Duck hunting season resumes in the central and southern zones and continues in the northern zone this Saturday.  Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON.  Glen says the cooler weather will push some ducks and geese out of Central Minnesota but more will come in from northern Minnesota and Canada.  He says the reports he's heard from all over the state have been good in regards to duck hunting success and expects that success to continue this weekend.  Schmitt indicated the amount of ducks he's seen in Central Minnesota is the most he's seen in a long time.  He says there is a lot of teal and mallards in the area.

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The DNR doesn't track duck harvest numbers because waterfowl don't need to be registered so Schmitt indicates there is no day to day numbers with how many birds are shot.  DNR Wildlife Management put out a wildlife management report each week where Wildlife Managers in each area of the state report the hunting activity and birds spotted in their area.  Schmitt says some areas have bag checks where they count the numbers of hunters and number of birds they have and then average the amount of birds per hunter.  He indicates the response from most duck hunters is they are "pleasantly surprised" with the results.  Duck hunting runs from Oct 8 - November 27 in the Central and South zones with duck hunting ending November 22 in the north zone.

Fall fishing continues and Schmitt continues to say this is the best time of year to have success fishing.  He says the month of September this year was probably the best that he can remember.  Schmitt says the water temperatures cooled to the low 60s which led to great fishing.  He expects often times 2 days before a cold front and 2 days after a cold front is a good time to go after fish.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Glen Schmitt it is available below.

 

 

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