Early-Season Waterfowl on the Coteau

A steady breeze passed through the tent as the temperature dipped into the 50s. It was the perfect evening for climbing into a sleeping bag under a starlit sky. But there would be no shuteye tonight, not with the Minnesota duck opener looming at daybreak.

We hatched a plan to wake up at 2 a.m. to get the best spot on a shallow lake at a nearby state wildlife management area (WMA). But around midnight, my buddy Todd Gifford rapped on the tent.

“Hey Joooe,” he said in a long, drawn-out, uniquely Minnesotan accent. “You awake in there, brother?”

I’d been watching a college football game on my phone and in limbo between alert and asleep. For a split second, I thought about staying quiet, but with just two hours before the alarm was set to ring, I responded with a non-emphatic “yeah.”

This was classic Gifford. He gets jacked up for any kind of hunting, but opening day on the Minnesota prairie has a special place in his overzealous, impatient heart. And well it should. The guy has been coming here longer than most millennials have been alive. I knew what was coming next.

“Duuude, I’m goin’ down to the pass,” he said, referring to the place our group was meeting for the morning hunt. “I don’t want anybody to get our spot. I’ll drop ya a pin so you can find it.”

Gifford is the best kind of duck-hunting host. He does all the work, won’t let you lift a finger and just wants everyone in camp to kill ducks. I couldn’t let him go down to the marsh alone, though he certainly would not have been bored sitting by himself for 6 hours waiting on shooting light. The guy is content so long as he’s in a hunting camp.

It took about 15 minutes to drive to the wetland. There was already a truck in the dirt lot when we arrived. Someone crazier than us, I thought. For the next several hours, I listened to Gifford spew social commentary and tell his remarkable hunting stories. He once traveled by train to hunt the Canadian tundra for snow geese with a case of shotshells and a cameraman. This was before snow goose hunting became more popular following the first spring conservation order in 1999.

An hour or so before sunrise, we emerged from the truck bleary-eyed, grabbed our gear and headed down the levee. Geese were already honking. Soon after came one of my favorite parts of any duck hunt: the few minutes before legal shooting time when the first ducks dart through the darkness, their wing feathers rippling in the air.

DUCK DREAMSCAPE

Much of Minnesota’s western prairie sits atop a 200-mile plateau that begins just across the North Dakota state line and runs south into Iowa. Known as the Coteau de Prairies, it was formed by receding glaciers during the ice age. Thousands of years ago, the Coteau was bordered by Lake Agassiz, a massive body of water that covered an area the size of Texas. The water eventually drained into Hudson Bay but left behind wetlands small and large—the ideal habitat for breeding waterfowl—across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba.

On both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, human development and historical farming have fragmented the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). In western Minnesota, 90 percent of the shallow lakes and wetlands have been drained, and 99 percent of the prairie is gone.

Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) works with conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited and other organizations to restore the loss of wetland and prairie acres. In fact, the WMA we hunted (Chen Bay) was a joint project of the MNDNR and DU. First, the shallow lake was drained to kill off invasive fish species. Then, water structures were implemented to control water levels, which promotes the natural growth of aquatic plants. Invertebrates also inhabit the wetland during drawdowns. When water is put back on the marsh, ducks feast on plants and bugs.

The wetland also has improved water quality. Wetlands filter nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus before they make it into lakes, rivers and streams. This is critical for all the wildlife that uses the shallow lake. Nearby Lake Benton benefits from this as well since Chen Bay has a direct outlet into the 2,600-acre lake.

“Landscape drainage has eliminated many of our prairie wetlands in Minnesota, which means there are fewer places for ducks to nest,” says DU Regional Biologist Jake Chronister. “It’s a major win for wildlife when we can make these kinds of habitat restorations that return wetlands to their native state. It also makes life easier for wetland managers so they can properly maintain the site.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife also manages thousands of waterfowl production areas (WPAs) throughout the Prairie Pothole Region. WPAs, funded by federal Duck Stamp dollars, conserve around 3 million acres of wetlands and grassland in the PPR. They are typically smaller wetlands open to hunting and other recreation. Between WMAs and WPAs, public hunters have plenty of options on the Coteau. And because many ducks breed in western Minnesota, it’s highly likely a plethora of birds will be around early in the season.

SCOUT IT OUT

The land is so flat in western Minnesota that you can see for miles during the day. Under darkness, we saw the headlights of dozens of trucks filled with decoys and small boats buzzing the county roads. Some hunters knew exactly where to go; others were lost, turning around, speeding away, only to turn around again.

With so much competition, you must do a fair bit of scouting if you hunt western Minnesota. Even though the potholes here are not well known by hunters outside the state, opening weekend draws local crowds. Arrive a day or two before you plan to hunt and have at least three different spots in mind.

Ensure you’re at your first spot by 3:30 a.m. at the latest, especially on a weekend. Some hunters camp overnight at these public areas, so you may scout a location around sunset and not see a single person. However, the next morning, several trucks could already be there. Many locals know the best marshes to hunt and are keeping tabs on duck use.

In most duck seasons (the Minnesota opener is typically the second-to-last weekend in September and runs until just after Thanksgiving), these shallow lakes will freeze up quickly, and the ducks will move to bigger, open water or begin their southerly migration. The window to hunt here is often short but bountiful.

KEEP THINGS SIMPLE

A small decoy spread, a spinning-wing decoy, an on-water motion decoy or jerk string and a marsh stool are the only items you need besides a shotgun, ammo and a pair of waders to hunt the potholes. A Jet Sled can help haul gear, but it’s not a necessity. Some hunters trailer a john boat, but you’ll likely have to walk it some distance depending on how far from other hunters you want to be, so remember that when loading up.

Early in the season, lots of young ducks are around, so you can get away with deploying a few motion decoys if you don’t want to lug floaters. In my experience, juvenile ducks that have never seen a spinner are attracted to them like moths to a flame. It’s almost an unfair advantage for hunters, so if you want to challenge yourself with calling and setting a proper decoy rig, leave the flapper at home.

There is abundant cover to hide in along the water’s edge at most wetlands, so don’t worry about blinds. Just put a few decoys out to emulate birds feeding or loafing on the water with the wind at your back (crosswinds work too), and step into the cattails with your marsh chair.

You can also set up in an area that provides easy pass shooting. Many of the birds we shot were teal and wood ducks, two species that will decoy, but much of the time they’re flying low from one wetland to another. Older—and you could argue smarter—hunters stand on the levees to shoot their limits because so many birds are in the air. You could throw out a spread here and never shoot a single bird in the decoys because the opportunities to kill ducks passing by are so plentiful.

“I like fooling late-season mallards with a good scout and spread, but here, these blues and greens [teal] are flying all over the place,” Gifford says. “You could get one or two bunches in the decoys, and the hunt is over. Levee hunting is more fun. You can drink some coffee, talk to your buddies and see them make both great and awful shots.”

CAMPING ON THE COTEAU

Sleep in comfort while “roughing it” in western Minnesota.

There are very few hotels near western Minnesota’s public hunting areas, so you are better off boondocking it. Gifford owns a property with small cabins, but I brought a Napier truck bed tent and kept it simple with a cooler full of ice, drinks, cold cuts and snacks.

To stay comfortable, I place a sleeping bag on top of an air mattress that inflates with a pump that plugs into my truck’s USB port. I have a waterproof pillow as well. Staying dry is key, which is why I like sleeping off the ground (it also ensures no field mice, bugs or other critters join me).

If you already have a tent, just throw it in the bed of the truck and pull it out when you leave to hunt in the morning. Make sure your tent has a rain fly, too. If there is a topper on your truck, there’s no need for a tent. Just find an air mattress that fits the truck bed. Roof-top tents are ideal for this kind of hunting, too.

CLEANING COUNSEL

Tips to stay legal and care for meat when hunting remote areas in early fall.

Meat care is crucial in the early season when temperatures are usually still warm. You need to clean any harvested ducks soon after the hunt concludes to avoid ruining meat. Obviously, when camping out, a cooler is a must, and you’ll want a good knife and freezer bags on hand for processing ducks. Just be sure to keep a wing on the carcass while transporting the birds, and tag them properly to stay legal.

An easy way to clean ducks in the field is to expose the breast meat by pulling the feathers downward with your thumbs. Use your knife to separate any skin from the breast. Place the bird on the ground, put one foot on its head and the other on its legs, stick your fingers inside the breast cavity, and pull. The breast will come off with both wings attached.

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• This article was featured in the September 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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