NR Minnesota Waterfowl

[OntarioHunter]

you keep posting stuff like this you're gonna find me in your back pocket one day.

Thanks ... I think. Actually I would feel better about a 35 year-old blonde knockout with a good job digging into my FRONT pocket. Yeah, that would feel a lot better I'm sure. Well, okay ... 55 year-old who still fits on one barstool would work I guess. Sigh.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Keep driving into Canada and you will see waterfowl hunting like you could only imagine. Licenses are cheap and people are accommodating. I usually have about a month of fantastic goose hunting if everything cooperates (especially getting the crops off the fields - often the weather screws that up). This is a small area and getting competitive since moose hunting has been exploited to death. Bush hunters are shifting their game. Last year goose hunting sucked. They just didn't come and no one knows why. The flyway is definitely shifting around. This year I may shift further north of here or west to Manitoba. The country north of Winnipeg is fantastic. Great bear hunting, trout and walleye, and deer and elk. Lakes large and small everywhere. Fields are rolling hills broken by potholes and timber pockets. Prettiest place on earth I think. I suspect travel restrictions will be lifted by October. Getting your guns across is no problem if you're going hunting. Declare them and fill out a temporary possession license. Get a US ATF Form 6 done ahead of time to bring them back to US. I don't think you'll need it but good to have if some US border person gets full of himself. I understand they can be done on line and three day turnaround. US will only allow you to depart the country with 5,000 rounds of ammo. That should be enough unless you are a skybuster. Anyone who comes up here and does that should be in a rubber room. It's just not necessary. You can (and almost certainly will) shoot upwards of forty ducks and geese a day and take back as many white geese as you can shove in a reefer semi. Here the possession limit on black geese is also unlimited (daily limit is five and doubles the first ten days of season).

The only thing that could put a wrinkle in Canada hunting is a criminal record and even that can usually be overcome if one jumps through the bureaucratic hoops early enough (and offense is not serial murder). Any record for possession of grass would undoubtedly get rubber stamped okay quickly because it's legal up here now.

Also, if you're pricing it out, keep in mind the exchange rate on Canadian dollars is very favourable for you ... and getting more so every day since our latest federal budget was tabled this week.

I only know of two outfitters for waterfowl. One in Manitoba and one in Saskatchewan. I would not reccomend the SK guy (though hunting was good) but the Manitoba fella is great. Only fished with him as a friend but saw how his operation was run and of course fell in love with the country there. It is unbelievable. Best kept secret in North America. He had just finished up spring bear season. 27 clients left with 27 bears. Always said I would relocate there when I retired but my wife and son are buried here and my grandson, who is spitting image of his uncle, has a very special bond with Papa. Like his late uncle, he's autistic. I'm needed here.View attachment 181102This is late great Pearl on her last day waterfowl hunting five years ago. That's two limits of honkers and a lone snow ... taken from one flock. Note the patches of missing hair from IVs on both front legs. She was battling autoimmune disease. She beat it (and glioma brain cancer the previous year) but kidney disease took her following March. Tough dog! She retrieved all but one of the eleven geese from a weed choked slough. Opal retrieved one before Pearl told her off.

Canada is definitely on the waterfowl bucket list. I don't know how it could not be!

 

[Zootownelk]

I would look at ND or KS if I were you.

 

[get-n-birdy]

Minnesota has lost over half its waterfowl hunters, and for good reason. There's birds to be had but little to no consistency.

Draw a circle within 2 hrs of the twin cities and forget about most of those areas.

The se part of the state has the Mississippi river, but it's crowded and prone to slow, stale birds. If ur not running a mud motor and setup well for shallow water, it's tough to hunt.

The western and sw areas have good hunting on wpa's and wma's but it's fickle and can get hunted hard during the early season and is prone to the October lull. Carrying decoys or small double enders are the norm. Most of the sloughs are muddy and tough to walk in.

There's the big water of the north central part of the state. That's usually hit or miss. Big boats, big diver spreads are a given in a lot of those areas. And the amount of fall fishing has increased enough to be a problem keeping birds in rest areas on big waters.

There's little chance to get on private, unless you have an in, and even that's not a lock.

Nw mn has thief lake, Roseau river wma's and lake of the woods.

Western mn has big stone, traverse, marsh lake, etc.

Central mn has Leech, Winnie, etc.

And se has the river bottoms. No secrets spots left with all the mapping tools available now.

NoDak is a way better, more consistent producer for a freelancer.

Good luck with it!

 

[OntarioHunter]

I drive through NW MN every fall to hunt uplands in Montana. Usually Roseau to Thief River and down to Grand Forks to catch Hwy 2 west. Always around 20 October. I usually see lots of waterfowl along that stretch. Looks to be great pheasant country too but in all these years I've yet to see one on the road dead or alive. Strange.

 

[huntin24/7]

I don’t think there’s much of any chance for Canada being open to hunting for non residents this fall. I grew up waterfowl hunting in North Dakota. The best times were almost always the first week (pounding on the local birds) and then late season (late oct/early nov). Late season was always my favorite. Usually there were more birds, they were mature birds, and there weren’t so damn many other hunters. The only downside is that you could end up driving through bad weather. The opener may not be as good this year with the drought either. There’s always the option of a late season waterfowl/pheasant hunt in some parts of the dakotas too.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Minnesota has lost over half its waterfowl hunters, and for good reason. There's birds to be had but little to no consistency.

Draw a circle within 2 hrs of the twin cities and forget about most of those areas.

The se part of the state has the Mississippi river, but it's crowded and prone to slow, stale birds. If ur not running a mud motor and setup well for shallow water, it's tough to hunt.

The western and sw areas have good hunting on wpa's and wma's but it's fickle and can get hunted hard during the early season and is prone to the October lull. Carrying decoys or small double enders are the norm. Most of the sloughs are muddy and tough to walk in.

There's the big water of the north central part of the state. That's usually hit or miss. Big boats, big diver spreads are a given in a lot of those areas. And the amount of fall fishing has increased enough to be a problem keeping birds in rest areas on big waters.

There's little chance to get on private, unless you have an in, and even that's not a lock.

Nw mn has thief lake, Roseau river wma's and lake of the woods.

Western mn has big stone, traverse, marsh lake, etc.

Central mn has Leech, Winnie, etc.

And se has the river bottoms. No secrets spots left with all the mapping tools available now.

NoDak is a way better, more consistent producer for a freelancer.

Good luck with it!

That is a lot of information!

We have scrapped the MN idea now. We'll dig into the info for other states.
We are trying to figure out a hog hunt(turns out a lot of states are unfriendlyor expensive to public land hog hunters), whichever state we wind up in may be where we duck hunt

 

[Nick87]

I don’t think there’s much of any chance for Canada being open to hunting for non residents this fall. I grew up waterfowl hunting in North Dakota. The best times were almost always the first week (pounding on the local birds) and then late season (late oct/early nov). Late season was always my favorite. Usually there were more birds, they were mature birds, and there weren’t so damn many other hunters. The only downside is that you could end up driving through bad weather. The opener may not be as good this year with the drought either. There’s always the option of a late season waterfowl/pheasant hunt in some parts of the dakotas too.

I only get one week to hunt out of state, there are times I'm secretly hoping I dont draw my big game tag so that I can break away from the group and duck hunt ND.

 

[thusby]

I only get one week to hunt out of state, there are times I'm secretly hoping I dont draw my big game tag so that I can break away from the group and duck hunt ND.

Been there.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Been there.

Yep. Hunting in a merry band never worked for me either. Again, it's why dogs make the best hunting partners. Just wish they lived longer.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I have shot a fair number of moose. The way most guides do it is they call the bull in. Not my thing. I have shot several and never used a call. Tracked/stalked all of them but one which I happened to spot from the road. Sheep hunting is pure spot and stalk. The purest. Definitely my thing! So you are talking about apples and oranges. Glad you didn't put shooting bears over bait on that list. Then it would be apples, oranges, and rotten eggs.

 

[Nick87]

 

[F250]

WestKyHunt, I have hunted waterfowl in several of the places mentioned in this thread :Kansas, North Dakota, Ontario, Saskatchewan (dozens of times). Always DIY. Nothing can compare to Canada. If you don't want to deal with the border, I would suggest North Dakota. LOTS of government land gives you access to some very good hunting. I also found the farmers to be friendly, and access was usually granted with polite manners. Upland birds will add a little extra fun there.

 

[WestKyHunt]

WestKyHunt, I have hunted waterfowl in several of the places mentioned in this thread :Kansas, North Dakota, Ontario, Saskatchewan (dozens of times). Always DIY. Nothing can compare to Canada. If you don't want to deal with the border, I would suggest North Dakota. LOTS of government land gives you access to some very good hunting. I also found the farmers to be friendly, and access was usually granted with polite manners. Upland birds will add a little extra fun there.

Pheasants would definitely add a reason to go!

 

[JShane]

Not to derail the thread here but you can sure tell the waterfowlers have been hungry for a chance to talk anything duck related. Me included.

 

[NR_Hunter]

Unless you have access to a ton of private land in a few specific areas of the state, I’d go almost anywhere else besides MN, and I’m saying this as a MN resident.

Drive to ND, feel free to PM me if you need any general pointers or info on ND.

 

[NR_Hunter]

I drive through NW MN every fall to hunt uplands in Montana. Usually Roseau to Thief River and down to Grand Forks to catch Hwy 2 west. Always around 20 October. I usually see lots of waterfowl along that stretch. Looks to be great pheasant country too but in all these years I've yet to see one on the road dead or alive. Strange.

very very few pheasants in NW MN. Lived up that way and heard only a few crowing in the 2 years I was up there. Not sure why there are lots of pheasants in similar habitat out west but almost none in NW MN. Much better for sharp tailed and ruffed grouse.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

very very few pheasants in NW MN. Lived up that way and heard only a few crowing in the 2 years I was up there. Not sure why there are lots of pheasants in similar habitat out west but almost none in NW MN. Much better for sharp tailed and ruffed grouse.

Cackling*

 

[NR_Hunter]

Cackling*

crow**. There’s a difference.


Never heard any cackle, cause I never even saw one flush. I did hear some crow tho.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3802135

HOW TO DO A CROWING COUNT FOR PHEASANTS - Michigan United Conservation Clubs

By Anna Mitterling, MUCC, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator Believe it or not, pheasants are starting to make a comeback in different parts of Southern Michigan. The trail camera picture shows a flock of pheasants flying by, and believe it or not, those are pheasants on a parcel of well managed...

mucc.org

 

[Deleted member 38069]

crow**. There’s a difference.


Never heard any cackle, cause I never even saw one flush. I did hear some crow tho.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3802135

HOW TO DO A CROWING COUNT FOR PHEASANTS - Michigan United Conservation Clubs

By Anna Mitterling, MUCC, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator Believe it or not, pheasants are starting to make a comeback in different parts of Southern Michigan. The trail camera picture shows a flock of pheasants flying by, and believe it or not, those are pheasants on a parcel of well managed...

mucc.org

Alright, chief. Though* let’s see a reference for tho.