rearrange boats and set-up the dekes and put up the blind. At 8:50 the guys in "the spot" shoot and immediately get scolded by everyone else in the vicinity about shooting way early.

Anyway, we hunt for 3 hours or so and knock down 12 teal (didn't even get a shot at a big duck and hardly saw a woodie which is real strange). We find 10 of the ducks and the guys dog behind me picks up one of our ducks. They had 4 in their party and they had full limits within 1.5 hours - wish I would have been 5 mintues earlier to beat them to "the spot".

It starts to rain and according to the weather station, it is going start raining real hard real soon. We begin picking up the dekes and for once the weatherman was spot on. The sky opens up and we get drenched. Sure is nice having on good gear.

We decide that Sunday we are not going to fight the crowds and weather (90% chance of rain) and pick 7:00 as a good time to get up and head out. Sure enough, no rain anywhere near and the skies are looking good. We get to Big Lake just as many other hunters are leaving for the day. Most have not done so well and want to get back in time to watch the Green Bay Packers/Viking "game". We set-up and begin having flocks of big ducks attempting to land in our dekes. It was nice as there was no one else in the swamp and we were able to work the birds. Ended up doing well for the day and my son got his first greenhead.

The skies are now turning dark and we figure we had an hour or so before we needed to pick up. Sure enough, we were off by 30 mimutes and the skies reallyopened up this time and just dumped. We even got a little hail thrown in for good measure on the ride back to the ramp. Big hail by the way and it hurt.

Good weekend all around. Another year with my Dad and son in the boat with me. These are cherished times and times that I know won't be here for too much longer. Next year is the last year that we will be able to hunt pool 4 as it is one of the areas being closed in 2009. It will be sad to see a family and friend tradition die after the 2008 opener but it is what it is.

Now to get ready for the diver hunt in Canada in a week for a week.

Mark W
 
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Despite the rough start, it sounds like a near perfect opener to me:
  • You hunted with three generations
  • Your son got his first greenhead
  • You didn't have to watch the Vikings get thumped (again)
What could be better than that?

Rick
 
You are right Rick, it was a great opener. As far as the whole duck hunt, it was darn near perfect. In terms of ducks in hand, could have been a little better but as we all know, it is not abou the number of ducks killed.

I was hoping to get back out this week and maybe on Sunday but the week got away from me and this weekend is my 25th college reunion so I figure I won't be much good early Sunday morning. Maybe next week.

Mark W
 
I went out to the SD border area, Ortonville to be specific. Found the ducks to be bunched up in some areas and gone in others. After a somewhat late start Sat. managed to find a spot and knock down a teal. Walker made a sweet retrieve on that one. Then the wind CAME UP. Left and did some scouting around. Confirmed Fri. findings of spotty numbers. Sun hunted different area in the rain and lightning which took the edge off somewhat. Lost one that dove and missed more than my share. It was good enough so that I will be on my way in a matter of hours out there again.
Rick, did you get a small package in the mail lately?
Hunt safe and have fun.
 
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