Minnesota waterfowl season ends?

The season for ducks has ended in Minnesota. Veteran waterfowl hunters are just shaking their heads in West Central MN and saying, "What season, where were the Ducks?" Some geese were around but ducks were almost non existant. A few ducks showed up at the end of the season but very very few. Observations and opinions from other waterfowl hunters would be appreciated.

Been hunting MN for about 30 years. Worst I have ever experienced. You hear all the same excuses, too much water, the birds are still in Canada......they all fly through the Dakotas.

I grew up in this state - SW part - Jackson Co. I too have been hunting waterfowl for 30 years. I can remember growing up 25 -30 years ago and the northern ducks would come down by the tens of thousands. Why this has changed is quite debatable. But my opinion is that farming habits have changed dramatically in the last 25 years and every pot hole has been drained and farmed. What has the DNR done to help waterfowl habitat? Nothing that I've been able to see in SW Mn anyway. Thus, the flyway for SW and Western MN has shifted further towards the Missouri River and the Prairie Pothole regions of the Dakotas. I lived in SD for 8 years and had the best duck hunting of my life. Why I ever moved back to this worthless state, I am still wondering!!!

Viking Fan - for the past three years I have gotten an out of state license and have hunted west of Watertown. The last two years were absolutely unbelievable. This year however, was terrible. Each year we went the last weekend of Oct. and this year there were no ducks down yet. I had someone tell me that in ND they had that August frost which destroyed their corn crop and all of their corn was disced under. They said that the ducks were feeding on the corn like crazy. Plus they have not had that harsh of weather up north yet. You must not be too far from Watertown - you must get into some of that flyway do you not???

There is one thing that upsets me more than anything and I hope someone will give me some advice or be willing to help solve this problem. Even though we do not have ducks like in the past, some Northern ducks still come through. We are just now starting to see more in my area - but of course the season is closed. I have argued for years that you cannot have one season for the whole state of MN but the DNR is evidentally not smart enough or too lazy or both to change it. SD has three differant seasons that follow the migration. We have one!!!! Does anyone know who to contact or the process used to get this changed???

I appreciate anyone with any thoughts or ideas regarding this.

JP

Season for us in WC MN was horrible as well. A few ducks dropped, but hardly any. We looked hard for them as well, and we didn't even SEE them in the usual places that we see them, even if you can't hunt it. Very, very poor season, and the worst of my hunting life. One small high point is that we saw more ducks on Christina that in the past couple years... problem is, that is the only lake we saw them on - period.

-Box

https://www.walleyecentral.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=103808

I hunted 9 days in Manitoba, 12 days in ND and 7 days in West Central MN. In addition I spent three full days and parts of 5 days scouting West Central MN from I-94 west of St. Cloud to Fergus Falls and everything west to the SD border and as south as Lac Quille Parle and east to Willmar and Paynesvile and everything in between. There were no ducks to speak of. A split season would help, but first and foremost you need a huntable population. The area holds geese and they outnumbered ducks 10 - 1. Farming practices have changed the face of rural MN in the last 30 years, but there is more than that to the vanishing populations of ducks in MN. The only fair day I had hunting in MN was the last afternoon of the season when freeze up was iminent. I would like to believe that better days for waterfowl are coming, but right now I am a skeptic at best.

Vikings Fan - Do you get the Mn Outdoor News? I haven't read it yet but my cousin said that the last issue there was a big article about the duck season in MN and a lot of unhappy hunters.

So what can be done about getting seasons changed and how do we find out about what the DNR, DU, etc. is doing about habitat? I just feel helpless that nothing is getting done in West and SW MN. Waiting for the DNR to do something about Waterfowl in this area is like waiting for the 2nd coming of Christ. It just doesn't seem like it's ever going to happen!!!!!

JP

Ending all the early seasons would help. By the regular waterfowl season too many the local ducks have vanished due to the pressure. Don't be naive enough to think that ducks aren't being taken during the early goose season and by adults in the youth hunt. Starting only one waterfowl season the first Saturday in October as it used to be would help. Having a split season in the southern half of the state would help also. Hunting immature birds full of pinfeathers is not my idea of a hunt. As to our youth in Minnesota take them with during the regular season and quit leaving them at home. We do not need a youth season to live up to our responsibilities as adult hunters and mentors. Many of us have been educating youthful hunters in the field for years. Adding a few more waterfowl refuge areas would also help to keep waterfowl around when the pressure gets to heavy. More than these suggestions needs to be done, but it would be a start. As it exists now the state of waterfowling in MN has all but dissappeared.