Go Green with Mallards

By Doug Leier
The next time you find yourself kicking cans in the shop, killing time at the gas station or coffee shop with the crew, I ask you to raise a question about favorite ducks.
No doubt the wood duck would garner a share of votes, and the pintail has subtle grace and definition–that pointed tail [...]

Staying HIP

By Doug Leier
For almost a decade, migratory bird hunters have had to get HIP. No, not the “hip,” that loosely means “aware” or “fashionable” according the Webster’s Dictionary, but HIP, as in registered with the Harvest Information Program.
What is HIP?
HIP is a survey method developed by states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) [...]

Ducks vs. Geese

By PJ Maguire
I have often been asked what I enjoy the pursuit of most: ducks or geese. It is a difficult question for a person who would prefer to spend his time scanning the skyline above decoys for waterfowl. For me, I cut my teeth hunting ducks at my family’s lake cabin with my dad and [...]

The Duck Stamp

By Doug Leier
Even if you’re not a duck hunter, I think you’ll appreciate what thousands of duck hunters across the prairie are doing this fall. It’s about as simple a task as you can make it, and much of the time they don’t get enough credit for how they’ve contributed to the good of the [...]

Dream Hunt

By PJ Maguire
It was an unbelievable day. The snow was coming down sideways and the birds were committing suicide. I filled my Swan tag with a black neck collared bird that was sporting a tarsus band to boot. I picked the bird out of a decoying flock that came in at first light.
Matt and I [...]

Delta Waterfowl

BISMARCK, ND-Duck hunters from Minnesota to Louisiana are organizing rallies and planning public hearings in an attempt to answer the most nagging question in the outdoors: “Where were the ducks?”
Delta Waterfowl President Rob Olson says one reason hunters across the country have been disappointed by recent duck seasons is that the Canadian portion of the [...]

The Good Old Days

By Perry Thorvig
The Nodak crew shot the greenheads big time again in this year’s duck opener. They celebrated the tenth anniversary of the breaking of the drought of the 1980s and early 90s. Ironically, we may be heading back into another drought cycle. But, there are still birds around and then can provide some great [...]

The Streak

By Perry Thorvig
My brother-in-law, Kenny Carlson, loves to hunt and fish. As most hunters do, he got started hunting during his high school years. Kenny is a lean six-footer. I guess that’s a kind way of saying that he must have been a pretty skinny kid in high school. He was not a Friday night [...]

Water Up – Ducks Down

By PJ Maguire
When flights of ducks returned to the prairies of North Dakota from the south, numbers looked good for the 2004 waterfowl season. The annual spring breeding duck index was the 3rd highest on record, and was up 9% from last year. These numbers were surprising considering that there was a 16% decrease in [...]

Who’s Going To Look After the Ducks?

A Day in the Field With Delta Waterfowl – By Jed Fluhrer
Who’s going to look after the ducks? While I have spent many days in the marsh and field scanning the skies for ducks, it wasn’t until I stood in a wetland east of Bismarck, North Dakota surrounded by a group of Cub Scouts and [...]

All My Heroes are Duck Hunters

By PJ Maguire
The Old Man and I spent many summer afternoons discussing the usual topics; investing, religion, fishing and of course duck hunting. He was a strong Catholic, the kind that kept a painting of the last super by the dinner table. We said grace before we ate our meals, and we enjoyed many a [...]

The Mysterious Coot

By Doug Leier
Have you ever thought about hunting coots?
To be honest, most hunters never even consider bagging one and bringing it home, even though they are readily available on many North Dakota waters and regulations allow a daily limit of 15 and a possession limit of 30.
But this season, I might think differently when I’m [...]

First Forecast

By Perry Thorvig
This year’s first comprehensive summary of agency reports and anecdotal observations concerning the prospects for the 2004 waterfowl season.
Last month you read that I was pretty discouraged about duck hunting prospects in general because of increased commercialization of the resource. In the space that follows, I will summarize the agency and individual reports [...]

Survey Says

By Doug Leier
With the final shots of North Dakota’s bird hunting seasons behind us as of the close of turkey hunting on Jan. 11, we’re actually only weeks away from the opening of the 2009 spring snow goose conservation season on Feb. 21. Beyond that, the spring turkey season is only a couple of months [...]

Waterfowl Hunting Memories

By Chris Hustad
Well here I am, back in another airplane for a cross country trip home from work. As I write this I’m on the first lag of my trip back to North Dakota from Blacksburg, Virginia. After a long exhausting week, it feels good to know I’m going home. And this isn’t just any [...]

Bird Band – Duck Band – Goose Band

By PJ Maguire
Every year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service and agencies ran by the states, place leg bands on a variety of birds across the country. Migratory birds, like ducks, geese, and most recently doves are some of the most commonly banded birds. Harvesting a bird sporting a leg band is a special joy [...]

2002 Duck Hunting & Goose Hunting Season Recap

By Perry Thorvig
The 2002 hunting season was a big disappointment. I guess it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the goose gods saying, “Gotcha!”
The first disappointment was that I never got out this spring to chase the snows because of the need to move my elderly parents [...]

It’s Crunch Time for the 2002 Waterfowl Season

By Jason Phillips
The 2002 waterfowl season is just around the corner and it’s time for final preparations. For avid waterfowlers, preparation begins at the final sunset on the last day of the previous season. August is crunch time! The planning, preparation and anticipation has reached its climax and everything will soon fall into place for [...]

The Dawning of A New Waterfowl Season

By Jason Phillips
 As the eastern sky began to show signs of light, our anticipation mounted. We had been looking forward to this moment for months. Day was breaking on the North Dakota Early Canada Goose Season Opener. As the sun began it’s ascent it was evident that it was destined to be a very memorable [...]

Winged Migration

By Doug Leier
I’ve got a short attention span. In fact, my 9-month-old daughter can stay on task longer than I can. I say it’s a factor of society, the internet, email and cell phones – the “right now” culture that seems to have us trapped.
But somehow, that all changes when we get outdoors. Outside, the [...]

Downsizing Your Decoys

By PJ Maguire
When I was a young waterfowler, not too many years ago there seemed to be only two brands of decoys: Flambeau and Carry-lite. My first duck and goose decoys were Flambeau and my high school hunting buddy, Matt Gouette, had Carry-lite’s. Nowadays, I cannot page through a waterfowl hunting magazine without seeing an [...]

Steel Shot Review – Shotgun Pattern Information

Just as each waterfowler has their favorite techniques to pursue waterfowl they also have their preference of shotgun shells. The selection is generally made based of several different factors that include: manufacturer reputation, availability, cost, past experiences, etc. Although each of these may hold some validity the best way to determine which is best for [...]

Planning a Waterfowl HuntingTrip to Canada

By Justin Gatzke
Well, it is getting down to crunch time. We are officially less than two months away from the big waterfowl hunting trip to Canada. Coordinating a hunting trip can be a series of headaches if you let it overwhelm you. There is lodging to find, licenses to buy, trailers to stuff, and so [...]

Hunter’s Choice Waterfowl Regulations

By Doug Leier
About 15 years ago I attended my first Game and Fish Department advisory board meeting. I was a fisheries and wildlife management student at North Dakota State University, and had a goal of one day working in the natural resource field. I decided it might be a positive learning experience to attend this [...]

Duck Hunting Field Tactics & Tips

By Chris Hustad
There’s a lot of different ways to hunt ducks. You can field hunt, open water hunt, hunt shallow potholes, hunt flooded timber, pass shoot refuges, etc. etc. Every state has it’s own unique landscape, it’s own flyways, it’s own style of hunting. This philosophy definitely applies to duck hunting in North Dakota.
What amazes [...]

Duck Recipe

Here’s some favorite duck recipes of ours.
Orange Duck Recipe :

1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil
1/3 Cup of Orange Juice
2 Tablespoons Grated Orange Peel
1/2 Cup Can of Peaches, Pureed
1/2 Cup Can of Pineapple, Pureed
1/3 Cup Whipping Cream
1 Tsp. Bacon Drippings
2 Tablespoon Butter
1/2 Tsp. Chopped Fresh Garlic
1 Tsp. Tomato Paste
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Tablespoon Clover Honey

 
In a large [...]