Minnesota Waterfowl Migration and Hunting Report 29 September 2011

Minnesota Waterfowl Migration and Hunting Report 29 September 2011 The following report is a compilation of state and federal wildlife manager reports and waterfowl surveys from across Minnesota. This is the 2 nd report for 2011. Reports will be compiled ly throughout the hunting season and should be available by Thursday afternoon each. The Conservation Officer Report, available on the DNR web site, also contains information about waterfowl hunter success across the state. General: 29 September 2011, 3:00 p.m. Duck hunting success was good throughout the state on opening end. In general, most reports indicated success was better on Saturday and slower on Sunday. Blue-winged teal, wood ducks, mallards, and ring-necked ducks were common in hunters bags. Most reports indicated that hunters were very supportive of the earlier opening date, early shooting hours, and increased bag limits on wood ducks and hen mallards this year. The numbers of ducks/hunter at various locations in northern Minnesota on opening day was: Thief Lake WMA (3.1), Tamarac NWR (2.9), Big Rice by Remer (2.8), Big White Oak (2.2), Mud Goose WMA (1.8), Roseau WMA (1.5), and Canosia WMA (1.3). In central and southern Minnesota, the number of ducks/hunter on opening day was: Brainerd area (4.0), Lac qui Parle WMA (3.0), Slayton (3.0), Carlos Avery WMA (2.3), and Swan Lake (1.3). At present, wetland habitat conditions are highly variable across the state, but generally remain fairly dry in most regions. Wild rice crops were highly variable this year but areas with good wild rice stands are seeing good duck use. Soybean harvest has started in most regions as well as some corn harvest. Most waterfowl surveys conducted this showed lower duck numbers compared to the same last year. However, with the strong NW winds today, duck numbers should increase in most areas as more migrant ducks move into the state. In the northern ½ of the state, expect ring-necked duck numbers to increase substantially over the next few days. In other regions, hunters can expect to see more gadwall, green-winged teal, and wigeon than were present on opening end. Blue-winged teal and wood duck numbers will continue to decline but expect good numbers to still be present this end. The outlook for this end is generally good. Hunters can expect above normal temperatures this end and into next NW WC Roseau Karlstad Thief Lake Agassiz NWR Crookston Tamarac NWR Fergus Falls Talcot Lake SW NC Park Rapids Brainerd Windom Baudette Little Big Glenwood Falls Stone NWR Sauk LQP Rapids Willmar Appleton Swan Slayton Lake Grand Rapids Aitkin Rice Lake NWR C SE NE Sherburne NWR Carlos Avery Upper Miss. Rochester Owatonna Cloquet Cambridge MN Valley NWR Winona

across the state, with daytime highs in the 60s in the north and the 70s in the south with light winds, sunny skies, and very little chance of precipitation. Duck hunter numbers through opening end were 4% less than last year based on state waterfowl stamp sales and overall sales in 2010 were the lowest recorded since 1977. Reminder: Hunters should note that the duck season in the South Duck Zone will reopen Saturday Oct. 1 and run until Nov. 27. Shooting hours end at 4 p.m. through Saturday Oct. 8 and sunset the remainder of the season. Bag limits are 6 ducks/day. The bag limit for hen mallards is 2/day this season. The bag limit on wood ducks is 3/day. Bag limits on other species are unchanged from last year. The regular Canada goose season runs from Sept. 24-Dec. 17 in the North Duck Zone. In the South Duck Zone, the regular Canada goose season reopens Oct. 1 and runs until Dec. 22. In the Rochester goose zone, the Canada goose season is open reopens Oct. 1-Nov. 27, and Dec. 8-Jan. 1. The bag limit is 3 Canada geese/day statewide for the entire season. The sandhill crane season is open until Oct. 9 in the Northwest goose zone only. Bag limits are 2/day and a sandhill crane permit is required. Motorized decoys are prohibited statewide through Saturday October 8 th and on state wildlife management areas the entire season. Hunters should consult the 2011 Waterfowl Hunting regulations (available from license vendors or online at: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/hunting/index.html) for additional details and regulations. Be aware that the new drain plug law remains in effect and hunters must remove drain plugs from boats before transporting them on public roads. Safety Never Takes A Holiday: treat every gun as if it were loaded, be 100% certain of your target before pulling the trigger, wear your life vest, pay attention to other hunters and your hunting partners, and watch the weather. The following is a summary of pre-season waterfowl habitat and hunting conditions from various reporting stations across the state.

Northwest Thief Lake WMA Thief Lake is 3 below target, and access and cover are good. Soybean harvest is occurring in surrounding private ag lands. Weather has been mild with southerly breezes. A frontal passage is forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday. A flight on 9/28 showed 7600 ducks on the lake, with 5400 of them being ring-necks. A few scaup have shown up, and ground counts indicate that some geese may have left. No snows have been observed since the opener. Hunters averaged 2.18 ducks per hunter on the lake opening end, with success heavily skewed toward opening day. Success has declined noticeably since that time. Ringnecks comprised 40% of the bag opening end, and blue-wings comprised another 27% opening end. Greater variety was observed in the bag this year than last, and Canada goose harvest on the lake increased over last year. Roseau River WMA Agassiz NWR No rain received this ; the Roseau River is still really low. Access to all Pools is good. Soybean harvest started this and a few more wheat stubble fields were burnt. Still plenty of field feeding options available for birds. Refuge water conditions are great, with a handful of pools in drawdown/low water condition. Agassiz Pool level is low (due to dike repair) and has very favorable conditions for mallards and other dabbling ducks and is holding a substantial amount of birds at this time. We have not seen any more snow geese move through the area. While many Canada geese have left, we are still seeing flocks move down from the north. These geese are scattered across the work area utilizing grain fields. No large migration of divers or dabblers into the work area yet. Warm weather forecasted through the end with high temperatures in the 60 s or better. Lows into the high 30 s and 40 s. Have seen an increase of migrant Canada geese within the last. Composition of duck is 65% mallards, 30% green-winged teal, and 5% wigeon. A few tundra swans are also present. Some of these birds arrived today (Thursday) with the strong NW winds. Use of the CHZ has been light to this point, and no geese have been checked there to date. Opening end hunter numbers were down 9% from 2010. Sat. was a better day for most hunters on the WMA. Overall end success averaged out to 1.47 ducks/hunter and 0.7 geese/hunter in the non- Controlled Hunting Zone (CHZ). Ring-necks, green-winged teal, mallards, and blue-winged teal were the top species this opener, making up 77% of the bag. Hunter use mid has been light. N/A

Thief River Falls There are good water conditions at Lost River Pool and Farmes Pool at Elm Lake WMA, Pembina marsh on Pembina WMA. Eckvoll pool on Eckvoll WMA is lower this year due to lack of rain and a new control structure being installed in August. All small grain fields have been worked at least two times. Very few have stubble suitable for field hunting. Soybeans are starting to be harvested this. Most small grain fields have some greening up that is attracting the birds to the field. Forecast for the upcoming is highs in the upper 70s and lows in the 40s with sunny to partly cloudy skies. Small numbers of migrant Canada geese, cranes, and ducks have moved into the area this past. Patterning cranes to fields they have been feeding in seems to be the most effective way to hunt them. Most if not all geese are field feeding. Flocks size is primarily 10-20 birds with some flocks consisting up to 150 birds. This past many small groups of 2-6 have been seen entering fields to feed with the larger groups. Some wood ducks and teal are still around. Some larger groups of mallards (10-30) have been showing up this last however there are very few. Northeast Cloquet North central Park Rapids Rice Lake NWR Water levels in lakes and marshes are good, although they have dropped some due to recent dry conditions. Wild rice production is patchy. Beaver and beaver ponds are abundant. Wetland water levels remain in good shape. Emergent vegetation on some basins may be spotty this year due to high water early. Near shore rice stalks are standing and in good shape. Most River water levels are falling. All remain navigable. Good wild rice acreages, standing stems providing excellent cover; good water levels. Little evidence of staging yet by ring-necks. Teal and wood ducks are still present in good numbers. Canada goose numbers and activity seem to be down. Except for three days of frost in mid-september, the generally dry, summer-like weather pattern continues. Stable above average temperatures have persisted for the past. Cool nights and warm days are creating ideal conditions for fall colors. Good numbers of wood ducks, BWT, and mallards are using area lakes and rivers. GWT and ring-necks are also present but in lower numbers. No migrations have been noted this, however, a cold front is expected Wednesday evening through Thursday with high winds from the north. This may move some early migrants out of the area. Canada goose numbers remain strong. Teal and Wood ducks still here. More Ring-necked ducks arrived. Warm weather continues. Hunters in the area say it was one of the better opening ends. Those that targeted geese did very well with a good number of ducks in the bag. Most small water is holding puddle ducks and the flooded impoundments are providing some good areas with 1-2 feet of water. Some areas that use to hold shallow pockets of water were found to be dried up so hunting efforts on more permanent pools has been more successful. A bag check of 29 hunters at the Canosia WMA north of Duluth recorded a harvest of 1.28 ducks per hunter. The bag was dominated by wood ducks and mallards. Hunter numbers were the same as last year. Success varied in the Park Rapids area on the opener with poor to good reports. Some hunters found birds on remote ponds and rivers. Wood ducks, mallards, teal, and geese were the most common birds in the bag. A few ring-necks were also harvested. There is no waterfowl hunting permitted on Rice Lake NWR.

Brainerd Water levels are still receding but Several flocks of small Canada Geese were noted on overall water levels are good. 9/27. Rice lakes with small watersheds have an abundance of rice for waterfowl. Rice lakes on large watersheds were for the most part poor to a complete failure for rice production but still held other species of vegetation as waterfowl food. Most blue-winged Teal seem to have moved out of the area. Lot of Wood ducks in the area. Fewer Mallards than normal. Hunter survey of the Brainerd area checked 16 hunters with 77.5 hrs. hunted with 62 ducks bagged. This averaged 3.9 ducks/hunter. Species bagged on survey- 38- Woodducks,7 Mallards, 17 Blue Winged Teal. Aitkin Grand Rapids West central Fergus Falls Reports of low water levels in some areas, most basins have normal fall levels. Water levels continue to drop slightly. Wild rice is available to feeding ducks. Water conditions still good with some shallow wetlands drying up. Soybean harvest in full swing Canada geese abundant over the end, heard some snow geese on the 27 th. Weather mild with frosty mornings on opening end. No precip. Sandhill cranes staging. A cold front with strong winds Thursday may move some birds. No major migrations noted. Bird numbers down considerably from last but still some teal around along with a few mallards and some small numbers of ring-necked ducks. Cold front and strong northwesterly predicted for Thursday could move some birds. Hunters seemed to like the early opener with new start time. Wood ducks, blue-winged teal and mallards were taken. Some geese taken. Opening day bag checks: Big Rice Lake at Remer- 2.8 ducks/hunter top three birds were RN 49% WD 19% BWT 18%; Mud Lake at Mud- Goose WMA 1.8 ducks/hunter Top three birds in bag, BWT 32% WD 32% RN 21%; Big white Oak Lake- Deer River- 2.2 ducks/hunter Top three birds: RN 27%, BWT 22%, Mall 12%. Hunting activity was up 7% based on cars counts at 12 major hunting lakes in the Grand Rapids area. Hunter numbers on opening end appeared to be comparable to last year. Good success primarily on teal and mallards in southwest with wood ducks in wooded transition area to north. Few divers and coot around.

Tamarac NWR Dry conditions continue to exist with low water levels. No significant migrations or concentrations of ducks have been noted this. Canada geese are up slightly from last. As noted last, the presence of rice on some lakes made visibility and detection of waterfowl difficult. Glenwood High water on most wetlands There seems to still be a few ducks around after the first end, with some bird numbers building up with the split season and the break from hunting pressure. This has been warm and calm up until Thursday that is cooler and very windy out of the North West. Central North Metro Sauk Rapids Water levels dropping slightly. Plenty of food available Wetlands and rivers are in good condition. Some row crop harvest just starting. No migration noted in or out. Weather continues to be mild this and into the end. Mild weather continues. Hunter pressure on opening end was average or slightly above. Bag limits averaged 2.9 duck per hunter with bag limits ranging from none to full bag limits, so success was spotty. Wood ducks, blue-winged teal and ring-necked ducks made up most of the bag, with a few mallards taken as well. Hunters on opening end seemed to have fair to good success, with Blue Wing Teal making up the majority of the bagged birds. The season is split in this part of the sate so the birds have had a break for the, although we have lost or pushed a high percentage of the Teal out, the break has given the other birds a chance to build back up in numbers and settle down. I would predict that this coming end will be, not as good as opening end but hunters should find some ducks around. Hunting activity very high on opener with bag checks showing less than 1 bird per hunter. There were very good opportunities for those that scouted and could distance themselves from others. Extremely spotty hunting success. Many reports of excellent hunting on the opener, with just as many very poor reports. Teal and wood ducks were common in the bag.

Cambridge Although small wetlands have receded and even dried up, general wetland conditions in east central MN are in good shape. Small grain harvest is complete. Silage harvest is in high gear since the killing frost. Beans are brown but remain standing and may not have been ripe when frost damaged. Wild rice crops and stands fair to good and provide plenty of waterfowl food and cover. Bluebird weather for the opener. Very strong numbers of local Mallards, Wood ducks and Blue-winged teal. Plenty of geese w/new flight arrivals early this. Unbelievable numbers of local sandhill cranes! Significant concentrations of staging flocks (nonbreeding gangs and family units) across the work area w/numbers building daily. Significant numbers of hunting parties in many of the lakes, rivers and wetlands. Success appeared exceptionally good w/bag limits consisting of a mix of puddle ducks and geese. Hunters were pleasantly surprised and happy w/duck numbers and concentrations. Carlos Avery WMA Sherburne NWR Water levels are normal to slightly low. Good food availability. Water levels high and holding steady or slightly decreasing. The impoundment that was drawn down is providing good food source for migrating birds and is the most productive on the Refuge Still plenty of teal and wood ducks around with a few coot and ring-necked ducks moving in. Strong northwest wind this may move a few early migrants. Migration was slow. Not a lot of birds were detected on the survey this. But hundreds of wood ducks have been observed on the river. Weather warm and dry. Activity was high for the opener. More activity than seen in recent years. Harvest on Saturday was 2.3 birds per hunter and comprised of 61% bwt, 29% wood ducks, 6% mallards, 3% gwt, and 1% ringnecked ducks. Sunday s bags were significantly reduced with.7 birds per hunter. Better than average success for the opener. Some groups limited out.

Southwest Swan Lake (Nicollet) Big Stone NWR Slayton Swan Lake is in great shape once again. Water levels and vegetative quality are good. Many other area shallow lakes had good water levels and have dropped in the last month due to dry weather conditions. Area wetlands were in great shape but have since lost water due to dry weather. MN river bottom wetlands in excellent vegetative state. Shallow water levels are present in most of the refuge wetlands. Favorable conditions for waterfowl. Water levels in area wetlands remain low due to dry weather since July. Otherwise, habitat conditions are generally good. Soybean harvest began this and some corn also coming out. Weather over the first end was sunny and mild with highs in the 70 s and little wind. It was noted that many Wood Ducks had moved in lately to area wooded wetlands and stream corridors. This conclusion was also the case based on bag limits over the end. Even though the season opened earlier teal harvest was close to the same as last year with reports saying we had lost birds with a couple of cold windy days with frost prior to the season opening namely Labor day end. Few diver species were present in the Swan bag limits with the exception of Redheads that are raised on the lake. Many large groups of Wood Ducks were observed on area river corridors by hunters. Still have small concentrations of blue-winged teal and wood ducks. Waiting for the migration to start. Mild temperatures and early morning fog has been the pattern this. Forecast thru the end calls for mild conditions with temperatures in the 70 s and lows in the 40 s. More coot observed this and still good numbers of ducks in the area. Majority of the ducks are BW Teal, with some GWT mixed in along with Wood ducks and Mallards. Temps have been in the 70s and predicted to remain warm into next. No precipitation is expected. 48 parties with a total of 109 hunters were checked at 3 separate locations: Poor Farm Bay (north) public access, Nicollet Bay (south) public access, and Compart s hunting cabins. A total of 131 ducks were harvested, for an average of 1.2 ducks per hunter and improvement over 2010 (0.8 Ducks per hunter). There were also 6 Canada Geese harvested, also an improvement over 2010. Success around the area seemed to be at least in line with the Swan Lake average if not slightly higher. All hunters reported better success than 2010 and like the early start both in time and date. Less mallards were reported then 2010. Big Stone NWR is closed to waterfowl hunting, however adjacent private land may be accessible to hunters. Good reports for the duck opener. There was high hunting pressure and good success (~3 ducks per hunter from 39 hunter reports). Dominant bird in bag was BWT.

Lac qui Parle WMA Marsh Lake and Lac qui Parle (LQP) Lake water levels continue to drop but are still above normal pool for late September. Water levels are generally low on smaller wetlands and impoundments. No change in condition of emergent vegetation since last report. Bean harvest is just starting. No significant movement of migrant ducks or geese into our area yet. The mild weather we have been experiencing will continue through the end and into next. Expect clear skies, highs in the 70 s and southerly winds on the end (1-2 Oct). Based on car counts, hunting pressure on the waterfowl opener at LQP WMA was down (62 cars) and well below the 10-year (2001-2010) average for openers here (119 cars). Bag checks conducted in the Marsh lake area indicated an average success rate of 3.0 ducks per hunter but only 5 of 26 parties checked had taken geese. The BW teal, mallard and wood duck, in that Appleton Willmar Continued dry spell, but basins still near normal for this time of year. Bean and corn harvest underway. Wetland water levels continue to drop. Some soybeans being harvested as well as corn for silage. Decent numbers of teal, mallards and wood ducks in area. Geese less plentiful. Sunny, mild weather and light winds prevailed through opening end with heavy fog in most low areas on the morning of the 25 th. Weather remains sunny and mild. No migrations of waterfowl noted. Goose numbers are good in the area and have provided many opportunities for hunters. order, were the top birds in the bag. Positive reports outnumbered the negative reports on opener. Relatively light pressure throughout the area. Expect good success for upcoming end. Opening day (Sept. 24 th ) saw an abundance of hunters in the field with success ranging from fair to excellent, depending on scouting and location. Better success on average than the last few years. Sunday, the 25 th, was much slower in most locations with low success. Many hunters retired from the field early because of lack of activity and weather.

Redwood Falls Wetlands continue to dry out due to lack of rain and the Minnesota River and tributaries are very low. Soybean and corn harvest are each about 10% complete and progressing rapidly. Above average temperatures and low winds for the past have resulted in little migration activity. Most hunters reported limit harvests of wood ducks with fair to good harvest of Canada geese and mallards. Teal take varied from area to area with some seeing few teal and others seeing and harvesting many. A variety of birds were in the bag including pintails, shovelers, gadwall, and ringnecks. Most report the best opener in years, some in decades and were very satisfied with shooting and the number of birds seen. Pressure was heavy but not Windom Dry weather patterns. Marshes generally below run-out levels, but in good shape. Generally high pressure type pattern, sunny days and mild temps. Likely some movement of ducks into area prior to opener. Mallards were more obvious and were available to the hunter. Blue-winged teal remained about the same. No observed movement into area after opener. above normal. Fairly high hunter pressure on somewhat limited (low water) available hunting areas. Success was good, with mostly mallards and blue-winged teal reported.

Waterfowl Count Data, of September 26, 2011. Area NORTHWEST Date Swans this This Canada geese Number seen a : count year This Number seen: count Ducks year Roseau River WMA 9/28 6 850 NS NS 1,000 NS NS Thief Lake WMA 9/28 34 2,000 3,000 400 8,000 NS 9,000 Agassiz NWR 9/27 0 5,000 2,000 2,000 32,000 31,000 27,000 NORTH CENTRAL Beltrami/Clearwater County Winni/Bowstring area or Chippewa Nat. Forest N Leech Lake/Deer River Chippewa Nat. Forest S 9/26 50 100 NS 800 12,000 NS 7,000 9/26 10 600 NS 500 3,000 NS 6,000 9/26 10 100 NS 500 5,000 NS 18,000 Brainerd/Wadena area 9/27 4 250 250 100 450 350 1,000 Rice Lake NWR 9/27 50 3,000 2,350 3,000 54,000 16,000 145,000 WEST CENTRAL Shallow Lakes (north) 9/26 10 200 NS 100 200 NS 650 Tamarac NWR 9/28 200 400 175 100 1,500 1,400 9,000 CENTRAL Carlos Avery WMA 9/27 10 50 200 250 400 500 700 Sherburne NWR 9/27 7 3,700 1,800 1,500 5,000 11,000 6,000 This s duck Species - % composition b 39% BWT, 31% MAL, 24% RN, 4% GWT 71% RN, 11% MAL, 6% RED, 3% WIG, 3% BWT, 2% CAN 65% MAL, 30% GWT, 5% WIG 49% MAL, 48% RN, 3% BWT 50% RN, 47% MAL, 2% WD, 1% BWT 41% MAL, 41% RN, 16% BWT 65% WD, 20% MAL, 12% HOOD, 3% BWT 70% RN, 14% MAL, 11% BWT, 4% GWT 71% BWT, 20% WD, 7% MAL 80% RN, 13% BWT, 3% WD, 3% MAL 50% MAL, 25% WD, 25% BWT 60% WD, 27% MAL, 5% BWT, 4% GWT Coot this 900 7,000 150 1,500 300 100 10 3,000 0 500 50 600 Comments

Canada geese Number seen: Number seen: Ducks Area Date Swans this This count year This count year This s duck species - % composition Coot this Comments SOUTHWEST Big Stone NWR 9/27 0 2,000 NS 150 500 NS 100 Murray Co. lakes & wetlands 9/28 0 300 200 200 2,000 3,000 100 39% BWT, 32% MAL, 11% WD, 10% RUD, 5% SHOV, 2% GAD 59% BWT, 31% WD, 8% MAL, 1% GWT 1,500 2,500 Shallow lakes (south) 9/27 0 300 NS 700 1,000 NS 1,100 73% BWT, 20% MAL, 2% RED, 2% WD 7,000 Lac qui Parle WMA 9/29 0 450 200 300 SOUTHEAST Upper Miss NWR 9/21 NS 3,600 NS 4,500 31% MAL, 23% GWT, 21% BWT, 14% WD, 8% WIG, 3% PIN 500 Pools 4-11 a - Numbers seen during the current survey, last survey: the previous count from this year, last year: the number recorded during the same or nearby last year. b - abbreviations: MAL = mallard, GAD = Gadwall, WIG = Am. wigeon, GWT = Am. green-winged teal, BWT = blue-winged teal, SHOV = Northern shoveler, PIN = Northern pintail, WD = Wood duck, RED = Redhead, CAN = Canvasback, SCP = Scaup, RN = Ring-necked duck, HOOD = Hooded merganser, NS = No survey.