Outdoor Reports
5/19/2018
On Golden Pond The Past Few Days In Burnett County have blown by fast, but Summer is just around the corner with temperatures rising. On Monday May 7th I floated around my property next to Birch Island Lake, we’ve kept the deer numbers up on our land and as ducks have started returning to Burnett County we’ve had a colonization of them at our feeders too. Many species are starting pair up as the nesting season is starting here, with that I’ve started a very excessive rod and reel crackdown for Northern Pike, Largemouth bass and Snapping turtles. Even though frogs are starting to show up I’ve been having more success using whole nightcrawlers and a hook especially in the backwater ponds where both bass and ducks like to be (Frogs are good snacks for hungry bass, I use small Topwater Frog lures to bring them in)
On May 9th with the ice-out days before I took my youngest field staff Jon out fishing on Big Yellow Lake before heading to Ike Walton’s for Dinner, The fishing was very slow but we saw at least two boats on the water with lines thrown overboard. Even though we caught no fish, we ended the day with a short boat ride around Big Yellow to count waterfowl for our reports. Our birdwatching attempts payed off as we saw a total of 35 Barrows Goldeneye in groups of 4 or 10, as well as wood ducks and mallards; me and Jon counted 6 pairs of each on the North side of Big Yellow, as well as 2 pairs of Canada Geese. As the summer progresses I will spend more time paying attention to locations of these birds as hunting season begins in September.
On May 9th with the ice-out days before I took my youngest field staff Jon out fishing on Big Yellow Lake before heading to Ike Walton’s for Dinner, The fishing was very slow but we saw at least two boats on the water with lines thrown overboard. Even though we caught no fish, we ended the day with a short boat ride around Big Yellow to count waterfowl for our reports. Our birdwatching attempts payed off as we saw a total of 35 Barrows Goldeneye in groups of 4 or 10, as well as wood ducks and mallards; me and Jon counted 6 pairs of each on the North side of Big Yellow, as well as 2 pairs of Canada Geese. As the summer progresses I will spend more time paying attention to locations of these birds as hunting season begins in September.
North Dakota Review
on October 14th 2017 me and dad packed up the truck and headed to Devils Lake North Dakota with Don Deeb of S. St Paul Rod and Gun Club, for a week of duck hunting. It was time to take a break from the predictable wood ducks and scattered honkers on Golden Pond and the obvious patterns of Mallards and Coots of the Yellow River System and head west into the heart of the Central Flyway for a whole new style of hunting. Almost as soon as we got within ten miles of Devils Lake I already knew I'd never see Wisconsin the Same way ever again. In every little puddle and backwater along the highway there were ducks everywhere, Mallards, Canvasbacks, Bluebills, Shovelers, Teal, Gadwall, Ringbills, Pintails, some ducks I've never seen before others I knew well. Not a Single Wood Duck in sight, not one! This was exactly what i needed for the season. After stopping at Walmart, licensing up and stockpiling shells for 5 bucks a box- we followed Donnie's directions and met up with him at the spot. As soon as we got out we were seeing ducks everywhere- I knew this was going to be a good week. Donnie had met me when i was younger so he said he was happy to see how much I'd grown and how much I'd changed from a baby to an addicted duck hunter. Once we shook hands we knew we needed to go shoot some ducks, so I took a spot by an eroded bridge. it was a perfect funnel for the ducks to fly through. The first duck of the trip turned out to be a gadwall, and it took me four shots to bring it down Mind you not because I was a lousy shot (because even I know I'm a good shot), but because the wind was much stronger than I initially thought so I ended up having to aim four feet ahead instead of the normal lead in wisconsin. But None the less it only took one duck to hook me. after that it was an awesome trip, I'd seen my first snow geese, Tundra swans, shot at my first sandhill cranes (and missed) but without argument, Last Day was the best day. I started off with a hen pintail, which was personally one of the 3 best shots I've ever took in North Dakota. Then Me and Donny Tag-teamed a pair of Mergansers. After that I decided to throw some decoys out on a large diver pond, where i killed my first canvasback drake, a redhead drake, a drake widgeon, a drake mallard, and a drake ringbill. Last day- Best day. A 6 duck limit and five of them were drakes- definitely the hunt of a lifetime in my book.