Duck Hunt Most Successful in This Area of the State

The Duck hunting season got off to great start last weekend in Minnesota as a whole.  That according to Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News.  He joined me on WJON this week.  He says the hunt was better in Central and northern Minnesota that it was in southern Minnesota due in part to the drought.  He says a lot of wood ducks, teal and blue and green winged ducks were harvested this past weekend.  Schmitt says a "decent" amount of mallards were also taken.  He says the best shooting is the first hour to hour and a half of the day when the sun comes up.

Get our free mobile app

Schmitt says the key is to get out early in the day before the temperatures warm up so ducks remain active.  He says the DNR is reporting that the state sold 60,000 duck stamps by opening day which is similar to the number of stamps from last year.  Schmitt says the 60,000 stamps is further evidence that the number of people duck hunting has leveled off after dropping for years.

Much of Minnesota has been dealing with drought-like conditions.  Schmitt says ducks didn't die off due to the pandemic.  He says they relocated to other locations like larger bodies of water.  Schmitt says the overall numbers of ducks in the state is probably higher than what many people thought.  He says he heard reports of many young ducks on there.  The Duck hunting season in the Central part of Minnesota continues through October 3rd and will resume from October 9-November 28.

Glen Schmitt says the grouse season has been surprisingly good.  He says the heart of Minnesota's grouse population is in northern Minnesota in the Ely, Grand Marais area.  He says many young birds were spotted which indicates they had a pretty good hatch.

Learn more about Outdoor News here.  My conversation with Glen Schmitt is available to listen to below.