# South Dakota Early Season



## EllendaleND (Dec 25, 2011)

Has anyone had any luck so far??


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## mntwinsfan (Oct 8, 2010)

Shot 38 this morning. A pretty decent hunt. It sounds like there were a lot of groups that struggled. We had birds fly right past us like we were not there. Pretty goofy for early season birds, but it sounded like that happened to quite a few groups. I do know a group of 6 guys that shot 90. Can't complain about that!


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## EllendaleND (Dec 25, 2011)

Very nice! I am doing some scouting in ND and it seems they are still scattered, and only found a few really good wheat fields.   Good luck to all!


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## Sd snow goose killer (Jan 20, 2007)

opener weekend sucked, t many people out after them, set up twice and ended up with 2, it can only get better from here!


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## BirdJ (Aug 24, 2011)

What would you expect!!!! If you can? Hunt during the week.


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## templey_41 (Jul 19, 2008)

Anyone shoot any fuzz balls? Post up some pics, wondering if they still look like the Dakota family pack! :lol:


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## hardcoredecs (Apr 22, 2011)

templey_41 said:


> Anyone shoot any fuzz balls? Post up some pics, wondering if they still look like the Dakota family pack! :lol:


We did ok...12 on saturday 13 on sunday for 2 guys, cant complain. We had a few that you could tell were young of the year, saving those ones for the crock pot :beer:


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

I struck out on getting fields, but talked to a few guys while out scouting yesterday morning; lots of birds were decoy shy it sounds like. Lots of jumpers out yesterday morning too; mostly on public land, but did see some guys sneaking a roost right at sunrise; they were still trying to figure out how to retrieve birds in deeper water when I drove by an hour later. Looked like they were trying to snag a goose using a fishing rod.


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## clint_hay (Aug 25, 2010)

managed 43 on saturday, not so hot on sunday. sounds like alot of guys struggled...


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## water_swater (Sep 19, 2006)

Somebody crushed em, I wanna see a 90+ goose picture!


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## teamflightstoppersND (Feb 20, 2009)

I wanna see some pics!!!! I still have nine days to wait...............


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## killzone (Mar 23, 2012)

Heading that way for the non-resident opener. Can't wait!


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## Beavis (Jan 30, 2012)

^^^^stay out!!!! ha


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## hardcoredecs (Apr 22, 2011)

teamflightstoppersND said:


> I wanna see some pics!!!! I still have nine days to wait...............


Couple pics from last weekend and the pup checking out the birds...sorry there not in the field pics


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## EllendaleND (Dec 25, 2011)

Beavis said:


> ^^^^stay out!!!! ha


Yep


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## Gunny (Aug 18, 2005)

:eyeroll:


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## jpallen14 (Nov 28, 2005)

With SD season opening so early a ton of the honkers will move into Minnesota and North Dakota by September.


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## huntingmaniac (Mar 22, 2011)

jpallen14 said:


> With SD season opening so early a ton of the honkers will move into Minnesota and North Dakota by September.


X2


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## EllendaleND (Dec 25, 2011)

jpallen14 said:


> With SD season opening so early a ton of the honkers will move into Minnesota and North Dakota by September.


Ha not!! The geese dont move very much and dont flock up in huge flocks.


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## jpallen14 (Nov 28, 2005)

EllendaleND said:


> jpallen14 said:
> 
> 
> > With SD season opening so early a ton of the honkers will move into Minnesota and North Dakota by September.
> ...


Tons and Tons of banding info that indicate resident geese move a great deal in August and September in South Dakota. Shot three bands in early Sept. in NE SD on seperate years that were banded in July in central Nebraska that same year. Heard of plenty of folks killing SD banded geese in MN in September the same years they were banded also.


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

EllendaleND said:


> Ha not!! The geese dont move very much and dont flock up in huge flocks.


Wrong. Look at the bird banding website, you can filter species, state banded, and state harvested. Look at the amount of canadas that are banded in MN and harvested in SD or ND the same year. It's a known fact that resident geese in MN will transmigrate to the dakotas late summer. With the early hunting pressure in Brown, Marshall, Day, and Roberts counties in SD, there will be birds moving into southern ND or far western MN.

How many birds do you consider a huge flock btw? 500? 5000?


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## EllendaleND (Dec 25, 2011)

OH i thought u ment like within a week or so. But Ya the geese do move around alot before they migrate as the year progresses. And huge flocks I consider 800 plus.


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## teamflightstoppersND (Feb 20, 2009)

the professor said:


> EllendaleND said:
> 
> 
> > Ha not!! The geese dont move very much and dont flock up in huge flocks.
> ...


Where do you find this data?


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

http://flyways.us/surveys-and-monitorin ... ss-america


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## teamflightstoppersND (Feb 20, 2009)

the professor said:


> http://flyways.us/surveys-and-monitoring/banding-and-marking-programs/bands-across-america


Thanks! I can see one or two of the guys in our group forgot to report the bands back in 2010. We shot three bands and they were young of the year geese banded by the White Earth game and fish. They were shot on opening day.


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

teamflightstoppersND said:


> the professor said:
> 
> 
> > http://flyways.us/surveys-and-monitoring/banding-and-marking-programs/bands-across-america
> ...


Not all the bands are in that system; 6 of my bands shot in MN don't show up. It is a cool tool to look at how birds move around though.


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