Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2023 i Wildfowl

❶ BAND #: 2127-01608HUNTER: Anthony Nilsson, Lake Stevens, WASPECIES: Lesser Snow Goose (F)BANDED: 07/21/2016 | Near Zvozdnyy, RussiaRECOVERED: 10/23/2022 | Anacortes, WA 2,376 mile long-distance-champ- ❷ BAND#: 2167-01522HUNTER: Chris Spikberg, Saginaw, MNSPECIES: Mallard (D)BANDED: 09/23/2022 | Newburg, NDRECOVERED: 10/28/2022 | Winchester, Manitoba ❸ BAND#: 1227-94867HUNTER: Darrell Roddick, Sherwood Park, AlbertaSPECIES: Snow Goose (F)BANDED: 08/04/2001 | Cape Simpson, AlaskaRECOVERED: 04/30/2020 | Holden, Alberta ❹ BAND#: 1158-44053HUNTER: Marc Yenkel, Clare, MISPECIES: Canada Goose (M)BANDED: 07/30/2014 | Attawapiskat, OntarioRECOVERED: 10/23/2022 | Clare, MI ❺ BAND #: 1256-22184HUNTER: John Thibodeaux, Rayne, LASPECIES: Gadwall (H)BANDED: 08/10/2018 | Slave Lake, AlbertaRECOVERED: 01/10/2022 | North Island, LA ❻ BAND #: 1188-62892HUNTER: Matthew Farnham, Grand Isle, VTSPECIES: Canada Goose (M)BANDED: 06/13/2018 | Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRECOVERED: 10/16/2022 | Grand Isle, VT ❼ BAND #: 2117-20166HUNTER: Carter Olson, Bozeman, MTSPECIES:…

BROTH MADE FROM your wild birds is something very special. It’s liquid gold that far surpasses any stock or broth you’d buy at the grocer . If you’ve ever visited a Japanese restaurant and ordered their ramen or even their miso soup, you can appreciate that flavor, all of which is m ade possible from taking the time to produce one’s own broth. They ma ke that broth from leftover bones and mirepoix, which is just a fancy w ord for chopped onion, celery, and carrots. Making duck broth isn’t hard. It just requires checking in to mak e sure the broth doesn’t simmer too much. You want barely a bubble in y our broth. The process takes at least 6 hours, but you will only spend a bout a…

IT WAS OPENING MORNING of the second split of the Colorado duck season in January, 2021 and Copper Wahl heard that dreaded crunch. “We heard ice breaking beneath the boat,” Wahl said. “The ducks had kept a hole open, but we used the boat to break a hole at another spot because there wasn’t anywhere to put the boat. We pushed ice from the hole with the engine, set floating decoys and staked silhouette decoys along the edges.” Starting at at 2 a.m., Wahl and his father, Rob, waded through the hole, keeping it ice-free until shooting time. An air temperature of 10 degrees and a 20-mph north wind meant mallards would move come daybreak. The boat was anchored against the shore with two spud poles. Tree limbs gathered from…

“JOHN AND I weren’t even going to hunt that day. John had some family commitments and we needed to get back to Minnesota,” said John Gallagher about a successful Saskatchewan hunt that almost a didn’t happen. He and fellow Minnesotan, John Froehle, have been making the annual trip for over 30+ years, with Todd Russell from Oklahoma joining them for the last six. The day before their departure, Russell and G allagher were discussing what their true trophies would be in the waterfowling world: “A banded bull sprig, a fully plumed drake wid geon and for sure a banded speck,” they concluded, realizing the latte r was a long shot. “The area we hunt doesn’t see the numbers of specks that the western side of the province does and we…

❚ GARMIN DELTA SE ELECTRONIC COLLAR Simple and effective, Garmin’s Delta SE electronic training collar bundle is their user-friendly e-collar. If you get easily confused by the remote or have trouble navigating your smart phone, the Delta SE aims to make training a breeze while providing total control of your retriever. It includes three different ways to train, including tone, vibration, and up to 10 levels of momentary or continuous stimulation. A tactile dial allows you to focus on your dog while training, so you never have to take your eyes off what matters. It even has a slide switch allowing you to train two dogs simultaneously! $250 (Bundle) | garmin.com ❚ DOKKEN PUPPY DUMMY It’s never too early to get them started, and Dokken’s Puppy Trainer was tailor-made for…

RIGHT NOW IT’S JAN. 11, 2023, 9:37 a.m. I went duck hunting this morning. The man I was supposed to meet couldn’t make it, but I didn’t find out until I was nearly to the hunting spot. I didn’t bring my dog. He was supposed to bring his. By daylight I had a dozen floaters and two dozen Big Al’s silhouette duck decoys strategically placed on a small section of sheetwater. Two minutes after shooting time I dropped a drake wigeon as it backpedaled into the decoys. I walked out and picked it up. Five minutes later a pair of mallards cupped in. They committed from a long way. How my dogs would have loved watching that. I shot the drake and picked it up. I went back to my…

YOU HAVE MADE the big decision. The time is finally right to get your next duck dog. The mallards that migrated over your home by night have aligned the stars perfectly for you. And let’s be frank—you are tired of being cold, dog-less, tripping over yourself in waist deep water, trying not to find the nearest sinkhole. In this very first installment of DIY Duck Dog, we are going to be talking about one of the most important steps in finding the perfect duck dog for you—selecting a breeder. FINDING THE RIGHT MATCH Let's assume you have thought long and hard about the type of dog you want. You have thought about climate and coat, your living situation, temperament to match your training style, and looks—because no one wants to…

In May of 2017 my wife Alicia and I moved to Montana leaving behind everything we have ever known for a new and exciting adventure. For me that included saying goodbye to some good hunting buddies and their dogs. Over the previous two decades I had built some amazing friendships and developed a great appreciation for the value of a well-trained retriever. Fast forward to 2019 and I was deep into my third season in Montana and hadn’t yet forged a friendship with anyone that had a good retriever. I deeply missed that part of the hunt, but I wasn’t sure if getting a dog would work with our lifestyle. I was at a crossroads because I knew I couldn’t count on someone else for this anymore yet I wanted…

Let’s rip the Band-Aid off right away: In certain regions, several species of sea duck populations are declining due to a variety of reasons, ranging from climate change and pollution to predation and human disturbance among other factors—and we need to add bird flu now, too. Sea ducks are disappearing in some areas (Maine) and emerging in other areas (Great Lakes). This sea duck shift is creating new opportunities for hunting them while creating confusion and a cause for concern for wildlife managers. When comparing data from the flyway reports and gathering anecdotal chatter from hunters, there does appear to be a growing interest in sea duck hunting amidst all of the doom and gloom of bird numbers declining. To top it off, trophy hunting for the dapper, wall-worthy drakes…