Fall Hunting Report

Fall Hunting Report by Bret Amundson – Sporting Journal Radio

It’s that time of year when anglers start to transition to the hunting season. Some hardcore fin chasers will tough it out to the bitter end. Most are starting to get their ice gear prepped and ready for early ice. Erik Osberg joined us for a podcast to offer his tips on getting ready for ice fishing. You can watch them here. 

For the others who’ve been faithfully trudging through the muddy sloughs for teal and wood ducks, or staring at the skies from cornfield stubble, the best is yet to come. There’s been plenty of teal shot and there are still pockets of green wings buzzing through the area. The blue wings are all but a memory for 2022. They’ve headed south with most of the woodies, although some holdouts can be found.

Mallards and lesser Canada geese have slowly been making their way down from their Canadian summer homes. We’re still waiting on the main push to come through. It shouldn’t be much longer however as forecasted temperatures will be below-freezing overnight and just above during the day. That will lock up some smaller ponds and sloughs and group birds up and get them thinking about southerly locales.

Most of the ag fields are harvested so there should be a lot of field options open for geese if you can get permission. There are a number of guides in the area as well if you want to go that route and let them do the work for you. There are a number of underground, heated pits that can offer comfort as well as a hot breakfast at times.

Bowhunters and gun hunters should expect rut activity to increase and bucks should be on the move. Not only are they looking for love this time of year, but these colder temps and more hunters in the field will start pushing them around. I plan on spending some time in the deer stand this week.

Upland hunters have had varied success this year as dry conditions have increased access to areas that have been too wet to walk on in recent years. The dry conditions also mean less scent for their four-legged friends, so pheasants have been hard to track at times. As the mercury drops, look for more thermal cover for roosters such as cattails, willow thickets, and another cover.

Good luck this hunting season and make sure to be safe. Remember if you are hunting during the gun season, there are some orange clothing requirements so make sure to stay up on the regs.