By Duane Dungannon

Temperatures throughout the Pacific Flyway went down last week, but so did migrating ducks, so West Coast waterfowlers didn’t get too frosted about it.
 
My man on the front  line of the action, David Wei in Vancouver, who recently enjoyed a good day afield with friends in the photo here, said the cold weather brought a flurry of migration activity into the region.
 
“The sudden cold snap that brought snow to the BC Interior – and frost on the coast – has made the northern mallards and lesser Canadas move down into our area,” he said. “Huge flocks of lessers teased me this morning, but didn't like where I was set up, and wouldn't decoy right in. Still, I shot a limit of mallards, including a few big northern drakes. Fairly easy shooting with a limit in just over an hour on singles and doubles that hovered over dekes about 25 yards out.” [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

This time of year, any rumor of a storm can get waterfowlers worked up and ready for new birds to arrive, and it seems the cold fronts that pushed their way across the northern Plains late last week finally got some ducks and geese moving south. And none too soon, as forum posters were bemoaning that this is the worst season ever, despite the fact it’s only October and bird counts are at record highs. I can only hope those poor-mouth hunters got their perpetually half-full cups filled up with a dose of ducks over the weekend.

I heard from my friend Phil Francone who hunts just outside of Winnipeg. He’s been putting the hurt to the geese for the past few weeks, but says ducks there have been few and far between.

“I am surprised by the lack of ducks in and around Winnipeg,” said Francone. “We shot 40 geese last weekend, and only two ducks. Granted, we were hunting corn fields and there were groups of ducks flying around, but I would guess the goose to duck ratio was 100 to 1 or better. There are so many stinking geese around here it is amazing.”

Francone did mention he has heard reports... [ Read Full Post ]

By M.D. Johnson

Despite the weather coming through Iowa right now, I reckon what they say about the “October Lull” might actually have some truth to it. The blue-wings, along with quite a few of the locally raised wood ducks, have long since headed to warmer climes southward, and the northern birds – the hoped-for migrators – have yet to arrive, leaving – well – not a whole lot between the rivers here in the Hawkeye State at the moment. But enough with the glass half-empty.
 
There is weather, though. A big – not massive, but big – cold front sweeping down from the Dakotas through the Upper Midwest brings with it hope for ‘fowlers in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and lands to the south. There are birds ahead of that front; perhaps not the swirling black clouds of mallards, but goodly numbers of grey ducks, green-wing teal, widgeon, and sprig. The truth is, it’s still far too nice in Canada, and gunners north of the border continue to do quite well in both the fields and on the water. [ Read Full Post ]

By Duane Dungannon

A week of wet weather swept through the Pacific Flyway, sparking a flurry of activity among West Coast waterfowl, and hunters reported putting more birds in the bag.

Goose hunters like Richy Harrod of Leavenworth, Wash., who hunts east of the Cascades in both Oregon and Washington, enjoyed good hunting ahead of the recent storms.

“Our goose hunt near Cheney was very successful,” said Harrod, who took this photo of Mike and Dax Harrod with the day’s bag of honkers. “My cousin had scouted a couple hundred local geese coming into a stubble field. Geese were coming in as small groups of 6 to 40 and were relatively easy to decoy into shotgun range. We gave them a little education, so we will leave them alone for a week or two so that they will start coming to the field readily again. ” [ Read Full Post ]

By Michael R. Shea

Early season duck hunting has been underway for about a week in most states north of the Mason Dixon, with mixed reports on bird numbers and hunter success rolling in. New Jersey’s south zone plays catch-up this week, opening Saturday, and Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie shore zone opens on Monday.
 
Typically in low water conditions, as much of the flyway is facing, spots can get burned out relatively quickly. Birds concentrate on limited available water. Hunters find it and blast away. The birds move on. As Pennsylvania waterfowl biologist Kevin Jacobs told me, October early seasons typically send birds up and out the first week, especially when the weather is dry. [ Read Full Post ]