COLD weather?

[mfalkner]

Hope we'll keep some of those new birds for opener. Lot of ice coming to upper prairie

[jmh600]

That's me.. Birds starting to show up and no water.

[Anatidae]

I guess nobody else is excited about this big storm? Can't believe it hasn't been mentioned

OK - here goes...

We saw the forecast last Monday and decided with lows in the single digits projected for today, and single digit highs projected starting tomorrow.........and snow coming-in with it tomorrow, we decided to make one more hunt in the snow, then start packing for the trip home.

We left Saturday morning and left open water and plenty of new honkers and ducks, but we've 'skated' out of Canada more than once, and spent mornings in the field in 8 degree temps and 35 mph North winds, and we didn't want any part of this one.

We hit snow just below Winnepeg and ran out of it around Fargo. Spent the night in Alexandria, MN Saturday night......made it to Weldon Springs, MO last night. Got-up this morning for the last leg of the trip and saw where Minneapolis got a foot of snow right behind us.

So, it's coming and we got-out just in time.......for the third year in a row.

While this front may be sufficient to push birds further down the flyway (and eject significant numbers from mid-latitude SK)......it only pushes the birds far enough to find open water and access to waste grain. In a lot of cases that can mean a lateral migration as opposed to longitudinal. Weather hits in 'pockets' - so there will always be 'concentrations' left behind even when a significant 'mover' pushes others out.

It's awesome to see the migration (mass) in progress, and witness the various influences first-hand. I remind folks that it takes a series of these weather events in close succession (about 7 of them) to push them down here. And that's only when freeze-thaw cycles are minimal. Remember last year, we got a good early push of weather that had us thinking it would be a great year - then all that snow melted and created wet areas and good habitat in the nation's mid-section. The mass concentration stayed North of us until late January.......again.

Even with the present system, I believe it only strong enough to move the 'mass' into the Dakotas. Some Southerners may see an increase in numbers (only to be there one day and gone after pressure is applied) but the real concentrations will still be well-North with freshly harvested grains with minimal snow cover, and large areas of open water that will remain so until gradual cooling occurs as low/high temps avg. dip below 35 or until a 3-day single digit or teens 'low' event skims it over, tight. Then it'll have to stay tight for 3-4 days before the hardy birds move-on.

That's the most positive report (first-hand) I can provide.....and is likely going to be all I'm able to post for a while.

I AM looking forward to scouting and hunting out of the boat the rest of the season. Lying on your back in a blowing snow gets old after a couple of hours and makes a mess of all your gear and equipment. 73 felt pretty-good today.

[jmh600]

I was waiting on you to chime in. Looking forward to your report this year.

[Jeff]

Welp....

I started not sleeping through the night Friday... Looking at this weather coming the birds we saw for the ute hunt last weekend, we have birds right now. We will see how long they stick down here but for now we have enough birds to keep us busy and a new camp to break in!

Glad to hear you and Anne got out in front of the bad stuff, like others I can't wait to hear the stories and pictures!

[hillhunter]

If reincarnation is real, I want to come back as Anatidae. Haha.

Seriously, this is colder for the time of year than any year I can remember in my young life. I wish for a 1980s type winter of my youth where it seemed like the whole winter was freezing and we got several big snows along the way. Come on Ole Man Winter, been missing you now for about 9 months.

[Anatidae]

If reincarnation is real, I want to come back as Anatidae. Haha.

Seriously, this is colder for the time of year than any year I can remember in my young life. I wish for a 1980s type winter of my youth where it seemed like the whole winter was freezing and we got several big snows along the way. Come on Ole Man Winter, been missing you now for about 9 months.

I'm with you. It's hard not to be just a little optimistic about how it's shaping-up, now.

Good day for gumbo! Last time I had weather like this, I was 1870 miles North, cooking Jeff's recipe for gumbo.....and looking forward to better weather.

Rains prompted me to wax the coat to be ready for the season. I tested it out, and it needs a little heavier application on the shoulder/upper back. 'Probably ought to get some more cordura and retrofit some sort of rain cover for the boat blind for days like today. 11/16.

[hillhunter]

Well I guess it's safe to say that we were being overly optimistic about the cold weather for this year. I realize that it's still early, but I can't remember it being this warm for so long during this time of year. Let's hope for a "polar vortex" for Christmas.

[Anatidae]

Next significant weather event will start just after Christmas (around the 28th). We probably won't see the affects until first of January, but then another blast hits SK in the first week of January.......minus 14 for lows up there. Usuallly, we get some of that dip in the jet stream and get a few birds.

Personally, I don't mind killing ducks in relatively warm temperatures but we could use another push of the migration, and more birds.

[Jeff]

It's been a funny weather year but I'll tell you I'll take it! Just completed the first split in LA today and we flat out have birds. Only hard part this last week has been running white out fog in the river under radar the last week. It's been fun even with "stale" ducks the last 10 or so days. Hope we can get some more weather in soon I'll take Christmas but would be nice a little sooner!