Green Heads

snowkiller · Dec 1, 2015

Just wondering what people have been seeing,There are alot on the river but dont come out until dark.

CDK · Dec 1, 2015

Having the same problem, have been lucky if they fly before sunset.

zoops · Dec 1, 2015

Typical late season ducks, especially with a moon...Weather helps, today would likely be good. Anybody else think they're getting to be more like that every year?

dean nelson · Dec 1, 2015

zoops said:
Typical late season ducks, especially with a moon...Weather helps, today would likely be good. Anybody else think they're getting to be more like that every year?

They definitely are learning more every year but considering they didn't used to stay in these numbers they do now so I wont complain. Nice to have another option for the last month of the season. What I have found is they can be an easy limit at times out in the fields if they get there before dark but can be next to impossible on the water. Not sure why they get so tough at times out there only to have the exact same weather and they come dropping in. Seen a far few up in that Stanton area last week as well as in south Bismarck but haven't chased them so not sure how far out they are going.

BotnoJoe · Dec 1, 2015

havnt seen any ducks around bottineau lately. would like to kill some though

Enslow · Dec 1, 2015

If ducks start growing horns they will only feed at night. #buckducks

snowkiller · Dec 10, 2015

Finally found some Sunday night,was going to set up on them ,but its closes for a week.Good thing I read the regs.

guywhofishes · Dec 10, 2015

snowkiller said:
Finally found some Sunday night,was going to set up on them ,but its closes for a week.Good thing I read the regs.

Opens: September 26 (residents only), October 3 (nonresidents)
Closes: December 6
Opens: December 12
Closes: January 3, 2016

what's the logic there do you suppose?

Account Deleted · Dec 10, 2015

There is different geographical units involved. As for the week gap, I have no idea.

Colt45 · Dec 10, 2015

I figures you has to be one of them 1% 'ers to understand this logic

Opens: September 26 (residents only), October 3 (nonresidents)
Closes: December 6
Opens: December 12
Closes: January 3, 2016

H82bogey · Dec 10, 2015

guywhofishes said:
Opens: September 26 (residents only), October 3 (nonresidents)

Closes: December 6

Opens: December 12

Closes: January 3, 2016

what's the logic there do you suppose?

It's the duck holiday, duckhanaka. They get the week off to celebrate.

svnmag · Dec 10, 2015

Enslow said:
If ducks start growing horns they will only feed at night. #buckducks

I'm actually beginning to wonder if they ARE evolving nocturnal.

espringers · Dec 10, 2015

they are definitely harder to pattern. it used to be you find where they are the night before, go there the next morning and shoot a limit. i am seeing what i think might be more of a social gathering of ducks in the evening the last few years. they will gather by the thousands in a dirt black field at sunset, hang out for 30 minutes and then head back to the water or maybe someplace else to feed. every once in a while and especially early in the season, the regular patter holds true. but, not like it used to be. the other more common theme now seems to be a late morning feed and a night feed in different spots. they will return to the same spot at night that they were the night before. but, don't head to that same spot in the morning.

anyway... on the duck season thingy. i've got no explanation for the high plains season closing for a week. but, i also have no explanation for why they close the rest of the state before the high plains zone either. if the ducks are still here, why can't we still shoot them. what makes the high plains ducks any more or less worthy of being shot than those ducks in the rest of the state?

case in point... devils is still wide open. we have tens of thousands of big beautiful green heads and many thousands of honkers hanging out still. honker season is open til the 24th. it sure would be nice to be able to shoot the greenies along with the honkers as long as they are still here. what's the point of closing the season this early? close it the same time we close honker season and/or the high plains season. if things freeze up before the season ending date comes, then the ducks will leave and the season will have closed itself. i ain't much for mounting fowl on the wall. but, there are some giant ducks around here right now and i would love to spend a few more weeks trying to figure them out and maybe put one on the wall finally.

riverview · Dec 10, 2015

that is why I wish they wouldn't open the season so early I hate shooting brown ducks. they open it a week early for residents only . stupidest thing they have come up with. they could let us hunt a week later at the end of the season.

fnznfwl · Dec 10, 2015

riverview said:
that is why I wish they wouldn't open the season so early I hate shooting brown ducks. they open it a week early for residents only . stupidest thing they have come up with. they could let us hunt a week later at the end of the season.

The early opener benefits nearly the entire state, EVERY year.

9 out of 10 years an extra week at the end would only benefit a small handful of hunters who find the 4 fields holding the ducks along the river.

pluckem · Dec 10, 2015

fnznfwl said:
The early opener benefits nearly the entire state, EVERY year.

9 out of 10 years an extra week at the end would only benefit a small handful of hunters who find the 4 fields holding the ducks along the river.

Without a doubt. Yeah the birds are ugly, but that first week of the season probably has the highest # of birds all season except for a migration day or two in late October and November. Without a doubt the most diverse and spread out. There have been plenty of years that I noticed quite a bit less ducks on opener than say the week or two before opener. I don't think moving the season back would be a good idea.

These late season birds hang out in predictable locations and can be found in the same corn fields year after year. Because of this access is real difficult. The tornadoes are fun to watch, but with the unpredictable patterns and difficult land access even people who put in the effort come up empty.

Flatrock · Dec 10, 2015

Anybody ever try hunting mallards on the river around Bismarck or Washburn? Sounds like with field access so difficult, that might be something worth trying.

Account Deleted · Dec 10, 2015

Greenie said:
Anybody ever try hunting mallards on the river around Bismarck or Washburn? Sounds like with field access so difficult, that might be something worth trying.

Probably wouldn't work well. In my experience, evening hunts are more miss than hit because the birds seem to come back to roost after sunset. This time of year, they will only leave the roost once a day and won't fly around much just because so you would have to bust the roost in the dark and hope they come back later in the morning. Still, you can't bag them from the couch so give it a go if you are so inclined.

zoops · Dec 11, 2015

People do it, but not a lot. Probably due to the reasons Ghost mentioned.

svnmag · Dec 11, 2015

I was learned back in the Hills the Pilgrims chased down turkey and grouse to dispatch them with sticks. The ruff was called a "fool's hen". The birds with the "sense" to fly survived and passed along the tendency. Is this a modern example?...

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