Saskatchewan

Paul Meisenheimer

Paul Meisenheimer

Well-known member
I took an extra day on our recent long weekend and drove to Saskatchewan to visit a friend and do a little hunting. Despite the cold and snow we had a good few days and managed to get into the birds. We hunted both fields and sloughs and also did a little upland walking.

The mallards were flying as were the BW teal. I was surprised to see so many as they are normally early migrators. One day we had flocks of 10 to 20 come through every half hour or so. We also encountered a large number of cackling geese. When you have them in hand you realize how small they are. We had one hen mallard that was larger than any of them. A few widgeon, quite a few canvasbacks, and assorted other species completed the take. Last year we limited on pintails one day (4 each) and this year only managed one. Strange how much things change in a year. Last year we didn't shoot a teal and this year we could have filled our limits with nothing but teal. We passed on a lot to focus on the canvasbacks instead.

Our upland walk produced a nice collection of sharp-tailed and ruffed grouse.

After last year's carnage photos I vowed I wouldn't do that again. These will give you a sense of the weather. :) With our generous limits we took more birds than a person should need.




 
It was good to hear you had such a great time, Paul. Congratulations on that very successful long weekend of hunting.
Al
 
Good morning, Paul~

Congratulations on a wonderful trip! The variety of birds must be a real thrill.

That blowing snow took me by surprise - I've still got lots of leaves to rake before Old Man Winter comes to visit.

All the best,

SJS
 
Paul - Thanks for bringing back the memories with a few photo's. The great wide open, weather and the birds of Sask. never cease to amaze. Cant' wait to return...
 
SNOW! WOW! Those pictures look like something from the dead of winter! Everything is still super green here in my Oklahoma neck of the woods and hot as well.
 
Cans and teal would be an awesome combination to hunt! Nice trip
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We hunted a good size slough (80 acres) that had nothing but canvasbacks and teal with a few mallards for good measure. Pretty cool. They just kept coming.
 
SNOW! WOW! Those pictures look like something from the dead of winter! Everything is still super green here in my Oklahoma neck of the woods and hot as well.
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I could use a little warmth right now. I had to do some serious scraping on my truck windows this morning.
 
Looks chilly!

Not often you get to shoot bluewings in the snow.
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The teal surprised the heck out of me. Funny thing is that we didn't see any GW teal. I was dressed for the weather and even had a little nap in the laydown blind one morning.
 
Good morning, Paul~

Congratulations on a wonderful trip! The variety of birds must be a real thrill.

That blowing snow took me by surprise - I've still got lots of leaves to rake before Old Man Winter comes to visit.

All the best,

SJS
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Thanks Steve. In 2013 we hunted an area a little west of where we were this year. We harvested 17 species in three days. I don't think we managed that many this year but still pretty remarkable.

Good luck with the leaves. Ours are long gone.
 
It was good to hear you had such a great time, Paul. Congratulations on that very successful long weekend of hunting.
Al
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Thanks Al. Just wish that Drake could have accompanied me. Jason has two yellow labs, one of which is also Drake. That would have been confusing.
 
Yeah gonna be cold here this weekend, lows in the lower 50's and a high of only 75!!! :)
 
I had a mixture of GWs and BWs last weekend. It surprised me as well still seeing the BWs around. I figured they were long gone.
 


That blowing snow took me by surprise - I've still got lots of leaves to rake before Old Man Winter comes to visit.

All the best,

SJS
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Leaves to rake? They are still on the trees here in Maine! October snow is not unheard of--I once refereed a water polo tournament on Halloween where we played the final game with no lights after the power was lost--but it's rare.

Great report. I once shot a greenwing on Thanksgiving Day and had to break ice in the salt marsh to retrieve it. A blue wing in the snow is way beyond that. Sounds like a fun hunt.
 
Paul - Thanks for bringing back the memories with a few photo's. The great wide open, weather and the birds of Sask. never cease to amaze. Cant' wait to return...
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Vince, thanks for the comments.

The sky seems to go on forever. On the 9 hour drive home I probably saw in excess of 500,000 waterfowl. The Reed Lake area was spectacular.

The geese were interesting to compare. Cacklers, lesser and giant geese all made an appearance. Pretty neat to lay them side by side.
 
Paul -

Sask. is waterfowlers paradise, as far as I'm concerned. Hard work,long drives and well worth it, for sights and sounds you will see nowhere else. Cacklers are my favorite Canada goose, and just about every size of Canada goose is there, as you well know. It's the Seeing that takes my breath away, waterfowl by the hundreds of thousands, if not a million. Not to mention the Shorebirds if you get there early enough.

I consider myself blessed to have been a guest there, to "See The Show" several times. Wonderful folks that always made us feel welcome. God Bless Them.

Not once did we ever come home without a broken windshield (from the torque of the vehicle from following birds), minor or major vehicle and shotgun issues. Prices we were always willing to pay.

When I look at your snow photo's, all I can think about is trying to drive on the "Loon $hit" after it melts. Long walks, and friendly farmers to always help us out. Not to mention industrial strength black mud on everything.

I can recall laying in a pea field and in four directions seeing bright sun, a rainbow, rain and snow all at one time.

The feeling of being "Home" is what always made it so difficult to leave...
 
What beautiful pictures. I am envious. There are very few things in life I enjoy more than duck hunting during a snow storm. The sights, sounds and isolation is second to none. Thanks for sharing.

Mark W
 
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Funny you mention the mud and bogs Vince. We dropped through in one spot and stopped dead sitting on the frame. A call to a friend with a bigger truck and a long rescue strap solved the problem. Lots of fun. Those remote roads get wet and they are slicker than... (Fill in the blank). LOL
 
SNOW! WOW! Those pictures look like something from the dead of winter! Everything is still super green here in my Oklahoma neck of the woods and hot as well.
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I could use a little warmth right now. I had to do some serious scraping on my truck windows this morning.
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Feel free to come down to FL Paul. We have PLENTY of warmth and there is no scraping of windows....except when the love bugs are thick.

Neat pictures and I too think that cans and teal would be a great combo. I have a place here that very occasionally will offer up a combo like that.

Dani
 
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