Mark W
Well-known member
Haven't seen anyone post their weekend reports so thought I would give it a go.
We hunt the far western edge of MN. Right at the continental divide actually. The area is called the prairie pothole region and it is named correctly. Lots of public land available and with it comes many hunters. Went out a little earlier than normal as we thought we would have some scouting to do as this area has received quite a bit of above average rainfall weeks. We were correct, water everywhere.
We typically hunt one slough in particular but as we age, getting to it is becoming very difficult. A belligerent farmer who thinks he controls the unimporved access road doesn't help matters. Last year he blocked the road with a couple of dump loads of large boulders..
While scouting, we ran into the new CO for the area. He stopped and we chatted. He said the early teal and youth waterfowl hunts we horrible. No ducks anywhere but in a couple of locations. We hoped he was wrong but weren't feeling to good about the next morning.
Last year I gained permission from a farmer who had land adjacent to the slough who was gracious and allowed up to walk along the perimeter of his fields. I called him again and asked if we could use the same access. He informed me that the field this year as planted in corn and it had not been harvested. I asked about the other fields he owns around the slough and he basically said the same. He did give me permission to access the slough anywhere on his proerty where I thought I could get to the water. Fantastic. We did find a spot where rain had wiped out his soybean field and it was maybe a 150 yard walk to the water and then a long paddle.
Got up early the next morning and off we went. Wen driving by the slough we passed several pickup trucks parked alongside the road and next to public land. We we bummed. Parked the trucks and unloaded all the gear. This is when having a 21 lbs Poke Boat is really great. Put it on the kayak cart (I need a new one as the old one just doesn't cut it any more. Any ideas? I need to get it farther off the ground). I carried in 10 plastic dekes and 6 blow up teal dekes (love the blow ups). Got to the water and paddled to our spot. Wind was exacatly 100% blowing the wrong was but I was confident it wouldn't matter on opener. Had a 2.5 hour wait till opening time and watched numerous falling stars, satellites, and more. Even saw saw Musks Starlink line above us. Amazing.
Threw out the decoys and it didn'ttake long before the ducks started coming in. I recently had cataract surgery and couldn't believe how much easier it was to identify ducks. Appears my shooting skills have improved as well as I had 6 ducks down inside 15 minutes. What was unusual this year was that no teal were sho this is all we typically shoot at this spot on opener). Filled a bag with Gadwall, Hen Pintail and a ringer. It wasone of my better shoots. Waited a little while for my huting partner to fill out and we were done for the day. What a hunt.
DAy two brouvht much of the same except we slept in a little longer. Prior to opening time, I saw out of the corner of my eye a big blur of something. It came in fast and at a high degree angle. It swopped in and tried to grab one of my decoys. turned out to be an eagle and can you imagine its surprise when its talons couldn't penetrate to plastic shell? Good thing it didn't go for one of the blow ups or the decoys Tom S passed onto me that he won in the DBF travelling decoy auction.
Decided not to hunt Monday morning as I have plans to hunt around home or at the cabin the next few days. Overall, a very rewarding opener.
Mark
We hunt the far western edge of MN. Right at the continental divide actually. The area is called the prairie pothole region and it is named correctly. Lots of public land available and with it comes many hunters. Went out a little earlier than normal as we thought we would have some scouting to do as this area has received quite a bit of above average rainfall weeks. We were correct, water everywhere.
We typically hunt one slough in particular but as we age, getting to it is becoming very difficult. A belligerent farmer who thinks he controls the unimporved access road doesn't help matters. Last year he blocked the road with a couple of dump loads of large boulders..
While scouting, we ran into the new CO for the area. He stopped and we chatted. He said the early teal and youth waterfowl hunts we horrible. No ducks anywhere but in a couple of locations. We hoped he was wrong but weren't feeling to good about the next morning.
Last year I gained permission from a farmer who had land adjacent to the slough who was gracious and allowed up to walk along the perimeter of his fields. I called him again and asked if we could use the same access. He informed me that the field this year as planted in corn and it had not been harvested. I asked about the other fields he owns around the slough and he basically said the same. He did give me permission to access the slough anywhere on his proerty where I thought I could get to the water. Fantastic. We did find a spot where rain had wiped out his soybean field and it was maybe a 150 yard walk to the water and then a long paddle.
Got up early the next morning and off we went. Wen driving by the slough we passed several pickup trucks parked alongside the road and next to public land. We we bummed. Parked the trucks and unloaded all the gear. This is when having a 21 lbs Poke Boat is really great. Put it on the kayak cart (I need a new one as the old one just doesn't cut it any more. Any ideas? I need to get it farther off the ground). I carried in 10 plastic dekes and 6 blow up teal dekes (love the blow ups). Got to the water and paddled to our spot. Wind was exacatly 100% blowing the wrong was but I was confident it wouldn't matter on opener. Had a 2.5 hour wait till opening time and watched numerous falling stars, satellites, and more. Even saw saw Musks Starlink line above us. Amazing.
Threw out the decoys and it didn'ttake long before the ducks started coming in. I recently had cataract surgery and couldn't believe how much easier it was to identify ducks. Appears my shooting skills have improved as well as I had 6 ducks down inside 15 minutes. What was unusual this year was that no teal were sho this is all we typically shoot at this spot on opener). Filled a bag with Gadwall, Hen Pintail and a ringer. It wasone of my better shoots. Waited a little while for my huting partner to fill out and we were done for the day. What a hunt.
DAy two brouvht much of the same except we slept in a little longer. Prior to opening time, I saw out of the corner of my eye a big blur of something. It came in fast and at a high degree angle. It swopped in and tried to grab one of my decoys. turned out to be an eagle and can you imagine its surprise when its talons couldn't penetrate to plastic shell? Good thing it didn't go for one of the blow ups or the decoys Tom S passed onto me that he won in the DBF travelling decoy auction.
Decided not to hunt Monday morning as I have plans to hunt around home or at the cabin the next few days. Overall, a very rewarding opener.
Mark
After about two hours we had two ducks to show for it. Gave up and went grouse hunting with some success, but it got too hot for Gunner after only an hour so I packed it in.