Despite the new restrictions and limiting us to 3 WMU's (hunting zones)...We had a great time and had plenty of opportunities............ 
The 3 WMU's we picked were mostly around where we stay, the area we know best, and the farmers who have gotten to know us over the years...What sucked was, the southern portion of Alberta where we stay as well, was loaded with fowl this year after 4 years of drought...We could've bought another 7 day license, but Montana waterfowl season opens Saturday and we wanted a change of pace...What's the old saying, "Don't leave fish to find fish"....We'll see..............
We got to our northern destination on the 13th...Scouted for a couple of days and then started our 7 day license by hunting a Hutterite field that was mostly specks...Which really are our target bird...Set up where they were the night before and that was a mistake...Should've set up more to the inside of the barley field, instead of an edge...We didn't shoot ducks, and ended up with 3 honkers and 4 specks...Needed to knock the dust off..........
Day 2.....We hunted another one of the Hutterite fields...All specks and did a little better, but them damn birds are tough to get when they come in the big grinds (we only put our about 150 decoys)....We ended the morning with 14...All specks.........
Day 3....Had us in a huge wheat field and whoever farmed it didn't do a very good job...Lots of grain left on the ground and of course, the specks and ducks found by the 100's (1000's?)...We had never hunted or asked for permission here and the landowner who doesn't live there that much, just happened to be home...He gave me the OK and we scouted the night before...Even better was half this field still had bales in it...The birds when they came in weren't more than 50 yds from them....Awesome!..1st came the ducks...Swarm after swarm...If the amount of pintail up here is any indication on what we'll get in SoCal, we're in great shape...Then the specks...From all directions and they wanting to be where we were...Saying we were on the X is an understatement...27 specks and 1 honker later, we were done............
Day 4....Mike I. and Jacob were scheduled to fly up this day, but Mike got sick at home...So, it was only Jacob...We scouted in the morning and kind of chose a field that birds (specks) had not gone into, but were in the next quarter section over..."Running Traffic", if you will...Jacob showed up at about 4:00 pm and we headed out for the afternoon...Pretty much zero play for 2 hours, but at around 6:00 pm, they started coming and were giving us a look...18 of them looked too much.........
Day 5....We decided to try and get some honkers...Hunted another baled field that was mostly honkers when we scouted it, but when the morning started off it was ducks and the specks...We took the specks...We still can't figure out why the honkers decided not to use this field this day...Ended up with 15 specks and 6 honkers...We would rather have specks anyway (best eating bird in the sky).........
Day 6....Hunted our day 3 spot again...1000's of ducks, but Jacob wanted specks...So, we waited for them...2nd time around wasn't as good as the 1st, but still not bad...15 specks, 3 honkers..........
Day 7...Our last day of our 7 day license...Same field, but this time we decided all birds were a go and that included ducks...We also split up...Jacob and I in one part...Mike H. & Ronnie in another...Right at shoot time (6:47 am) the sky came alive with fowl...This sight alone is worth the price of admission...By 7:15, Jacob and I were done with ducks...8 pintail, 8 mallards...picked up 3 specks as well... Mike H. and Ronnie had their ducks and added 6 specks and a honker...What a sight!.........
Great time as usual...The folks in Canada can't be beat and I hope they don't ever make where we can't freelance...Till next year......................
The 3 WMU's we picked were mostly around where we stay, the area we know best, and the farmers who have gotten to know us over the years...What sucked was, the southern portion of Alberta where we stay as well, was loaded with fowl this year after 4 years of drought...We could've bought another 7 day license, but Montana waterfowl season opens Saturday and we wanted a change of pace...What's the old saying, "Don't leave fish to find fish"....We'll see..............
We got to our northern destination on the 13th...Scouted for a couple of days and then started our 7 day license by hunting a Hutterite field that was mostly specks...Which really are our target bird...Set up where they were the night before and that was a mistake...Should've set up more to the inside of the barley field, instead of an edge...We didn't shoot ducks, and ended up with 3 honkers and 4 specks...Needed to knock the dust off..........
Day 2.....We hunted another one of the Hutterite fields...All specks and did a little better, but them damn birds are tough to get when they come in the big grinds (we only put our about 150 decoys)....We ended the morning with 14...All specks.........
Day 3....Had us in a huge wheat field and whoever farmed it didn't do a very good job...Lots of grain left on the ground and of course, the specks and ducks found by the 100's (1000's?)...We had never hunted or asked for permission here and the landowner who doesn't live there that much, just happened to be home...He gave me the OK and we scouted the night before...Even better was half this field still had bales in it...The birds when they came in weren't more than 50 yds from them....Awesome!..1st came the ducks...Swarm after swarm...If the amount of pintail up here is any indication on what we'll get in SoCal, we're in great shape...Then the specks...From all directions and they wanting to be where we were...Saying we were on the X is an understatement...27 specks and 1 honker later, we were done............
Day 4....Mike I. and Jacob were scheduled to fly up this day, but Mike got sick at home...So, it was only Jacob...We scouted in the morning and kind of chose a field that birds (specks) had not gone into, but were in the next quarter section over..."Running Traffic", if you will...Jacob showed up at about 4:00 pm and we headed out for the afternoon...Pretty much zero play for 2 hours, but at around 6:00 pm, they started coming and were giving us a look...18 of them looked too much.........
Day 5....We decided to try and get some honkers...Hunted another baled field that was mostly honkers when we scouted it, but when the morning started off it was ducks and the specks...We took the specks...We still can't figure out why the honkers decided not to use this field this day...Ended up with 15 specks and 6 honkers...We would rather have specks anyway (best eating bird in the sky).........
Day 6....Hunted our day 3 spot again...1000's of ducks, but Jacob wanted specks...So, we waited for them...2nd time around wasn't as good as the 1st, but still not bad...15 specks, 3 honkers..........
Day 7...Our last day of our 7 day license...Same field, but this time we decided all birds were a go and that included ducks...We also split up...Jacob and I in one part...Mike H. & Ronnie in another...Right at shoot time (6:47 am) the sky came alive with fowl...This sight alone is worth the price of admission...By 7:15, Jacob and I were done with ducks...8 pintail, 8 mallards...picked up 3 specks as well... Mike H. and Ronnie had their ducks and added 6 specks and a honker...What a sight!.........
Great time as usual...The folks in Canada can't be beat and I hope they don't ever make where we can't freelance...Till next year......................
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