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The Tale of Muck-Boy
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The
Muck Boy crew was in North Dakota the week of October 8th on our
annual waterfowl hunt. The crew hunts around Minnewaulkan which
is located on the west end of Devils Lake.
The Muck Boy crew also hunts with Curt and Brian Kenner, an area farm family that also guides for waterfowl (Kenner Guides Service 701- 438-2451 Cell 701-866-4841). Curt is also a North Dakota Ambassador for the Hunt of a Lifetime Foundation, their Guide Service donates a portion of all guide fees every year to this very worthwhile cause. We have posted links for this organization, so everyone can look it over. To us it is one of those organization, that most hunters and fishermen would find very important to the future of our sports. On our first hunt, Curt sent us to check a few small sloughs that were holding birds. We managed to take a couple teal in the first, but the second slough produced us a limit of gadwalls and teal. Unfortunately, North Dakota has reduced the daily limit from 6 ducks to 5 ducks this year. Day two was cold and very windy with gusts up to 35 mph. We were set up with Brian in a harvested grain field near Harlow and we managed to take 2 huge geese and 8 mallards. Day three was even colder. The morning temperature was 24 degrees and the wind was gusting out of the northwest over 45 mph. The hunt was not that productive due to the fact that the birds were more interested in getting out of the wind. We spent most of the morning watching ducks ignore the decoys and calls and just dive in the sloughs surrounding our hunting location. Wind is a good thing when hunting waterfowl, but this was way too much of a good thing. The ducks taken that day included widgeons, gadwalls and mallards. Overall, the crew had a great time as always, visiting with old friends, hunting and relaxing. Note:
You know you had a busy week when your hunting dog was this tired. |
2005 was by far our most productive year in
North Dakota. The ducks were using the sloughs and decoyed very
well. When scouting sloughs to hunt, pay attention to where the
ducks are sitting, making sure that the location of the ducks will
allow you a proper set up. Will the wind direction and cover be
adequate to hunt this slough today? Remember you can always return
tomorrow. When walking into the slough, don't make too much commotion. Just walk quietly and fast enough because you only have about 20 minutes to get set up before the birds start to return. We believe that if you make excessive noise and commotion it will reduce the amount of birds that return to the set up. We prefer the smaller sloughs; the larger sloughs give the ducks way too many options when they return. We have found that a dozen decoys are all you need in most cases and even that may be too many. Experiment with the number of decoys you set and let the ducks direct you. If they are cutting at the last minute and won't commit, try reducing the number of decoys. We like to use the standard size decoys in sloughs because we think it represents the ducks (gadwalls, teal etc.) that use these smaller sloughs. That does’t mean that mallards, pintails and the occasional diver won't use these sloughs - because they will. 
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| 2004 Waterfowl Hunting Highlights |
| 2004 was a good year for ducks in North Dakota. The crew continues to meet new folks and hunt different areas. We now have been hunting this are for three years and have not hunted the same field twice. A first for the crew we managed to take a couple lesser canadians.
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| This was by far our least productive
year we have had waterfowl hunting in North Dakota. When ever you
plan these trips there are plenty of things that can effect your
hunting success. It is a roll of the dice, a one week window. There
are things outside of your control that can effect your trip - Example:
will the weather cooperate, the week before this trip the temperature
was in the 80's and this had stopped the migration. The only birds
in the area where local birds that had not left, and they had been
already been hunted for 3 weeks. So you have to make the best of
these situations. We took the extra time we had to work with Kodi
and reinforce his training, during actual hunting conditions. 
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| This
was the Muck Boy's crew second trip to North Dakota. Highlights
for this year included one of those hunts that every waterfowler
dreams of. I have heard it refereed to as being a "Duck
Tornado", and as I remember, that was what it was
- imagine 5,000 to 6,000 ducks circling overhead, landing it the
decoys, what a hunt. Within 45 minutes we had shot our limit, had
the decoys picked up and were out of the field just watching the
birds work the field for another hour. The other highlight of 2002
was the addition of "Kodi",
the crews new labrador ret river. Kodi didn't make the trip to North
Dakota because he was only 9 months old, but the crew did manage
to get him out for a couple of hunts here in Michigan. 
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| 2001
the first duck hunting trip to the Devils Lake North Dakota. This
trip has became a must do. We have found that the people are very
friendly and glad to have you visiting there, most are willing to
help in any way they can to get you on birds. As with any new adventure
there will be highs and lows but for the most part every year we
learn more about the area and how to pursue the local waterfowl. 
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