I am a local Saskatchewan waterfowl hunter. Almost all our hunting is on private land, since about 90% of the southern half of Saskatchewan is privately owned land. Visitors from other countries do not need an outfitter.
You hunt where the birds are concentrated, not just on some likely looking piece of habitat. The birds move every few days or so, seldom using the exact same location more than a few days in a row. Fixed blinds are almost unheard of here.
A landowners map is the single best tool that allows you to plan a hunt. It is not difficult to get permission and opportunity abounds. First thing I always do is visit or write to the office of the Rural Municipality in which I will be hunting. A RM is somewhat like a county in the USA, and administers rural land taxes and rural infrastructure like roads. They will have a landowner map for sale. Costs about $10 and it will cover 9-12 townships, about 300-400 square miles. A local phone book also helps and can often be picked up at the small town Co-OP store or service station.
Saskatchewan hunting is not crowded, and there is room for all. I meet about four to one visitors vs locals during my hunts. Unfortunately far too many of our American friends take southern competitive hunting habits north with them when they come hunt here. Please don't do that. Just because you asked permission once doesn't give you exclusive rights to hunt a property for your entire stay.
The ideal local etiquette is to scout fields and sloughs for a shoot during the afternoon, and ask permission of the landowner that evening just after supper. In that way the landowner knows who will be on the land for the morning shoot, and can direct any conflicting interests to another location. It works really well, and avoids hunters showing up at a location only to find someone else there an hour ahead of them in the dark, already setting out decoys.
There is almost always another flock working another good piece of land or a slough next to your first choice location. So scout two or three, ask permission, and hunt the first one that has no competing hunters on it. That method gives you the best quality hunt, and also allows you to keep a couple more locations in the line up for the next few days hunts. Persons renting land have the right to grant hunting permission or not, and that can be a challenge when only the owner is listed on the RM map. there is no easy solution to that one except asking around. Small towns and farmers in rural Saskatchewan are friendly.
A great privilege we enjoy is that hunting permission is not required by law on private land. Please don't abuse that privilege, it is ideally used only when collecting cripples that may have glided on the the adjoining property, or accessing land to which there is no other road access, and such like. Most farmers are concerned about vehicles on the their land, generally not concerned about someone walking. In any case, you may not shoot within 500 meters of occupied buildings or livestock facilities.
Our hunting is mostly in harvested grain fields for geese, or in small sloughs where the ducks water after leaving the big roost at dawn. Local etiquette again: it is frowned on to "shoot the roost" or disturb the birds on the large sloughs where they spend the night. Doing so pushes them out of the country to migrate early, and makes field shoots unpredictable and less productive.
We have very liberal limits, and a big problem in recent years has been visiting hunters shooting way more birds than they are willing to clean and consume. A limit of 20 snow geese, 8 dark geese, and 8 ducks is not unrealistic on a very good morning. Every year we find piles of dumped and wasted birds. Please respect the birds and the resource. After about four or five days you won't have space for more birds in your possession limit no matter how many you eat, so plan accordingly.
By observing local customs and respecting farmers and the game, most visiting hunters will have a wonderful hunt and will surely be invited back. There is a strong movement in our legislature lately to require all visitors to hunt with a guide/outfitter in order to keep a lid on abuses. I sincerely hope that does not happen. The freedom of foreign hunters to conduct self - guided waterfowl hunts is precious to me and to many visitors.
We call our province the Land of Living Skies, for a very good reason. May it always have huge flocks of waterfowl and respectful hunters who enjoy them.
