The forecast calls for highs in the 50’s and 60’s in Mitchell, SD this weekend with moderate to heavy south winds.

Lots of geese stacked on the Missouri River section from Lewis & Clark Lake to Lake Andes.  Look for a big migration over I-90 this weekend with birds hitting the sheetwater fields around the Highway 212 corridor.

I expect Sand Lake to see it’s first birds by Monday or Tuesday.

Good luck everyone and have a safe weekend!

It started a few days before as we prepared for the arrival of relatives to my family’s house. My brother hadn’t gotten much of a chance to waterfowl hunt this past fall, so I wanted to put him on a lot of birds. I scouted an area I’m quite familiar with and it was holding a good couple thousand canadas. After a call to the landowner, we were set to go for the weekend. The only real question was, would anyone want to go?

Well that didn’t last too long as my brother volunteered as well as my good friend Jon Mitzel from Bismarck, and his friend, Jason Fowler. So with 4 takers, it was going to happen.

We drove down the highway with the trailer packed, ready to setup. The birds weren’t moving until late morning or early afternoon, so we took our sweet time getting there. By the time we got to the field, there was a few flocks already starting to come off the roost. With the extreme weather, I think the birds wanted to get into the field and start melting and thrashing a meal before the snow cover got even harder. In the sky, some flocks were thinking otherwise as they migrated south for greener pastures.

We hoped out and setup a modest spread of only around 4-5 dozen fullbodies, laid on top of the snow without bases to simulate loafing geese in the snow. With just a couple shovels, we had our blinds dug into the snow in minutes. With snow covers and a shovel, we made our blinds literally disappear in the 1-2 foot snow cover. After all the gear was in the blinds, I pulled out of the field to the road to park the vehicle. By the time I got within 100 yards of the spread, there was already a pair of geese locked up and landing in the spread. With a couple shots, we were already on the board and I wasn’t in the spread yet. Given the cold temperatures, I don’t think anyone wanted to sit any longer then we had to. When I got to the blind, I looked at my brother and couldn’t believe what I saw. He was laughing because his eyelashes were freezing up, causing shooting to be difficult. If you’ve ever been out in really cold weather, you know how this feels.

For the next 20 minutes, flocks came off consistently. Almost every small flock locked up at a distance and dropped on down. There’s few things that beat watching large canadas glide into a spread. And if it weren’t for the weather, I would’ve stayed out there all day taking pictures. But in reality, neither my body nor my camera would allow that so we each took our 3 geese and I was up and out of the blind to get the vehicle. Thank goodness the hunt only took a half hour, not even enough time to feel the cold on my hands. But I had to walk against the wind on the 400-yard walk. The wind cut through my face mask like a fillet knife cutting into butter; you just have to take it.

After a quick pickup, we were back on the road home. My face felt hot as it was literally thawing out from the cold. My brother and I chuckled at the hunt and how ridiculous the elements were, but at the same time we both admitted we’d do it all over again (and I did the following morning). My wife was quick to remind me on the phone of how “nuts” we were for hunting in that weather, but at the same time she’s seen it all too often before. She married an avid waterfowler, so who’s really nuts?

Last feed of the year for us

The Last Open Water Mallards

The spring hatch reports first came in marginal. There was a lot of information thrown around by armchair biologists, and like all reports you have to take it with a grain of salt. Hundreds of pairs of eyes taking the field in September up by the Canadian treeline can often call a forecast better than any, and they were right. As September turned to October, more of these same phone calls and emails came in as hunters were boasting some of their best hunting ever; and for good reason. The juvy hatch this year in what appears to be most of the Central and Mississippi flyways looks to be one of the best in a long time. And I’m not speaking as a biologist, but from countless pictures and videos from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Even the front end of the migration has a good amount of juvies, which isn’t something you normally see.

So when mid-October came around, I loaded up the decoy trailer and packed my suitcase and I was off to meet my partners for our annual trip to Saskatchewan. I heard various reports from hunters the week prior to our departure, and overall it seemed to be a steady but overall slow migration. With another fall full of mild temperatures in the U.S. and Canada, they just didn’t have any urgency to migrate. In fact, when we arrived at our usual location in Canada, the bulk of the migration was still north of us. But we had enough in the area for good hunting, and the juvenile hatch had everything to do with it.

We had highs and lows during our snow goose hunting trip. We usually take a “gentleman’s hunt” approach to this trip, and this year was no different. I left most of the “trinkets” at home, and only brought up the essentials to our spread. I feel a lot of gadgets and tricks we use on adults aren’t really needed when there are a lot of juveniles in the area. Keep it manageable and simple, and choose your location wisely. A simple equation for good snow goose hunting during these conditions. Weather didn’t seem to matter. In fact, our best morning we didn’t have a cloud in the sky and light winds. But the flyway came early and was stacked full of juvies and ross. And when they came, it was with reckless abandonment that brough in the larger flocks as well. We were done by sunrise, it was some of the fastest hunting I’ve had in awhile.

One day, there was a large feed taking place right behind a farm. We had permission from the farmer and we sneaked in close to look for neck collars. I was able to crawl up to a weed edge and took hundreds of photos of the nearby flock. It clearly shows what everyone has been saying, and that the flock consisted of an enormously high volume of young birds. We even found 3 neck collars in this feed, although the guys never got a shot at any of them. I’m sure the guys at the USFWS I know are probably cringing that we were scoping collars (as it can affect research to some degree).

I’m going to make what I feel is an obvious prediction, and I expect the rest of this fall and next spring to produce a very high harvest. We’re all going to look like experts in the field. The good days of snow geese are still taking place today more then ever. Don’t pass up a chance to get afield this season, you won’t regret it.

Saskatchewan Waterfowl Outfitters

Most of my days afield are in some form of stubble field or shallow pothole, but every once in awhile I like to get deep and get some chance at some divers.  While many people I know grew up in MN and it was a way of life, it wasn’t something I did very often growing up.  Without a boat or a dog, most of the time it’s a failed attempt without there being an ethical option to retrieve the birds.  But when it all comes together with a good dog, it’s game on.

I was on my way home early Saturday morning from a good outing in a stubble field.  Myself and 3 of my friends got into the canadas pretty good and were out of the field early.  Since we had a lot of time before the cafe stopped serving breakfast, I took the backroads home.  I took a gander at one of my favorite diver lakes and sure enough, it was littered with ducks.  And not only did it have common divers such as bluebills, redheads, and buffle heads – it had a lot of canvasbacks.  We have a good, small lake in the backyard of the farm we stay at in Saskatchewan that we hunt every fall; but I don’t rarely get the opportunity in North Dakota.

I picked up my cell phone and phoned John Devney from Delta Waterfowl.  He was out scouting at the time and was finding some good options, but the word canvasback got his attention and he decided to head up to my hunting house.  After gearing up and a short drive, we were able to drive down to the lake, just 150 yards from the point we planned to hunt.  When we came over the hill, it erupted with various ducks and a few canadas.  We quickly setup and then they came.  I’ve never had that many canvasbacks in my face, ever.  I’d guess we had easily 20 flocks come right down the shoot and down the string of diver floats.  And mixed in was many redheads along with a handful of other species.  It reminded me of the video game for the PC, Browning Duck Hunter.  There was redheads and cans mixed together and we were very careful when we pulled.  With the Hunters Choice waterfowl management plan, we were only able to harvest one canvasback a piece, but that was okay with me.  I saw enough flocks in a 30-minute time period where I got my fill and was on the road to scout for the next day.

With colder temps coming upon us, including lows tonight to be down to 22 degrees in Bismarck, we’re only going to see more of this to come.

It was an interesting weekend to say the least.  Kent Hrbek Outdoors was in town doing some filming and we ran into them on Saturday night.  He’s a class act and my second time running into him in rural ND out hunting.

Saturday, my friend Taylor got his first ever duck band and it was long overdue.  He’s lost on drawing straws in the past and already has 4 goose bands, but this was his first official duck.  That was a highlight of the weekend for sure.

Sunday we had rain in the forecast.  We were hesitant about whether or not we should hunt a big canada goose feed we found the night before.  It was spitting some rain while setting up, but it did break come shooting time.  Since we knew more rain was soon to come, we opted to only put out silhouette decoys (8 dozen Real Geese Pro II’s) in case we had to pickup in a hurry.  It had been MANY years since I hunted canadas without full bodies, but I’m glad we went this route.  It was the quickest hunt of the season, and we were done and out of the field by 8:30.  We harvested both big and lesser canadas, and they all came right down the pike and into the landing zone, feet down.  Quite an enjoyable weekend, and easy hunting to boot.  Can’t beat that!

Gradually, one by one the gang from the Western Dakota Waterfowlers chapter of Delta Waterfowl (Minot, ND) was coming out the door at “The Barn”, where we slept the night before. All the while, the parking lot in front of our place was starting to fill with arriving vehicles. There was going to be quite a crew this morning it appeared. USFWS employees, Delta Waterfowl chapter members, a Bird Flu crew from the Univeristy of Minnesota, wives, kids…all walks of life stood around the parking lot. I was beginning to wonder when this would begin, and shortly thereafter one of the refuge managers came over with a bit of concern on his face. “I’m not sure if it’s going to go off this morning,” he explains in a quiet voice. “Yesterday some raccoons messed with the nets and it didn’t go off, and lately the birds have been spooky. The closer it gets to sunup, the less of a chance at a successful netting.” I looked over my shoulder and saw what appeared to be a sun struggling to make an appearance over the marsh to the East. “Just my luck” I thought to myself with a grin.

BOOOOOOOOOOM! I could hear in the distance. What sounded like the start of 4th of July sent everyone in the parking lot scrambling to their vehicles. Within moments, around 15 vehicles pealed out of the parking lot in a single file motion. Without explanation everyone knew that it was the sound of the nets going off at the banding site. It was only a half mile or so from the headquarters, so we didn’t have far to go.

As we came down the road we could see a few people running around and jumping on the large net in the distance as ducks were piling out of the opening in the net. As we approached it appeared that things were under control and there wouldn’t be much time wasted in getting started. Todd Grant, of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, reached into the net and picked out a drake mallard. As he reached down to demonstrate how ducks are to be handled and the banding process, he was quick to notice that this bird was already sporting some jewelry. In fact, it was double banded. After a short joke and some laughs (which I unfortunately missed while getting my camera out of it’s case), he proceeded with another duck. “Hold the duck right where the neck meets the breast, this way it won’t choke the bird. If the duck is flopping all over and pooping on you…you’re not holding it right. If it’s sitting still and pooping on you, you’re holding it right.” And they weren’t kidding on the poop either (do I detect a future episode of Dirty Jobs?).

The process was pretty efficient that morning. The ducks were taken out of the nets and separated into sex and species. There was 2 different stations where the volunteers take the ducks to get banded, some of them also receiving Reward Bands. As they were banded, they were inspected for various information such as whether or not it was a young or mature bird. One-by-one, everyone in the group was given a turn to band their own duck. The USFWS employees were patient and courteous, and full of knowledge on the project. There was so much to take in and kids had an absolute blast.

After each bird was banded, it was then taken over to the group studying avian influenza (Bird Flu). There was a group of a half dozen from the U of M. that was partnered with the US Department of Health. They took swabs of the orifices of each individual duck to be sent off to be sampled. After they were swabbed, they were immediately released back to the refuge marsh. This process went pretty quickly as we emptied the net in just a couple hours.

Afterwards, the groups stuck around for awhile trading stories and then everyone said their goodbyes. Some kids were going back to school, some of us heading back to the office. You cpuld feel the enthusiasm and the feeling of reward in the air, and the migrant flights of lesser canadas that flew over that morning reminded everyone the fall was around the corner.

Turn back the clock about 16 years ago to the fall of 1992 – the year I got my first duck band. I could go on about some exotic story of where it came from and where it had been taken, but that duck was banded at J. Clark Salyer Refuge (and the field was only 5 miles away). But since that time, I’ve been interested in seeing for myself where the bands came from and how’s it done.

Duck bands have and always will hold that mystic quality to them. A welcome surprise that tells a story of a duck’s past. From now on, duck bands that I encounter will always make me ponder the possibility it came from our net.

The day ended up with 225 ducks being caught in the net, and one coot was released. As one of the banders stated, only around 30% of the ducks get caught in the nets. And given the recent circumstances, they were happy with the results. I’m really hoping I get the chance to participate in this again, and I have a deeper respect for the future of ducks.

North Dakota’s roadside pheasant survey conducted in late July and August revealed lower bird numbers than last year. Total pheasants and brood observations were down 31 percent statewide from last year, while average brood size was down 13 percent, according to Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor for the state Game and Fish Department.

Pheasant observations in the northwest, southwest and southeast portions of the state were all down approximately 25-30 percent from 2007, Kohn said, while the northeast region, which doesn’t hold much of a pheasant population, was down 63 percent. The final summary is the result of 232 runs made along 95 brood routes across North Dakota.

“I don’t believe poor production this summer is a direct result of loss of Conservation Reserve Program acres, at least not yet,” Kohn said. “I suspect the cool, rainy days the first part of June caused problems with newly-hatched chicks, and the warm, dry days in July and August may have affected insect production. The quantity and diversity of insect numbers can be crucial in maintaining body condition of pheasant chicks the first 15-20 days of life

Average brood size is down in all four districts, possibly due to hatching of partial clutches on first nest attempts, but it may also indicate a good amount of renesting by hens, Kohn said. “Renests have fewer eggs, and this makes for fewer chicks in the brood,” he said.

Even with the lower numbers, Kohn still believes hunters will have a pretty good pheasant season. “Traditional areas will have some good pheasant hunting spots, with many other areas requiring some additional effort to find birds,” he said.

Statistics from southeastern North Dakota indicate 17.6 broods and 148 birds per 100 miles. The average brood size was 5.55. “There will be local areas of good pheasant hunting, but in many areas of the district hunters are going to have to spend more time in the field to fill their bag,” Kohn said. “Hunting in this area prior to the harvest of corn and soybeans may be a challenge.”

Results from the northwest indicate 13.5 broods and 102 birds per 100 miles. Average brood size was 5.36. “Numbers are lower than the record breaking years of 2006 and 2007,” Kohn said. “Hunters will find numbers similar to 2005, which was still a pretty good year.”

The southwest showed 23.4 broods and 205 birds per 100 miles. The average brood size was 6.12. “This area of the state will likely have the best pheasant numbers in the state, though still below population numbers of the last two years,” Kohn said.

The 2008 regular pheasant season opens Oct. 11 and continues through Jan. 4, 2009. The two-day youth pheasant hunting weekend, when legally licensed residents and nonresidents ages 15 and younger can hunt statewide, is set for Oct. 4-5.

Save for Iowa, where devastating weather negatively impacted the pheasant population, the remainder of the core pheasant powerhouses – the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska – will provide great opportunities for you to slide roosters into your vest this fall. The good news is easy to digest: South Dakota has its highest pheasant numbers in 45 years with over 2 million roosters harvested there last year; Kansas had its highest harvest since 1987 and numbers this year are expected to be higher; Minnesota had its highest harvest since 1964 in 2007 and looks to again have a strong pheasant population.

The bad news doesn’t go down so easy. Unfortunately, because of massive habitat losses, mostly from recently expired Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts, the sun may be setting on “the modern good ol’ days” of pheasant hunting. Over 800,000 CRP acres are already gone from the Dakotas, and millions more acres are set to expire across the pheasant range in the coming years. Given today’s current agricultural climate, many expiring acres are expected to be lost to row crop conversion. Fortunately, CRP was reauthorized by the 2008 federal Farm Bill, and Pheasants Forever will continue working to establish a dynamic and economically competitive CRP going forward. The new continuous, state-specific CRP program – State Acres For wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) – and the early success of that program in states like South Dakota and Minnesota, indicates landowner support for CRP remains strong. Yes, 2008 may be the end of the recent run of spectacular phe asant numbers, but at Pheasants Forever, we’re already working to create the next run of “good ol’ days.”