Early bird hunting in Minnesota just OK despite excellent weather

Morris, Minn. — Adam Kleinschmidt wasn’t messing around.

Last Sunday, he was up at 2 a.m. An hour and a half later, he was paddling his decoy-packed kayak in a public marsh complex in Stevens County. Unlike last year’s oppressive conditions of 85 degrees and humid, this year’s early teal opener was beyond pleasant: 50 degrees and sunny at shooting time, with just enough wind to move the decoys.

“I had a spot in mind where I wanted to set up, and I didn’t want to have to fight to get it,” said Kleinschmidt, an avid duck hunter and a wetlands specialist with the Minnesota DNR. “But I could have slept in, to be honest.”

In a public area that could have accommodated several hunting parties, Kleinschmidt said he heard only two shots on opening morning.

“It was a pretty slow,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of teal flying around – I had more redheads and gadwalls in my decoys. There just wasn’t enough hunting pressure to move around birds, which shocked me. It was almost too beautiful a morning for duck hunting.”

Still, as it was for plenty of other early teal and Canada goose hunters on the Labor Day weekend, Kleinschmidt scratched out five bluewings on the opener.

“Didn’t see many big groups of bluewings like last year,” he said. “The birds I got were all singles. Still, it was a lot of fun. Such a nice morning.”

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Varied reports

Reports across the state varied widely for early teal and Canada goose hunting. Hunters who scouted and gained access on private and public ground had the most success, and by a wide margin.

Anecdotally, hunter participation was down or roughly the same compared with last year, according to several state officials and hunters. Generally speaking, state officials reported slow goose hunting in western and southern Minnesota, with considerably better hunting in and around the metro area.

Four law enforcement officials contacted by Outdoor News said their bag checks did not include any “non-target species” shot by hunters. A state conservation officer said he came upon one man who was hunting public land on Saturday, a day before the Sunday, Sept. 1 opener. The CO said he thought it was an honest mistake, given that most early-season openers fall on Saturdays.

Another conservation officer said he saw plenty of young waterfowl hunters – high school- and college-aged – afield opening day. One question that came up was why kids ages 14 to 16 can hunt the early teal season by themselves but must be accompanied by a non-hunting adult (age 18 or older) for the state’s youth waterfowling weekend (Sept. 7-8). “I didn’t have a good answer,” the law enforcement official said.

‘It was slow by comparison’

Stein Innvaer the DNR’s area wildlife supervisor in Nicollet County, conducted hunter bag checks on Swan Lake’s southern public access on the opener. He said hunters averaged 1.6 teal per hunter, down from roughly four birds last year.

“It was slow by comparison,” said Innvaer, adding that some context is required when comparing the two seasons.

“Last year, the lake was in drawdown and much lower and more conducive for attracting teal,” he said. “This year we have higher water and are seeing fewer ducks overall right now.”

Hunter participation was down, too, even though accessing the lake was easier than last year,” Innvaer said. “I’d say a decline of about one-third compared to the last few years.”

Slow goose hunting

Goose hunting also was slow. “Not much action yet,” he said.

Matt Loftness, Minnesota DNR CO, said opening day was kind to teal hunters who scouted before the season.

“If they put in the work, they did pretty well,” said Loftness, who works both Yellow Medicine and Lyon counties in western Minnesota. Goose hunting was slow.

“I found a few hunters with limits of mostly bluewings,” he said. “There just aren’t that many geese around right now,” he said.

Loftness said hunting pressure tapered off on Monday. “It was down compared to the opener,” he said. “Very few shots. I saw a steady stream of boats and campers leaving this area … probably because kids had school on Tuesday and parents had to get back to work.”

Loftness said he talked to only two dove hunters on the opener. They’d shot 15 birds apiece.

“They had a good situation on private land, with a small-grain field and a water source,” he said.

Working in Swift and parts of Chippewa and Big Stone counties in western Minnesota during opening weekend, DNR CO Levi Brown said the goose hunting was slow and the early teal opener was “pretty good.”    

“Some hunters had limits, with mostly bluewings and a few greenwings mixed in,” Brown said, adding that Labor Day was much slower. “Very little wind and a bluebird day, for the most part. A tough day.”

DNR CO Mason Bulthuis, working in Lac qui Parle and Yellow Medicine counties, said hunting pressure was “busy” and that he checked hunters on the opener who had limits of teal, mostly bluewings.

“Plenty of two- to three-guy parties had limits,” he said, adding that hunting pressure, while robust across the region’s public lands, wasn’t as heavy as last year. “Goose hunting was tough; I only saw three geese with hunters in two days.”

The lack of small-grain fields in his area, he said, is likely contributing to the lack of quality goose hunting early in the season. “Not much happening over water with geese,” Bulthuis said, adding that field goose hunting will pick up after the corn and soybean harvest.

Bulthuis said compliance with hunters on “non-target” duck species was good. “I had no issue with compliance on the opener,” he said. “The hunters I saw were only targeting teal and following the rules. It was good to see.”

Self reporting

Kyle Arola, Minnesota DNR area wildlife supervisor at Thief Lake in northwestern Minnesota, said hunters were offered an opportunity to “self-report” their harvest on the opener and Labor Day at Thief’s four public accesses. He said 29 hunters did. They harvested 43 blue-winged teal, seven green-winged teal, and two Canada geese.

“That’s about what I expected, given that the lake is about a foot above target management levels right now,” Arola said. “We’re lowering it right now, and it should be at target for the regular duck opener.”

The early teal season runs through Sept. 5. The early goose season runs through Sept. 15. The state’s youth waterfowling weekend is Sept. 7-8, this weekend.

For more information, visit the DNR’s waterfowl hunting web page.