The 2011 Minnesota Duck Season kicked off last weekend. Before Logan and I headed out to our property in Western MN I took in a morning of bow hunting. I had a nice cool morning with a temp of 37 degrees and a light 5-8 mph northwest wind. Since I hunted my core area the previous weekend I decided to hunt a new stand I set this summer. The stand sits about 60 yards south of a huge cattail marsh with thick bedding cover to my east. Other than a doe at first light my morning was very uneventful. The high note of my morning hunt was pulling my trail cameras and finding a huge 10 point was roaming the farm. This is a deer I haven't seen before. Below are 2 pictures of the big fella.
Opening morning Logan and I decided to setup in the field we had hunted during the early goose a few weeks ago. We had a temp around 42 degrees and a 10-15 mph south wind. Right before legal shooting time we had a flock of 6 mallards set into the decoys. The hunt went straight downhill from there. All we could muster into the spread over the next hour was a single goose that I called in from way up in the air. The goose took 3 full circles of the spread before finally putting down his landing gear and giving my a 5 yard shot.
With no ducks working the field Logan and I hustled down to Logan's Honey Hole with Oshie around 8 AM. Within seconds of getting set up we had a bluewing teal in the bag. Oshie also made her first official water retrieve on a duck.
The duck movement was really slow for an opener. We ended up killing 1 bluewing, 1 greenwing, and 2 drake mallards before calling it a day at 11:15 AM. I should have scratched a limit but I struggled shooting from the boat.....School Boy! I Also think the high water is starting to effect the puddle duck numbers in our area.
Sunday morning found Logan and I back in Logan's Honey Hole. We hunted with Joe Salato in the A.M. and had clear skies, temps in the low 50's and a light south breeze. Once again the duck movement was very slow. I killed a drake mallard the first minute of legal shooting time and we got to watch Oshie chase down her first wounded bird. After that things slowed right down. We ended the morning with 1 goose, 2 drake wood ducks, 3 drake mallards, 1 bluewing, and 1 greenwing teal. Not the greatest of openers but still a fun weekend. We will be back next weekend to see if things pick up!
Opening morning Logan and I decided to setup in the field we had hunted during the early goose a few weeks ago. We had a temp around 42 degrees and a 10-15 mph south wind. Right before legal shooting time we had a flock of 6 mallards set into the decoys. The hunt went straight downhill from there. All we could muster into the spread over the next hour was a single goose that I called in from way up in the air. The goose took 3 full circles of the spread before finally putting down his landing gear and giving my a 5 yard shot.
With no ducks working the field Logan and I hustled down to Logan's Honey Hole with Oshie around 8 AM. Within seconds of getting set up we had a bluewing teal in the bag. Oshie also made her first official water retrieve on a duck.
The duck movement was really slow for an opener. We ended up killing 1 bluewing, 1 greenwing, and 2 drake mallards before calling it a day at 11:15 AM. I should have scratched a limit but I struggled shooting from the boat.....School Boy! I Also think the high water is starting to effect the puddle duck numbers in our area.
Sunday morning found Logan and I back in Logan's Honey Hole. We hunted with Joe Salato in the A.M. and had clear skies, temps in the low 50's and a light south breeze. Once again the duck movement was very slow. I killed a drake mallard the first minute of legal shooting time and we got to watch Oshie chase down her first wounded bird. After that things slowed right down. We ended the morning with 1 goose, 2 drake wood ducks, 3 drake mallards, 1 bluewing, and 1 greenwing teal. Not the greatest of openers but still a fun weekend. We will be back next weekend to see if things pick up!
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