# Migration?



## swany25 (Sep 3, 2005)

Have'nt been seeing many ducks. With this warmer weather is the migration delayed?


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## steveandzoom (Sep 8, 2004)

A qoute from another site from a honest poster may shed some light on your question.

While Devils Lake continues to be wide open, most other water was froze this morning. A migration of Eagles to the area means to me that the bulk of the migration has gone through. After putting on almost 200 miles this afternoon and seeing a handful of ducks, I fear the Big Lady has sung and what a pitiful migration it was.


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## MDV89 (Sep 8, 2008)

I wouldnt' go that far - based on a number of factors there are still a lot of birds up in Canada. Many refuges haven't seen peak numbers of Canada geese and there have been few late season migrants through. Wait till we get another cold front....it might spell the end but you should get a fresh batch of birds for a little bit at least.


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## slough (Oct 12, 2003)

Duck numbers are definitely very sad right now...but I'd have a hard time believing that there aren't good numbers that have yet to come through yet with as little cold weather as we have had.


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## steveandzoom (Sep 8, 2004)

Another message plucked from another site:

Just talked a friend who hunts west of winnepeg. He called the farmer where they stay and said they are absolutely hammerin' darks and big greenies and there are a ton of birds north of the border waiting to stretch their wings in our spreads in ND and MN yet! Dont pack er up yet! Good luck, when we get some weather i am afraid the boys are right it may happen real fast!


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## kberggren (Mar 27, 2006)

Just an FYI but its been really tuff down in Nebraska! This weekend a lot of snows went south without stopping. I talked to several different hunters all over the state and everyone said the samething, it was the worst weekend of the season. I'm sure all the birds are still up North or the border, need some colder weather to bring them down!


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Pretty much everyone I talk to said this has been a very weird year on ducks, mallards especially. Everyone is on the lookout.


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## snow (Dec 7, 2007)

Depends on where you look...Just got back from SoDak,filled out two days early,fiels are not driveable,the shoulder is sore and "water water everywhere" never seen flooded fields like that,shot a couple pheasants that had bleached legs from being in the water so long,50/50 young greenheads with no curls to adults with mulitipal curls,very large numbers of snows in the mix,few darks and small pockets of spec's.

Tim


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## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

I've heard from several first hand accounts that a particular region of SoDak has a silly amount of ducks (mallards). With no pressure and so many flooded fields they aren't gonna move until they have to.

I've had a great year for mallards with many nice limits of greenies for my groups. However I can't seem to decoy a snow goose to save my soul. I need the expertise of shooteminthelips...


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## ducks4u (Sep 16, 2009)

I am currently hunting my SD Lic and there are plenty of ducks here. Not the normal # of mallards for this time of year but still lots of them. Way more snows that normal for my area. I have found that the snows go through before the greenheads and think the big push of Mallards are still north of us.

If you pay attention to what the biologist are saying you have to believe that there are lots of Mallards north of us. These guys have the professional connections to know the facts [while everybody else just specualates] and I believe them when they say that there are plenty of birds north of us.

This debate happens every year and every year I see a big push late. When the weather is this nice they stay north but you have to be ready because this time of year they will move when we get a big low pressure system with strong NW winds.


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## Dunk221999 (Sep 11, 2002)

While Deer hunting this past weekend (Minnesota Style- sitting in a tree bored), I was reading through a hunting site on my mobile phone that gives a migration report each week throughout the entire hunting season. This report consists of approx 3-4 National Wildlife Refuge counts and field reports from 2-4 guide services throughout each state.

Here is what I observed from the latest report of 11.12.2009.

1. In the following states duck numbers were low to dismal in the various reports. 
- Minnesota
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota (Average)
- Nebraska
- Kansas
- Missourri
- Wisconsin
- Illinois

Canada had one guide that had been doing well around Winnepeg. All of the Sask guides and refuges said that the birds had packed their bags and left.

2. It was almost laughable how most everyone was "waiting for the northern mallards" or the Canadian guides would say that "the northern mallards must have pushed east or west of us this year".

I have taken 2 trips to ND, 1 to Canada, 1 to Montana, and hunted about 8 days in MN this year and I have NEVER saw this few of ducks in 15 years of hunting.

I think the duck hatch in Canada is far worse than any of us care to believe and if we are not able to get the ALUS program going (like CRP in the States) the non-existant migration of 2009 will continue into the future.

I do not have the answers, however I am hopeful that this hunting season will shed light on the fact that ALL OF US as hunters have a huge challenge facing us North of The Border.


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## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

Who are these connections? Gpt back from So Dak which had a decent amount of mallards. Every report I have read or heard from Canada state few duck numbers and some areas have mallards but not other ducks. Who are these people who claim this? There are mallards to come but I doubt a huge push like many all plan for.

I would love to talk to these people in canada that quote always claim they have huge numbers of ducks. Nobody can ever produce them though.


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## honkerslayr (Dec 14, 2006)

IMO it's still yet to happen in ND. But from what I've seen the snows are EVERYWHERE....but not the ducks. Geese are here and there you just hav to look. But the duck are yet to come!!! :beer:


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## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

Where are these ducks coming from? I guess out of the heavens they will just start falling in. Canada will just start to unlesh them finally. I think we all need to pay the few guys in Canada holding all the ducks from us and keeping it a secret from the other Canada guys. I will give the first hundred dollars to find out why and have them unleashed for us.


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## Wacker 44 (Sep 28, 2009)

I agree with honkerslayr it is still going to happen in ND hunted last week and found one area with a ton a birds early in the week. As the week went on the birds got fewer and fewer and some of the birds that we shot I would say more were immature than mature. In my experience hunting in November the big amounts of mallards donâ€™t come down until the snow geese are gone or at least that is what I have seen the last two years and last week I saw snow geese all over! With corn starting to come out and days as warm as they are with the big bodies of water open it will still happen just be patient and the birds will come. And when they do good luck to everyone.

Wacker 44


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## IAMALLARDMAN (Sep 15, 2009)

I perssonally think we are all thinking to hard on the topic. I do bealieve that the duck hatch may have possibly been less than we thought however they are wild and we all know they will migrate and change there patterns just like that. we have a several hundred acer private marsh in iowa, two weeks ago when we had above average temps, day time hi's in the upper 60's and 70 and nights in the 40's and 50's I spent two days watching empty skis over the marsh. A day later we had several thousand birds? What caused them to move in???? I watch the weather pretty closley and the dakotas had warm weather also?? On top of that wer have been succesfully hunting these birds for a few days, staying miles off the roost and only hunting mornings, a day ago they up and left?? We still have warm temps, no freezing in the evening, more water than we have ever had and crops coming out so fast the elevators cant handle them.....so why did they leave???? I will never know?


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Weather isn't everything.....have to consider hunting pressure,food available,and probably more importantly hours of daylight.


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## snow (Dec 7, 2007)

Well for the "non-believer's" here is a pic of a 6 man limit in 1.5 hrs,all greenheads and in SoDak,you can be 5 miles away and not see a bird,these birds are consentraded in flooded corn/bean fields BIG time right now.


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## steveandzoom (Sep 8, 2004)

I sent you a PM regarding where I saw 100,000s of birds.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

snow said:


> Well for the "non-believer's" here is a pic of a 6 man limit in 1.5 hrs,all greenheads and in SoDak,you can be 5 miles away and not see a bird,these birds are consentraded in flooded corn/bean fields BIG time right now.


Non believers of what?


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## T Shot (Oct 4, 2002)

I want to believe!


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## snow (Dec 7, 2007)

usa,some seem to think the birds are "gone" or "we had a bad hatch" or whatever...Fact is,the birds are on the move and should hold with this weather.

T-SHOT` lol... :lol:


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

I thought most people were saying that a lot of the birds moved out of ND, i believe thats why you had no troubles in SD. :beer:

There was definitely not a bust hatch in ND, anyone who says that is a fool. Some might argue if it was all it was cracked up to be, but it was far from bad.


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## waterfowl stocker (Sep 13, 2006)

Agree with USalx50, best season yet


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## ducks4u (Sep 16, 2009)

The reference I quoted was the MN DNR weekly report and the guy that puts that together commented on his contacts in Canada that said there were lots of ducks still there. I hunted NE SD the past two days and limited in less that an hour both days. I think the ducks are moving through even though there is NO pressure here at all. The calander is what drives them even though the weather might be nice [just my opinion]. Tons of food here and open water yet some birds still feel the need to migrate.

I here geese moving at night most every night is it is clear. This has been the most "feast or famine" year I can remember. Today we were covered up with Mallards yet a mile away the guys I talked to saw very little.


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

What happened to duck numbers being up the most since whatever year?

I think the fact that the weather all over has been very weird, has messed up the birds. But who knows, where still hoping we get new birds.


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## CDK (Aug 1, 2005)

Well I called Oak Hammock Marsh today and talked to a nice lady that said "they haven't conducted any counts lately but there are lots of mallards here yet". I'm coming out turkey day tru the weekend so I'm hoping for some cold weather. So there's still hope.


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## Dunk221999 (Sep 11, 2002)

lll


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## waterfowl stocker (Sep 13, 2006)

Thank god for going to school in North Dakota,and being a nonresident, or else i would be broke, I am going broke even though i am not hunting two five day periods


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