Got to the Canadian border on Tuesday morning...The customs gal was the nicest we've ever had...And, the agent inside was a good guy too...The whole process may have taken us 30 minutes...Nice change from years past.... 
Our 1st stop was in Lethbridge and Canadian Tire...Another easy peasy process in getting our licenses and waterfowl stamp (post office)...On to Vulcan and seeing farmers Ronnie and I have met over the years...Before we get to our 1st farm, we noticed how dry things were...The farther we drove...The drier it got...In fact. sloughs and ponds we had hunted in years past were ALL bone dry...As we started talking to our friends...They all expressed that this is the 3rd year in a row with little rain...After driving miles, we finally found a DU project that had pretty good water...One thing about DU Canada...Any project that they've done is legal for us to hunt despite the property being private (we had permission from the land owner anyway)...Not a ton of birds, but obviously. the most we had see and there were even 6 sandhills in a nearby field...We decided we would hunt it in the morning...
We get to the pond/slough early, but going in, we scared the 6 or 7 honkers and sandhills off...Ronnie had decided to set up for the sandies near the pond and I would shoot the slough to the east...As daybreak broke, the birds started trickling in...When the bell went off, I got my 1st shot of the season and duck...Widgeon...With the confusion, I get 2 more widgeon...I chipped away for the next 1 1/2 hours and get 4 more ducks and a honker...The sandhills never came back...So, Ronnie didn't shoot much and got 1 widgeon...I needed one more duck and wouldn't you know it...Big old bull pintail...I love sprig...
We then packed up and moved north...Canada is a funny place...You can go from dry as a bone to lush and green in no time...The farther north we went, the greener it got...In fact, so green and wet that many of the fields of barley and wheat were unharvested...It didn't take long until we started seeing familiar places (we haven't been here since 2019) and some crops were off...The 1st place we found looked great, a few hundred ducks and geese...We decided to check it (and others) out Wednesday morning...We get to the field and who's hunting it...The famous Claudio Ongara......Oh well, we secured the quarter section next door for Thursday morning (Ongaro had tried to get permish)...
Thursday morning was cool and windy...Perfect conditions...The field was also full of haybales (our fave)...WE put out the 4 dozen silhouettes and set back...As dawn started to break, the sky was alive with ducks...We should've waited till we could see better, but hey, we're hunting...1st couple of birds were widgeon, then it was pintail (we're allowed 4), and lastly, mallards...Great duck shoot and we added a speck and 2 honkers...Take that Claudio...
Today we hunted a field that is owned by the brother of the folks that I stayed with the very 1st time I came up (2001)...Very hidden and amongst the trees, but I a place I had hunted before...Perfect for a willow blind...One of the problems here is, many of the birds roost nearby...So, you take a big chance when the 1st shots go off...Sure enough, when we let loose on the 1st flight of mallards...The sky was full of ducks and geese...LEAVING the area...It wasn't long though and they start coming back...In pretty short order, we had our 16 ducks (15 lards, 1 pinny) and we were working on our darks...1st goose was a speck that Ronnie got...Then it was 15 honkers in a row...8:15 and we were done...What a shoot!...
ps...I've talked to Claudio many times and he's a good guy...He is absolutely the best outfitter up here...#1
Our 1st stop was in Lethbridge and Canadian Tire...Another easy peasy process in getting our licenses and waterfowl stamp (post office)...On to Vulcan and seeing farmers Ronnie and I have met over the years...Before we get to our 1st farm, we noticed how dry things were...The farther we drove...The drier it got...In fact. sloughs and ponds we had hunted in years past were ALL bone dry...As we started talking to our friends...They all expressed that this is the 3rd year in a row with little rain...After driving miles, we finally found a DU project that had pretty good water...One thing about DU Canada...Any project that they've done is legal for us to hunt despite the property being private (we had permission from the land owner anyway)...Not a ton of birds, but obviously. the most we had see and there were even 6 sandhills in a nearby field...We decided we would hunt it in the morning...
We get to the pond/slough early, but going in, we scared the 6 or 7 honkers and sandhills off...Ronnie had decided to set up for the sandies near the pond and I would shoot the slough to the east...As daybreak broke, the birds started trickling in...When the bell went off, I got my 1st shot of the season and duck...Widgeon...With the confusion, I get 2 more widgeon...I chipped away for the next 1 1/2 hours and get 4 more ducks and a honker...The sandhills never came back...So, Ronnie didn't shoot much and got 1 widgeon...I needed one more duck and wouldn't you know it...Big old bull pintail...I love sprig...
We then packed up and moved north...Canada is a funny place...You can go from dry as a bone to lush and green in no time...The farther north we went, the greener it got...In fact, so green and wet that many of the fields of barley and wheat were unharvested...It didn't take long until we started seeing familiar places (we haven't been here since 2019) and some crops were off...The 1st place we found looked great, a few hundred ducks and geese...We decided to check it (and others) out Wednesday morning...We get to the field and who's hunting it...The famous Claudio Ongara...
...Oh well, we secured the quarter section next door for Thursday morning (Ongaro had tried to get permish)...Thursday morning was cool and windy...Perfect conditions...The field was also full of haybales (our fave)...WE put out the 4 dozen silhouettes and set back...As dawn started to break, the sky was alive with ducks...We should've waited till we could see better, but hey, we're hunting...1st couple of birds were widgeon, then it was pintail (we're allowed 4), and lastly, mallards...Great duck shoot and we added a speck and 2 honkers...Take that Claudio...
Today we hunted a field that is owned by the brother of the folks that I stayed with the very 1st time I came up (2001)...Very hidden and amongst the trees, but I a place I had hunted before...Perfect for a willow blind...One of the problems here is, many of the birds roost nearby...So, you take a big chance when the 1st shots go off...Sure enough, when we let loose on the 1st flight of mallards...The sky was full of ducks and geese...LEAVING the area...It wasn't long though and they start coming back...In pretty short order, we had our 16 ducks (15 lards, 1 pinny) and we were working on our darks...1st goose was a speck that Ronnie got...Then it was 15 honkers in a row...8:15 and we were done...What a shoot!...
ps...I've talked to Claudio many times and he's a good guy...He is absolutely the best outfitter up here...#1
