My area of ND is usually pretty good for waterfowl. And things looked good, basically since spring. Good water, good rains all summer, birds everywhere. As the summer progressed, things started to skew. With all the rain, planting got put off until the last possible moment. Bird populations were good all summer and into the fall. Teal were everywhere. A few bigger ducks now and then. I usually don't hunt much early, and with all the standing crops everywhere, it limited the places I could go. So my plan was to wait, see how the harvest went and hit the birds hard later in the season. Well....harvest was way late this year. Into mid - October there were still soybeans in the fields. Still standing corn in places at the end of November. And then the temps dropped and the freeze-up began. Small water went quick, but the big water was just about as fast. Usually the birds will keep a hole open out on the big water until the snow makes it hard for them to find corn in the fields. This year the birds were gone before the harvest really got going. It was like they blew through without even stopping. Hopefully you guys are doing better.....
Kaiser Norton
