Nick87
Well-known member
I can make that happen.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I’ve been seeing a lot of that, including a couple thousand geese piling into one field this morning. Getting permission on one of those fields has been the hard part.
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Um, can I get in on this? Montana was home for me for 30 years. I moved eight years ago and just took up waterfowl last year. Now kicking myself, not realizing what I had been missing all that time in the 406.
Doublecluck
Well-known member
Oh yea! The last best place for maybe a little while more anyway when it comes to fowl.
Getting permission gets a little harder every year, still some less known corners of the world where it can be done relatively easily.
JShane
Well-known member
JShane
Well-known member
Oh sure someone shows up miles away from gators and snakes and you're all up in there....ya cut me deep Shrek.
After a great hunt last week the ducks were just not cooperating today, very frustrating after I thought I had them figured out. Only got one shot at a pintail and i missed, didn't even get a shot at a mallard. But there was one bright spot; on previous trip I let a redhead sneak up on me, but today I saw him coming (actually a pair) and cashed in. Banded ducks aren't super rare around here, but I think this is the first banded diving duck I've ever shot.
JShane
Well-known member
Nice, congrats on the band and the bird.
marshman
Well-known member
How are Redheads on the table, taste good? Do not ever see them in my hunting areas, I have never shot one.
They generally have a good reputation, I've shot a handful on this lake and they were feeding on the same seeds as the puddle ducks and tasted fine. I've heard that the ones in saltwater can be less desirable, but no firsthand experience.
MarvB
Well-known member
Growing up on the coast Reds and Cans were all over the map as table fare…one might be as mild as a mallard, the next kinda fishy/funky like a ringbill. Pretty much all shot from around the same areas sooo 
OntarioHunter
Well-known member
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- Sep 11, 2020
- Messages
- 5,980
Try hunting up here in late Sept through early October. Geese from horizon to horizon. And weather is usually not bad. I'm not much into laying in a box on a snowy field. Manitoba is calling me next year. I did my PhD in Winnipeg and fished the area around Robblin. Fantastic waterfowl country. I believe it is possible for nonresident Americans to DYI for birds but big game requires outfitter. Did hunt geese with an outfitter in SK a few years ago. Would have been better off hunting by myself I think. Hell, most of the time I was anyway. All he did was drop us off and throw out the deeks then left for the day. We didn't do that great but weather was horrible. Can't fault anyone for that. Early blizzard.
Nemont
Well-known member
This past Saturday, somewhere in Montana. The season always ends too soon
JShane
Well-known member
The ones i'm getting down here have been some of my better birds for the table. They've also been some of the fatter birds that i've gotten every year the last three years. To my knowledge these birds are not venturing over to the coast towards saltwater but i cant verify that with 100% accuracy. Their crops are usually full of hydrilla tubers when I process them .
JShane
Well-known member
HOLY SHHHHHHHH......cow
The band on this duck looked pristine, so I figured it was banded recently. I figured wrong!
Dang that's a pretty old duck, coming up on 10+ years. I shot a mallard that was 7 or 8 years old, the band was hard to read. Most others I've collected were banded within last year or 2, and usually from NM or Colorado.
JShane
Well-known member
9 or 10 year old bird thats awesome. Let us know if he tastes rutted up and tough. 
Frenchy
Well-known member
"I bet there are 300 ducks out there"
That is a pretty sweet looking field. I saw a few like that on the second to last weekend that made me stop in awe. I think the filed you drove by doubled the fields I was looking at.
marshman
Well-known member
More like 3,000
OntarioHunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2020
- Messages
- 5,980
I have a goose band that was only a couple years old but looked like it had been through WWII. Had to guess at one of the numbers. Got it right on second attempt. I think some birds find the bands irritating and peck on them.
