# big question



## northernstates (Oct 15, 2008)

i have been hunting nodak and sodak for the last couple years in the fall for waterfowl and i have always wonders what migrates first and last we usually go around oct 31 what does everybody think


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Well if you want to use common sense the smaller birds always come first, they have less body mass to keep themselves warm with. And of course the bigger greenies and geese come last... more body mass helps them stay warmer. :beer:


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## bluebird (Feb 28, 2008)

Blue Wings and woodies are first then you will get your wigon & pins followed by some divers and gadwall then blue bills and the big green. The ones i don't get are the Green wing teal i shoot them all year long but most of them in the first part of the season. Thats how i see it happening although i could be wrong on some of the divers, i dont do a whole lot of diver hunting.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

buckseye said:


> Well if you want to use common sense the smaller birds always come first, they have less body mass to keep themselves warm with. And of course the bigger greenies and geese come last... more body mass helps them stay warmer. :beer:


Not true. Buffleheads are one of the smallest ducks and migrate very late. Teal is another falsehood. BWT migrate really early, but GWT you can shoot until ice up lots of times. My best GWT shoots have always been at the end of the season...even though many are shot earlier and throughout the season.

BWT, pintails, and gadwalls are the earlier migrants. You'll still see some around then (except for maybe the BWT) but the vast majority will be gone. Most of the Canvasbacks and Redheads have moved through by then. Divers are more of a calendar migrant versus weather it seems. You'll still see a smattering of lots of species but the mixed bag pothole shoots are usually better before that time. At that time it's field hunting for mallards and geese or big water for bills.


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

buckseye said:


> Well if you want to use common sense the smaller birds always come first, they have less body mass to keep themselves warm with. And of course the bigger greenies and geese come last... more body mass helps them stay warmer. :beer:


Hahahaha What the?! Keep the valuable info commin ya'll.


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

That is some uncommon common sense . . . . .GWT, Buffs, and lesser bills are smaller ducks. They all migrate late. I think redheads are one of the first ducks to migrate, after woodies and BWT. I should a banded redhead in early October in ND. It was banded near Edmonton.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

Back in the early 80s they even experimented with an early teal season for a while. Back then the standard opener was the first Sat of October and they opened teal two weekends earlier. We shot a lot of teal in those days. I agree that most of my GWs seem to come later in the season.

I suspect freezup may have some part in the migration of diving ducks. Small open puddles in an otherwse frozen pond or lake are not very condusive to them being able to "take flight".


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

I would like to know how many years you have been hunting or what you use for your data base because it goes against nature. Certainly there will be every exception under the sun but the prevailing certainty is the larger birds and animals can break ice better than small birds or animals. To my knowledge waterfowl requires liquid water daily in their diet...

You guys need to add about 30 more years to your experience data base and you will see what nature does best. :beer:


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

I agree with the GWT thing, we shot some in December right before freeze up. BWT are usually migrated after 3-4 weeks of the season around here, same thing with ALL of the divers excluding bluebills, mergansers, and goldeneyes.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

buckseye said:


> Well if you want to use common sense the smaller birds always come first, they have less body mass to keep themselves warm with. And of course the bigger greenies and geese come last... more body mass helps them stay warmer. :beer:





> I've never seen the things you write about actually materialize...


Sound familiar? Well my case in point!



> You guys need to add about 30 more years to your experience data base and you will see what nature does best


Is that how long it took you to get your degree in waterfowl biology.

Knowing how knowledgeable Matt Jones is about waterfowl, I will take his advice over your 30 years of looking out your back window!

Just my :2cents:


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

Woodies are late mirgrators too. I have shot them up until the last weekend in central MN.


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## Andrew Bremseth (Aug 1, 2007)

blhunter3 said:


> Woodies are late mirgrators too. I have shot them up until the last weekend in central MN.


Woodies usually bug out pretty fast


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## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

Andrew Bremseth said:


> blhunter3 said:
> 
> 
> > Woodies are late mirgrators too. I have shot them up until the last weekend in central MN.
> ...


Agreed, opening weekend and maybe a week after is about the only chance we get at em. A few will be around awhile but a majority of them leave


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

> Knowing how knowledgeable Matt Jones is about waterfowl, I will take his advice over your 30 years of looking out your back window!
> 
> Just my


You have to be kidding!!! Whats a back window.. something on your computer?

I suppose you are one of those who sticks to his guns even when they are empty. Well that's admirable I guess but not real helpful to anyone who is genuinely interested in learning about waterfowl.

If you want to shoot smaller ducks come early, if you want big greenies and mature light and dark geese come late. :beer:

PS. book learning is fine as long as it doesn't mess up your thinking!!!


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## Andrew Bremseth (Aug 1, 2007)

What is up with all the man crushes on "Matt Jones"? A little weird I must say uke:


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

buckseye said:


> If you want to shoot smaller ducks come early, if you want big greenies and mature light and dark geese come late. :beer:


Unless you want to shoot GWT, buffies, or some late season Bill action.. but that goes against your common sense theory so it must not be true.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

All I can say is I used to think a couple of you guys hunted now I know you just read about it. Good luck I hope you find a nice story to read. :lol:

Haha you weirdos have forgot about all the local darks they are here all spring summer and fall. Just a little more common sense for those of you without any, the geese tend to nest farther north than the ducks do. Can you disagree with that? Think about it, a lot of ducks nest in ND, why wouldnt they be here first if they live here..jeez.. no brain-er!!! :lol:


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Here guys....take the quiz then you can argue who knows more:

http://www.ducks.org/hunting/duquiz/Quiz.aspx?q=2

I think there's a lot of truths posted, but you never know what you'll find early and late.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

> All I can say is I used to think a couple of you guys hunted now I know you just read about it. Good luck I hope you find a nice story to read.


Ha...haaa....That just shows how little you really know.... :wink: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Andrew Bremseth said:


> What is up with all the man crushes on "Matt Jones"? A little weird I must say uke:


Jones wears Sex Panther. They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time it works, every time.


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## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

Chris Hustad said:


> Here guys....take the quiz then you can argue who knows more:


Sweet quiz. I got 8 out of 10. I got #1 wrong and #3 I got wrong cause I miss-understood the question. I wont lie, I got lucky on a few that had to do with birds that are not even native to the areas I hunt.


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Wow, got the brandt questions wrong but that was it! In regards to Buckeyes observation, it hold fairly true, because the bulk of waterfowl we have late are big ducks with the smaller birds having moved on. There are exceptions like last fall! During the Nov storm during deer season I shot a Blue Wing teal just to prove it was still around. Guys in in MO I know shot a banded Can a couple years ago on the opener that was tagged in northern AB!


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

Also got 8 out of 10, and I'll be honest, some of it was luck. I did get one wrong that I should have gotten right.

That said, I based my thoughts on the migration through what Ive seen in the field. Obviously mallards and greater honks are going to stay around longer than other species. That doesn't mean that all other species follow the bigger = migrate later pattern. The part about me and others reading about hunting instead of going hunting, well :lol: :lol: I wish my bank account and the condition of my pickup didn't contradict that thought.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Thanks Chris and to you turds who made this fun!! :beer:


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

buckseye said:


> Haha you weirdos have forgot about all the local darks they are here all spring summer and fall. Just a little more common sense for those of you without any, the geese tend to nest farther north than the ducks do. Can you disagree with that?


Yeah, I can disagree with that. Maybe you're not aware that there's resident Canada geese nesting in every single state. You aren't going to find ducks nesting south of the Mason-Dixon besides local woodies and mottled ducks on the coast...but you'll find plenty of large Canada geese. Again, this seems to go against your 'common sense theory.' Care to explain to us why this is?


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

buckseye said:


> Thanks Chris and to you turds who made this fun!! :beer:


No, thank you. :beer:



Andrew Bremseth said:


> What is up with all the man crushes on "Matt Jones"? A little weird I must say uke:


Andrew, If you knew me...you'd understand.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Matt Jones said:


> buckseye said:
> 
> 
> > Haha you weirdos have forgot about all the local darks they are here all spring summer and fall. Just a little more common sense for those of you without any, the geese tend to nest farther north than the ducks do. Can you disagree with that?
> ...


I guess I don't see anywhere I wrote this holds true 100% of the time, I said they *tend *to nest farther north and yes I am very aware of the darks becoming more domestic every year. I live in ND and have only written about what I see here. Where do you live, have you seen what you write with your own eyes or is it info gained from reading some ones else's opinions?? I just write what I see and learn. :beer:

You guys seem to have a chip on your shoulders about the commons sense thing... hmmmm I don't reckon you want to hear what common sense has to say about that.... :beer:


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

> I live in ND and have only written about what I see here. Where do you live, have you seen what you write with your own eyes


Everything I write about is all first hand experience, but for some reason you THINK you know me and my experiences, or experiences of others, but when they don't match up to YOUR experiences they are wrong! Atleast that's the feeling I get from reading your posts. Comments of yours like....


> I've never seen the things you write about actually materialize...


 only proves my point!

Maybe it's you that needs to open up to others experiences! Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen! If you would open up your collective thinking maybe you might understand why some have a chip on their shoulder! :wink:


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

> Maybe it's you that needs to open up to others experirnces! Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen! If you would open up your collective thinking maybe you might understand why some have a chip on their shoulder!


More of the same to me Mav... I don't know what the heck you are trying to say. I wrote what I wrote I don't care if any of you agree or disagree with my observations. *no way have I ever wrote anyone is wrong*. You guys are real sour pickles!!! :beer:

I would like to see one instance on here where I have belittled any ones opinions. :beer:


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

Instead of one in particular you belittle all that didn't agree with you!!!!



> All I can say is I used to think a couple of you guys hunted now I know you just read about it. Good luck I hope you find a nice story to read.





> More of the same to me Mav... I don't know what the heck you are trying to say. I wrote what I wrote I don't care if any of you agree or disagree with my observations.


And that's all I wrote I have ever wrote about but you never believe me! Do I care if you believe me or not...Nope just get old when YOU post things like....


> I've never seen the things you write about actually materialize...





> All I can say is I used to think a couple of you guys hunted now I know you just read about it. Good luck I hope you find a nice story to read.





> I suppose you are one of those who sticks to his guns even when they are empty.





> I would like to know how many years you have been hunting or what you use for your data base because it goes against nature.





> You guys need to add about 30 more years to your experience data base and you will see what nature does best.


YOU ARE BELITTLEING A POST AND POSTER! How hard is it for you to understand that? :beer:

Looks like were not the ones that are sour? :wink: :beer:


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Oh wow Mav.. sending tissues promptly!!

Sorry I cant lend you my shoulder. :beer:

I'm outy on this one, you are taking generalizations and making them personal. :beer:



> And that's all I wrote I have evr wrote about but you never believe me! Do I care if you believe me or not


Kind of curious where I said I didn't believe your opinion. :beer:


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

> Kind of curious where I said I didn't believe your opinion.


I am sorry that I have to repost this for you..


> I've never seen the things you write about actually materialize....


...... How else am I suppose to take that. As you believing me?.......I am sorry but If I say that to someone I am telling them they are full of sh!t.



> Oh wow Mav.. sending tissues promptly!!


Why no one is crying, are you assuming I am crying, because I am not just to clarify. I am just answering your questions! 
You can keep the tissue......



> Sorry I cant lend you my shoulder.


 That's probably a good thing considering your bad back and all! I wouldn't want to hurt it!



> I'm outy on this one, you are taking generalizations and making them personal


 Sorry Bucky, alll I was doing was answering your questions. If you are done that's fine but there was nothing persoanl in it! Please show me where I got personal?
....and I will show you where you started it!....wait here I will do it first!



> I suppose you are one of those who sticks to his guns even when they are empty.


 You don't know me.......If that ain't personal.... :withstupid: :wink: :beer:


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

> That's probably a good thing considering your bad back and all! I wouldn't want to hurt it!


haha thats a little personal I'm guessing... bye bye!! :lol:


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

BYE....I guess.... :wink:


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## Hatchie Dawg (Mar 22, 2003)

When we ice up here, which is getting more rare these days, one can always count on greenwings being one of the last to leave. They hang in there to the bitter end.


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## northernstates (Oct 15, 2008)

i made this topic to get a little more inside on what im doin out there and u guys turned it into a big p#ss and moan topic on who can hurt the other one ego more u guys want to do this make your own topic !!!! :eyeroll: uke:


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

hahaha as far as I know we were just having fun... We did keep your topic in the active forum and it was viewed over 1100 times. Thought it was worth it. :beer:


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

Andrew Bremseth said:


> What is up with all the man crushes on "Matt Jones"? A little weird I must say uke:


WTF? Matt Jones is 'the Waterfowl Mind' dude! :beer:


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

northernstates said:


> i made this topic to get a little more inside on what im doin out there and u guys turned it into a big p#ss and moan topic on who can hurt the other one ego more u guys want to do this make your own topic !!!! :eyeroll: uke:


I think your question answered.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

buckseye said:


> I guess I don't see anywhere I wrote this holds true 100% of the time, I said they *tend *to nest farther north and yes I am very aware of the darks becoming more domestic every year.


Maybe so, but the ones that tend to nest really far north, are the SMALL canadas. Only the big ones nest down south...again, this goes against your 'common sense theory.' :wink:


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

PJ said:


> northernstates said:
> 
> 
> > i made this topic to get a little more inside on what im doin out there and u guys turned it into a big p#ss and moan topic on who can hurt the other one ego more u guys want to do this make your own topic !!!! :eyeroll: uke:
> ...


Agreed. What else do you want to know? Not only did you get your question answered but you got some entertaining reading to boot. What else could you want? :beer:


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Matt Jones said:


> buckseye said:
> 
> 
> > I guess I don't see anywhere I wrote this holds true 100% of the time, I said they *tend *to nest farther north and yes I am very aware of the darks becoming more domestic every year.
> ...


I agree those big darks nesting down south are big and mean enough they dont even need feathers!! :beer:


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