Author Topic: Saskatchewan 2011 Duck and Goose wrap-up... (Read 5133 times)

Goldeneye · « **on:** October 03, 2011, 05:28:45 PM »

I’m back after 6 days of hunting the prairie fields of Saskatchewan. 2 friends from down here were with me. We drove up. Right at a 19 hour drive. For 3 days of the hunt we we’re joined by 3 guys from Delaware. They are shown in some of the pic’s. Nice guys, but struggled a bit (sticking shells in backwards in the heat of the moment, missing a lot of gimme shots etc.). They were good fun though. We had the full spectrum up there. Shot Honkers, Specs, Blues, Snows, Ross, Mallards, Pintail, and Sandhills. Had to shoot around the pintails as best we could. The majority of the ducks in the area there were pintail. We had duck hunting in 88 degree weather, to goose hunting in the low 30’s. We had days where the birds just kept coming. We even had a duck hunt where we were skunked. The birds that day decided to migrate rather than work the area like the guides and field scouts had planned. We had two guys hit by falling geese in the heat of things. I had a couple brush me as they hit the ground. For the first time in my life I had the opportunity to shoot 2 boxes of 10g shells in about 15 minutes. My barrel at the end of that was too hot to touch, but a good number of those geese were lying beside me and one of my other hunting partners with another 10g. That was the 96 goose morning. When it came to ducks I did back off to my 12g and did very well. I brought back a couple skinned out birds for mounts the Blue shown in the picture and a very mature Ross that has the most amazing structure on his beak. Also included in the pic’s is a 37 pound rainbow caught near the lodge. The lodge also has claim to the world record rainbow of 43 pounds. I saw the picture and the paperwork documenting it. Then there is the Bull Moose killed on the last day we were there. A local shot it and was happy as a clam to have shot a young one (estimated to be about 3 years old by him). He said the big bulls there are not nearly as good of eating. Last I took a pic of an old sod house. I guess this building is very old. As you can see its days upright are numbered. Can you imagine being up there in the dead of winter in this thing? The only issue I ran into up there was at about day 5. I had dust from the fields getting into tough places in my guns to clean. Had a couple misfires because of that. The action not closing all the way etc. If I go again, I’ll probably bring more varied gun cleaning supplies. Sorry for not having pictures of all the hunts. It appears our guides do have some struggles with taking pictures. Not a big deal. That’s not what I paid them for. Enjoy…

Goldeneye · « **Reply #1 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:30:37 PM »

More Pic's

h2ofowlr · « **Reply #2 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:39:48 PM »

Looks like a great hunt. Maybe heading that way next season.

johnnyaustin44 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:41:54 PM »

Great trip. bring back any jewelry??

Goldeneye · « **Reply #4 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:46:15 PM »

Not a one had any jewelry. I checked every bird I brought down and the guides rechecked, and then the bird cleaner checked as well. Pretty amazing given the number of birds we brought down.

Elkrunner · « **Reply #5 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:50:02 PM »

Holy quack attack!

h2ofowlr · « **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2011, 09:52:55 PM »

Was what the daily rate for the guides?

Goldeneye · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2011, 10:24:24 PM »

Not sure about what they charge for daily rates but the outfitter I used charges $2895 for 6 days and 12 hunts. That works out to about $240 per hunt if I put a calculator to it. This includes lodging at his place, all food, license, and game processing. He is one of the better priced outfitters in the area that has access to a lot of acerage in the area. He grew up there so has good access from the local farmers. His guides and field spotters work their butts off for you as well. I was impressed by that.

jordano · « **Reply #8 on:** October 04, 2011, 02:59:28 AM »

Quite the trip! Thanks for sharin' with all of us stuck back here so we can drool!

Huntboy · « **Reply #9 on:** October 04, 2011, 06:01:49 AM »

Looks like it was a great hunt.

White Tornado · « **Reply #10 on:** October 04, 2011, 06:55:55 AM »

I think I need to add a trip like this to my bucket list!!!!!! Looks like you all had a great time!!

D-Rock425 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 04, 2011, 07:16:10 AM »

Looks like fun to me.

Goldeneye · « **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2011, 10:17:47 AM »

One thing I forgot to put into the original post. Even though I took up a 135 qt and a 75 qt cooler I still could not fit my 3 day possesion limit in it. By Law to bring back into the US you need to leave a wing attached. That mean the breast plate as well. I'm glad I took off an extra day from work. I'll need today to finish processing all those birds. So if you drive up there rather than fly you can bring back your birds a lot more easily. I had some duck for dinner last night. Really clean tasting birds. They are pretty much grain fed in those fields up there.

seth30 · « **Reply #13 on:** October 05, 2011, 08:33:35 PM »

:drool:Way to make the rest of us jealous

Crispy · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2011, 09:06:12 PM »

Man, really jealous. I think I need to do something like that in my life. How was crossing the border with the firearms? I imagine it's pretty reasonable as long as you take care of everything ahead of time.

Goldeneye · « **Reply #15 on:** October 05, 2011, 09:13:50 PM »

We crossed with 6 shotguns. Not an issue. Just have your paperwork filled out in advance and it speeds things up. Some quick gun inspections, $25 and your through... I encourage all to do this. Truly an experience to enjoy at some point in your life.

shootem · « **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2011, 11:56:08 PM »

So who did you hunt with
How were the accommodations and food
Any problems
Was your experience what can be expected by others
Would you do it again

Whitenuckles · « **Reply #17 on:** October 06, 2011, 05:58:58 PM »

That looks awesome!! Congrats onthe great hunt!

Camp David · « **Reply #18 on:** October 07, 2011, 05:56:34 AM »

Nice report. Please send contact info for the guide...might need to do that in the near future.

Goldeneye · « **Reply #19 on:** October 07, 2011, 11:14:04 AM »

I'm not sure if it's kosher to name the outfitter on here as he is not a sponsor or member of the forum. Mod's can you please let me know if this is acceptable. We are talking about an outfitter in Saskatchewan. If I get the green light from the Mod's I'll gladly give out the information.

Camp David · « **Reply #20 on:** October 09, 2011, 06:16:18 AM »

Golden Eye Please send me a PM with the outfitters name.

Goldeneye · « **Reply #21 on:** October 09, 2011, 12:35:11 PM »

Shootem and Camp David, PM's sent with info for you.

Mr56Jeep · « **Reply #22 on:** October 09, 2011, 01:21:33 PM »

Quote from: Goldeneye on October 09, 2011, 12:35:11 PM

Shootem and Camp David, PM's sent with info for you.

Could you shoot one my way also?

helzbelz888 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 10, 2011, 08:11:00 AM »

I'm SOOOO jealous! definitely something i want to do soon!

Shannon · « **Reply #24 on:** October 10, 2011, 10:01:02 PM »

I just got back from Sask myself last night. The waterfowl hunting is insane. Its the first time I have shot a limit of ducks in 45 minutes in a t-shirt and shorts in 90 degree weather. The birds were everywhere. We only targeted snows one morning and had to make a 2 hour drive North to where they were. A 30 bird limit on snows is insane. Having to transport them with the wing attached is a pain for sure. I did wish I had a guide when we had to take 2 hours every night to take care of the birds. We did it DIY and I would say you definately don't need a guide. We only were turned down once when we asked for permission to hunt private property and he was a hunter that wanted to keep it for himself. We met some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Canadians are great people and I have never met one I didn't like. We focused on waterfowl first thing every morning then we went chasing huns and sharptails. We didn't find a lot of pintail in our area but found lots of gadwall, teal, mallards, canvas backs, and geese of all kinds. It was worth the trip and we are planning another trip for next year.

Goldeneye · « **Reply #25 on:** October 10, 2011, 10:23:25 PM »

Yea, a guy can do a DIY hunt up there. Having the lodging, meals and game care all handled each day is real nice though. The field spotters were nice to have also. They made sure we were on birds every day. Didn't have the variety of ducks you mentioned though, just pintail and mallard. All we hunted were fields though. Did you hunt water? I think you mistyped the snow limit. It is 20 birds a day with a possesion limit of 60. I just rechecked on-line to make sure I was not mistaken. Your right, the locals are very nice. Sounds like you might have been south of us. Where were you hunting out of? We were close to Outlook.

Idahocougar · « **Reply #26 on:** October 11, 2011, 09:42:03 AM »

Looks like a great trip. Congrats to you on a successful trip.

Shannon · « **Reply #27 on:** October 11, 2011, 01:23:43 PM »

No your right Goldeneye, I just hit the wrong key. Its 20 a day limit not 30. 20 is plenty. The closest bigger town to where we were is Swift Current. We hunted snows closer to you though on some private property we had access to. Its a sportsman's paradise for sure. The guy I went up with is going back again in a few weeks. I talked to the farmer this morning where we hunted snows and he said since we left the bird numbers have increased 5 fold and there's more on the way. When we were there the numbers were crazy good so I can't imagine what it will be like in a few weeks. If anyone is thinking about going it will be worth your while.

helzbelz888 · « **Reply #28 on:** October 13, 2011, 12:39:14 PM »

Just curious... Did you bring all the meat back? what was the final tallies in birds? im saving for a trip next year! i'd really like to go!

Goldeneye · « **Reply #29 on:** October 13, 2011, 03:20:43 PM »

Well for my trip. Yes I brought back as much meat as I could given my cooler space. Leaving a wing attached with the breastplate does limit space. This year you are allowed a 3 day possession limit. That would be 60 white geese, 24 dark geese, 24 ducks, and 24 Sandhill cranes. All birds we were not able to bring back were taken to a Salvation Army food bank and distributed to those in need.

All this being said. I brought a 135qt cooler and a 75qt cooler. I was not able to fit my possession limit those two coolers. So I did leave some birds there. We hunted for 6 days. That made a total of 12 hunts. We shot geese in the morning hunts as it was not open at the time to afternoon hunts for geese. Since that was the case we used our afternoon hunts for ducks. At the end of things we were in excess of what we could bring back so if you have the cooler space you can bring back plenty of birds.

An added bonus. Due to all that shooting. I'm in mid-season form now. The birds down here are in trouble once I start hunting them.

Mackerson · « **Reply #30 on:** October 14, 2011, 05:31:46 AM »

That looks like an amazing hunt. I would love to do that some day. Now I'm all pumped up to go try my luck this weekend.

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