Another New Year, Post your pics and/or comments here for 2018! 
Waterfowl Hunting
2018 Waterfowl Reports
1/3/18 @ 9:13 AM
Displaying 31 to 45 of 218 posts
Just sat and watched 2 cans play and a pelican and I swear try to eat them! Thing swam with its bill at waterline like a cripple and swam after them zinging and zagging as they turned about five feet in back of them, went after a few bills and they flew turned back after the cans and they took off too when it got too close! Had five bills 5 feeet in front of blind and all over the bay. The cans were at 40... also had 30ish mallards within sight some close enough to shoot. This was a first for me as I sat down 30 min before close and just watched.. didn’t shoot. Must be getting old. More ducks than I’ve seen at this spot all season.
Suspendedmusky my bad on that. I love diver hunting. I've killed blue bills in 200 feet of water out of the the layout boat on LM. I mainly stick to mallards these days because the lake shore doesn't really numbers of buff's and blue bills anymore for reasons I dont know. The long tail hunting got old to me with all people doing it. Also it's hard for me scout divers on water away from home because I have 2 young children now. I do miss diver hunting a lot. I know from reading your post you work hard and are a true waterfowler I enjoy reading your posts. Every year free guide comes on here trolling us cold weather hunters and he gets me every time.
I am definitely one who works hard to find and kill birds. I put on 200 miles on Friday driving around the state to locate open water and ducks to hunt. I normally hunt all 3 zones during the year and have showed up to Lake Michigan launches in 4" of snow on last day of season, chopped ice from the landing, and then went diver hunting a few miles off shore.
TR...when you make the comment to "leave the mallards to the true waterfowl hunters" it might upset a few people (not me ....I could care less). However, I consider myself a "true waterfowl hunter", but I choose to not chase mallards all the time because hunting them is not all that exciting to me. They are slow, easy to shoot, and I like variety (normally kill 16-18 species in WI each year). Try anchoring in 130 ft of water on LM. I would never consider anyone who does that vs. hunting mallards not a true waterfowl hunter.
Yes this year was a strange weather year. That made it tough. But if some people work harder at find new spots or birds instead of complaining on here all the time they could kill more birds. Every year it seems like free guide wants the season to start at the end of August or just be September- October season.
IMHO the WI waterfowl season (northern zone) should have opened up a week earlier (like normal). There are a lot of early migrators that come through the last week of September. This year the opportunity for those birds was lost. Couple that with early ice (which locked up a significant number of ponds, lakes, and backwaters) and the effective season was reduced substantially.
I'm one of them. Free guide as of right I'm absolutely covered in mallards. In the areas I hunt. The wind doesn't look good to get out on the big water Thursday or Friday. So I might be getting the chainsaw out to cut a hole open in the river for those days. You can have hunting in 70 degree weather chasing teal and wood ducks. Those birds take no skill to decoy. Leave the mallards to the true waterfowl hunters.
I'm in Jefferson county. Have seen ducks last 3 days from the deer stand. Some have been mallards, others I can't tell from where I'm sitting.
Most larger waters and all rivers are wide open.
Roughly 50+ birds in 4 flocks Sat, 20-30 in 2 flocks Sunday morning, flock of 10-15 tonight.
Displaying 31 to 45 of 218 posts
