2018 Waterfowl Season

Northwoods Labs

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 28, 2015
Messages
1,022
Location
Danbury, Wisconsin
Wisconsin's duck opener was this weekend, which is like Christmas for me. Cold start to Saturday morning opener, 25 degrees. Saw lots of mallards early and my dad was able to knock down a couple. Unfortunately, the teal were a no show. Our season started a week later than it has in the past and with the cold snap we have had I think a lot of the teal must have already moved off. Last year we got a limit of teal from this particular spot. We also had some opportunities for geese, but were wasteful with our shooting. Some hunters also need to do a basic review of when shooting hours are as well....

Sunday morning tried a different spot and managed a limit of wood ducks. Tough hunting because the birds wouldn't decoy well and other hunters on the lake were, lets just say "very aggressive", with their shooting. One of the woodies was a nice drake that I took down with my great grandpa's old Stevens side by side.

Wood Duck from Kreiner Lake.jpg


I know this is mostly a big game forum, but I'm sure there are plenty of HuntTalk public land waterfowlers on here. Feel free to post any reports or pictures here. Good luck to everyone this season. October really is a great time of year
 
Nice pic ! I look forward to duck season as much as big game. There was a time I got bored with it so I began to spice it up by traveling the continent in pursuit of different species.
 
That is a super handsome wood duck. Ours are still drab and anything but spectacular. They are also elusive. We missed one this morning.

This morning my 9-yr old pheasant specialist retrieved his first goose. It was an epic event and I'm super proud of him. We got 3 geese and 5 BW teal today.

2018%20Gus%20and%20First%20Goose.jpg
 
Montana opened on Sat.

The opener was foggy as heck but the bird numbers were good
43047871_2068388089887498_7224836368621371392_o.jpg

Sun was slower but we ended one bird short of limiting 3 shooters. I was on a spoonie streak until this redhead drake ruined my chances at my first 7 spoonie day. LOL
42904326_2068388283220812_7249572859100528640_naa.jpg
 
Great job! And a Handsome Dog to go with it. Just the way it should be.

I wish we could find a big duck or even some medium size ducks. Teal and geese are all we have brought down so far.
 
C4580182-4DA7-4763-AE13-95FE09F78381.jpg

Shot two in the opener. Should have had a couple more. First water retrieve for the boy. Had to toss a shell to get him started, but still beats pulling the blind to retrieve birds. Sorry for the rotated image.
 
Im down south of milwaukee and we shot a bufflehead this morning. Kinda early for him.
Woodies are starting to thin out.
 

Attachments

  • 20181007_082321.jpg
    20181007_082321.jpg
    82.4 KB · Views: 298
just got back from Saskatchewan, my dog's first hunting trip!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3499.jpg
    IMG_3499.jpg
    39 KB · Views: 274
  • IMG_3498.jpg
    IMG_3498.jpg
    63.2 KB · Views: 274
  • 43100358_10156940132079009_105896146714492928_o.jpg
    43100358_10156940132079009_105896146714492928_o.jpg
    67.5 KB · Views: 273
Nice duck! It’s always more special to take one with a gun that has nostalgic value. The cold weather really gets the teal moving south. In Michigan, we’ve had an early teal season the last few years that seems like it’s going to stick around. It’s a great time to get some of those resident teal that disappear so quickly!
 
Went out Sunday morning in a large wildlife area in northwest Wisconsin. Plenty of ducks flying around about 5 minutes before hours till about 10 minutes after. Hardly anything but some high flying geese after that. Managed 3 green wing teal, which I was very surprised to see around. Some mallards and a few woodies flying around early as well but none committed to the decoys. Monson Lake.jpg Green Wing Teal Monson Lake.jpg

Later in the day floated the St. Croix River, jumped a few wood ducks but missed. It was a beautiful float, the fall colors are just about peak in most spots St. Croix River.jpg
 
Fisherkid: It is surprising to see a bufflehead that far south this early.

Sandycreek: Good work in Saskatchewan. That is definitely a bucket list hunt for me
 
Had a nice mixed big hunt with my dad on Saturday. Steady shooting until 10 a.m. We had a few blown opportunities, but I was pretty happy with how we did. Saw the first divers of the season, migration is definitely starting. It will be interesting to see how long these birds stick around. Sunday morning we tried a new spot that ended up being a bust. Saw lots of ducks, but all high flyers that were on a mission somewhere other than where we were set up. Could have had a lot of shooting if we had a tundra swan season. All in all, a great weekend on public lands in the Northwoods, even saw a little bit of that white stuff falling from the sky today. Ducks and Geese from Kreiner Lake (2).jpg
 
Little late to post these, but had a few good days!
A9C40EEC-44A6-4FDD-ADC9-BD3BCA911CEA.jpg
AAAD7857-5B0C-4C58-827A-522E58110DFA.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 47CFB676-5F74-421A-B77F-09B48E7FBADC.jpg
    47CFB676-5F74-421A-B77F-09B48E7FBADC.jpg
    101.3 KB · Views: 189
Season reopened this morning here after the 2 week split. I got to take my oldest with me this morning since we were hunting close to the house. Fun hunt but it happened so fast We didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time out together. I shot the first pair to come in then tripled on the second group.
91605299-C76B-4D79-8A4B-FBEC1206BFFE.jpg
 
Back
Top