# ARE THE NORTHERN BIRD MOVIN DOWN THROUGH ND YET?????



## MNfowler09 (Oct 22, 2009)

JUS WONDERING if any migrators are on the move threw the state yet????

let me know what u see

thanks :beer: :sniper:


----------



## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

well there are specks in arkansas, and snows in missouri....so yeah i'd say there is migrators moving through! 8)


----------



## lao (Oct 11, 2009)

i dont know why ppl cant just answer a ? without sarcasm.. i wold like to know how the migration is going too. i was there up untill the 16th and we got some birds that were moving through and saw alot of birds then.. im guessing it was the start but hopefully the birds are rolling in there.. i wanna go back and would like to when the birds are thick.. how are they?? anyone know that can just look in the sky and see?? im from mn and have only seen one flock of ducks since i have left the state haha sucks


----------



## greenwinger_13 (Oct 6, 2005)

I went scouting yesterday... I looked around alot and wasnt impressed... this specific area usually isnt that difficult to find birds in... other buddies have said there were a ton after the first cold, then they left when it warmed up.. i didnt have time to check all options though... i wasnt impressed.. not to say thats the case for everyone though


----------



## gasburner70 (Mar 17, 2005)

i have been hunting alot lately and there are birds moving in but they seem to be in small pockets here and there but i am def. seeing more all the time.


----------



## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

How can a person tell if the birds are from the north?


----------



## IAMALLARDMAN (Sep 15, 2009)

> How can a person tell if the birds are from the north?


 :roll:


----------



## JonnyVance (Sep 30, 2007)

Northern mallards are usually moving through the state when the temperatures drop considerably. They also usually come in larger flocks, are fuller in color, and much larger but like everything in hunting that is in an ideal situation and not always true as every year is different.

I think some people with knowledge should offer their opinions to those who would like to know and learn. Hopefully it will outweigh the "so called knowledge" that alot of the sarcastic pricks think they know!


----------



## King Eider (Mar 9, 2005)

Friend shot a drake Mallard with a band in it in Nebraska, banded this year in the NWT's of Canada.


----------



## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

I just find it funny when people think the full plumage ducks are "northern" ducks because actually any duck north of where you hunt even a 1/8 mile would with technically be a northern duck. I have seen the same local flock of mallards stay right up to freeze up and you couldn't tell the difference between them or the "northern" ducks.


----------



## IAMALLARDMAN (Sep 15, 2009)

> I just find it funny when people think the full plumage ducks are "northern" ducks because actually any duck north of where you hunt even a 1/8 mile would with technically be a northern duck. I have seen the same local flock of mallards stay right up to freeze up and you couldn't tell the difference between them or the "northern" ducks.


Here we go again....... You Know What He Ment!


----------



## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

IAMALLARDMAN said:


> > I just find it funny when people think the full plumage ducks are "northern" ducks because actually any duck north of where you hunt even a 1/8 mile would with technically be a northern duck. I have seen the same local flock of mallards stay right up to freeze up and you couldn't tell the difference between them or the "northern" ducks.
> 
> 
> Here we go again....... You Know What He Ment!


Seriously!


----------



## Niles Short (Mar 18, 2004)

When they quack they finish with a canadian "A"


----------



## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

> Hopefully it will outweigh the "so called knowledge" that alot of the sarcastic pricks think they know!


Hey Jonny. Those Dale carnegie courses are really starting to pay off aren't they!!!!! :eyeroll:


----------



## headshot (Oct 26, 2006)

We have only seen big numbers of ducks here in the last few weeks. We have been grinding them too. :lol:


----------



## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

headshot said:


> We have only seen big numbers of ducks here in the last few weeks. We have been grinding them too. :lol:


nice!....now send em south!


----------



## Duckmaster15 (Nov 13, 2007)

Heres my report from this morning.... saw alot of birds this morning more then usual. Saw about 8-10 of flocks of about 2 to 3 dozen ducks each up high on a mission south. Saw one flock of snows of about 100 headed south as well.. With three guys shot a 2 man limit and just came up short on the third. East central SD...


----------



## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

I shot mallards with large green heads this weekend. They told me dey were from up nort.


----------



## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

USAlx50 said:


> I shot mallards with large green heads this weekend. They told me dey were from up nort.


Did they have an accent with the came into the decoys? Ehh.


----------



## widukntz (Oct 10, 2006)

Hunted last week in Mcintosh Co. Very few mallards in our area. Shot a few nicely plumed divers, Can and bluebill. Quite a few teal around, shot a banded female GW. Very tough hunting for upland birds only. Only saw one small group of snows sitting with swans, and only a few small flocks of cranes flying high overhead. Very few fields harvested. Still beats working!


----------



## Wildcat (Oct 26, 2009)

Niles Short:

Let's get it right - it's 'eh', not 'A'

Even up here, everybody still refers to the fully plummed, big bodied ducks as 'Northerners'

Around here their arrival usually coincides with the second/third week in October.

Wildcat


----------



## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

Would't duck get bigger becauase they are putting on more fat and more feathers?


----------



## IAMALLARDMAN (Sep 15, 2009)

> Would't duck get bigger becauase they are putting on more fat and more feathers?


yeah in a sense they do gain fat, and full plumage adds a little size. But honestly, you know what they mean, when I start off the season in iowa the mallards we shoot are half the size of the later "Northern Birds" we shoot in november/december. I know those are not the same local birds I was hunting a couple months earlier.


----------



## MNfowler09 (Oct 22, 2009)

ok first of all any real hunter knows what northern bird are, and the "eh" STUFF IS ANNOYING.... i was only wondering if anybody has SEEN any high flying migrating mallards or other species of waterfowl moving through the state. :x

thanks for the REAL replys back to my topic from some of you hunters


----------



## retired (May 2, 2009)

Just got back from hunting waterfowl in North Dakota. We were east of Bismarck. We found gadwalls, shovelors, blue and greenwinged teal, bluebills, canvasbacks, buffleheads, mallards, sandhill cranes, Hutchinson geese, whitefronts, snows and hooded mergansers. The Mallards are just starting to enter the area. Not too much activity. Our four man group shot between four and six mallards a day along with other ducks. The weather was pretty nice though. The people in North Dakota are incredibly nice. Landowners that had their property posted would gladly let us hunt. Amazed me and I have hunted for 44 years. Everyone should make an effort to go there. We drove 11 hours one way and it is worth every minute of it. We paid $45 a night for very nice motel rooms. The food was very good too. Don't count on McDonald's or other fast food places. You will find them in big cities like Bismarck and Fargo but not out in the rural areas. Also, make sure you fill up with gas every morning. The gas stations are few and far between. No need to pull a boat either. There is no place to put a boat in the water on all the private land we hunted. We walked our decoys and layout blinds in. Losts of work but well worth it. [/b]


----------



## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

MNfowler09 said:


> ok first of all any real hunter knows what northern bird are, and the "eh" STUFF IS ANNOYING....


What is a "real hunter"?


----------



## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

As far as the migration. We were in northern ND and saw very few birds all together. Geese, swans and cranes yes, ducks no. The early season was much more productive in terms of duck numbers. The northern ducks have not shown up in mass up there yet.


----------



## carp_killer (Nov 24, 2006)

wha bout them southrn birds? any of yall seen them flying roun lately :lol:


----------



## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

Given that over half the ducks that nested this year were in the dakotas over Canada probably most are gone. While there will still be a migration I really do not think it is like it used to be since most of the ducks are not raised in Canada anymore.


----------



## beretta1201 (Oct 19, 2009)

recker said:


> Given that over half the ducks that nested this year were in the dakotas over Canada probably most are gone. While there will still be a migration I really do not think it is like it used to be since most of the ducks are not raised in Canada anymore.


 I may be wrong, but I have to say I strongly disagree. A buddies of mine just got back from a hut in Canada (6 hrs north of winnipeg) and he said there was birds every were. They did very well.


----------



## Kris brantner (Sep 22, 2009)

it annoys the heck out of me when anyone says they shoot a northern bird because it is fully plumaged. it is just the time of year they all start to color out. the ones you shoot that people claim are locals, and just birds that were born that year and later into the summer. i know if the "northern birds" are around, if i start to see ducks in places that were void all early fall, or a sudden jump in the number of overall birds around. i call them new birds, becausae they come from everywhere as soon as hunting pressure makes them move. we have shot fully plumaged birds on opening day, and i dout they are northern, just older birds. it also annoys the heck out of me when people say they because a bird has bright orange legs, or a bright yellow bill, they are norther birds.


----------



## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

beretta1201 said:


> recker said:
> 
> 
> > Given that over half the ducks that nested this year were in the dakotas over Canada probably most are gone. While there will still be a migration I really do not think it is like it used to be since most of the ducks are not raised in Canada anymore.
> ...


Recker is right......there was a news release from Delta in Sept that said for the first time,more ducks nested in the US than in Canada.

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... ight=delta


----------



## beretta1201 (Oct 19, 2009)

Seeâ€¦ now look at I was wrong.


----------



## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

Just because a article in Delta said more birds were raised in ND than Canada doesn't mean all the birds are from ND or locals! I find it extrememly bothersome that people can read an article and apply it to *every* flock of birds they see or hear about! Get over the term! If new birds that migrate in from the north come in why can't they be called Northern Birds? It's a term that people are getting all wrapped up about!

I do understand that birds can be and are raised at different times to produce different sized ducks (which will produce bigger ducks earlier) but saying that every flock is just locals is just plain dumb!

2 weekends ago we were pulling migrators (from the north) from the stratosphere. Those birds were more than likely raised some where north of me! Can I not call those Northern birds? They didn't come from the south when they were flying!

It's a term....just like the term "New".
New......Northern...there both relevant to certain situations!


----------



## MNfowler09 (Oct 22, 2009)

NORTHERN BIRDS = large flocks of high flying migrating ducks!

thats northern birds


----------



## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

I never said that there were not still birds to come from Canada. My point is the days of the grand passage everyone waited for are probably done with. The amount of birds coming out of Canada is just not what it once was period and that is a fact.


----------



## MNfowler09 (Oct 22, 2009)

last year was definetly better than this year that is for damn sure...

either the number of birds is down or the migration got screwed up when the first cold front came through... i dont know but our first weekend in nd was very slow and i leave thursday for nd once again and im guessing the hunting wont be much different

either way its better than minnesota any day so.....

:sniper:


----------



## recker (Oct 12, 2003)

Big storm hitting Devils Lake according to the weather with huge NW winds and 6 inches of snow Friday. The only issue is no such front in Canada so if anything it probably pushes out what is left of the birds.


----------



## nemitz (Oct 18, 2005)

Tons of Mallards in my area. Large flocks just coming down ( I scout 3 times per week ). Im located 4 hrs north of Minot.


----------



## riverview (Sep 1, 2009)

every november i shoot northern flight mallards, i can tell because they have ice rings frozen on there legs.


----------

