Ramsey Russell's GetDucks.com Reviews Russia Duck Hunting

Fumbling hurriedly through loose ammo that’d also been dumped into the coat pocket, the wooden duck call was retrieved just in time to blow 4 lousy notes that squelched due to dried cork.   It was enough.  The drake mallard’s head yanked as he hit the end of an invisible tie, he turned on a dime and locked onto a solitary, paintless decoy and descended cupped-and-committed until his feet were right above ice-rimmed creek water near.  He recoiled backasswards at the clap of a single shot and I could only chuckle at having traveled such inconceivably great distance to start the hunt with a ordinarily beautiful greenhead.  It was only the beginning.

Russia duck hunting offers one of the few spring waterfowl hunts remaining in the world and it coincides with hunting for Capercaillie and Black Grouse during their famous courtship rituals.  Until recently, nearly everything I knew about Russia derived from watching James Bond reruns.  The real thing was much better.

In addition to hunting 2 of the most coveted trophy grouse species in the world, duck hunting in Russia presents

Peru Duck Hunting Is Breathtaking

It’s a fact we learned in kindergarten: water runs down hill.  It collects in low-lying areas, forming wetlands.  Generally speaking, it is there that waterfowl – and waterfowl hunters alike – spend much of their lives.  But generally speaking, there are exceptions to every rule.  The rugged Andes Mountains in which Peru duck hunting takes place is one such exception.

Leaving a small highland village well after daylight, we drove daily through the mountains, along rock-studded roads.  Past endless miles of stacked-stones walls that doubtlessly took

Changing Times for Texas Gulf Coast Snow Goose Hunting

It was 20 years ago that I made a weekend trip to snow goose hunt the fabled rice prairie near Katy, Texas.  I was young, skinny, still had hair, and was a year-plus from marriage,  I still shot a Remington.  It was a friend of a friend that knew somebody's buddy that guided kind of deal; more than enough to compell me.  It was my first-ever waterfowl hunting trip away from Mississippi.  It ignited the flame that still burns to pursue waterfowl everywhere that they're huntable.

I watched snow geese fly over Mississippi's delta during their migration to the Gulf Coastal prairies while in grade school.  While I should have been pouring over math homework in high school study hall, I instead read and dreamed about one day hunting snow geese on the Texas rice prairies.

We layed on our backs in bare mud.  Comfortable ground blinds had yet to be invented. Our decoys were white plastic trash bag-looking decoys numbering in the thousands.  We hid among tight clumps of them. There was the perfect combination of wind, low clouds, rain, and skillful calling.  The snow geese decoyed perfectly, and I later grinned ear to ear while holding first snows, blues and white-fronts.  Three of those firsts were destined to adorn game room walls for eternity.  I was young enough to naively thought that, like the immortalized trophies, snow goose hunting in Coastal Texas would last forever.  But nothing lasts forever.

Urban sprawl has since flourished.  Combine a little dirt work and vision with the demands of civilization and proper zoning ordinances, and the table-flat agricultural fields along the Texas Gulf Coast are perfect for shopping centers, schools and residential areas.  Much of the historic wintering grounds have been paved pursuant to increased expansion of the Greater-Houston Metro area.

Last week I was disheartened to read that the Lower Colorado River Authorities relegated water for rice farming and duck ponds to the status of least-importance.  Meaning that permits to pump water for such useages are no guarantee.  Less food, in the instance of rice production, and less roosting area, in the form of irrigated duck ponds, necessarily equates to fewer snow geese along the Texas coast.  Texas outdoor writer Steve Knight opined that, "City growth and the demands of humans and industry now are at the top of the heap."

Certainly, the needs of humanity come first.  Changing land usages and public policy are inevitable consequences of time.  As another historical waterfowling area succumbs to time and to civilization, I review old photos from yesteryears while wondering what changes the next 20 years will bring to bear.  And I'm determined to enjoy the waterfowling opportunities that remain.

Mandatory Hunter Education Before Hunting Manitoba

There will be a few complaints as one more to-do before making that trip-of-a-lifetime, but promoting hunter safety puts a positive spin on the public's perception of hunters.  Another step in the right direction.  Beginning January 1, 2012, all resident and non-resident visitors hunting in Manitoba, Canada, must provide proof of hunter's safety certification before purchasing a Manitoba hunting license.  Eligibility to purchase a hunting licence can be established with a certificate or card that certifies successful completion of a hunter education course in Manitoba; either a Hunter Education Course or the old Hunter & Firearm Safety Training Course, or the equivalent in any other province, territory or country.

Learn more about Manitoba Canada Hunter Education

For hunters that have not yet recieved Hunter Education, it is available online at http://www.huntercourse.com/

One-time fee exemption now makes it easier for US hunters visiting Canada

For some hunters, it has been deterent to taking long-awaited Canada goose and duck hunting trips:  certain misdemeanor criminal offenses, such as DWI, are recognized in Canada as a felony.  Visitors with criminal felonies are denied entry.   It requires explaining Canadian inadmissibility with clients during pre-trip planning, and it has always been a delicate point of discussion, "Does anyone in your group have a DWI from back in the day?"  But it beats their being unaware and, following expensive travel, being denied at Canadian Customs.

That changed this week.  For foreign nationals considered inadmissable due to criminal records, Canadians have eased rules regarding entry.  The Canadian tourism industry has a large hunting- and fishing-guide contingency.  Their source of complaints stemmed from the the significant loss of hunter-related revenues.  They put sustained pressure on Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to implement common-sense policy.  New policy grants visiting Americans hunters or anglers a one-time fee exemption for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) for certain offences, including offences such as driving while impaired. It used to be a long, convoluted and expensive process.

Americans with convictions still must receive "rehabilitation" to permanently clear their records, but receiving the TRP will prevent their rejection at the border.  This new policy covers DWI if it's the only conviction on their record.  It is yet unknown whether this is a one-time-only pass, or if it will apply indefinitely.

Read Full Summary Operation Bulletin 389 - February 27, 2012


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Exciting proposal for goose hunting in Canada

For hunters that extend their annual goose hunting opportunities by hunting ducks and geese in Canada, an exciting measure has been proposed.  You’ll get no complaints from me.

From the Environment Canada website: “It is proposed to eliminate the current requirement to use only blue or white phase Snow Goose decoys when electronic Snow Goose recordings are being used. Decoy restrictions were implemented in Manitoba (and Saskatchewan) due to concern about the potential vulnerability of Canada Geese to electronic Snow Goose recordings; however, research has since shown that Canada Geese are less vulnerable to electronic recordings of Snow Geese than to traditional hunting methods.  Removal of this restriction would allow hunters to target both Canada and Snow Geese during the same hunt, which would provide additional opportunity to manage overabundant Snow Geese through hunting.”

While many waterfowlers, southerners especially, dislike hunting light geese, many find that shooting decoying snows and blues is as much fun as shooting honkers and mallards.   The key word is “decoying.”

We usually do well targeting snow geese in September and October, as they stage in Manitoba preceding their migration.  Success requires scouting and waiting for the flock to start building in a certain field.  Even over all-white spreads, ducks and dark geese are typically taken.  Because the bag limits for snow geese (20 daily) are so much higher than for mallards (8 daily) and Canada geese (5 daily), it’s possible for 5-6 hunters to achieve an aggregate of 100 or more waterfowl daily.  And we suggest bringing extra ammo to the field.

This new measure, if enacted, will make duck and goose hunting trips to Canada far more productively exciting and is proposed to manage the mid-continental population of light geese.  Once again, hunters are being relied on to achieve long-term wildlife conservation goals.  Once again, we’ll make the best of it.

More information Canada Goose Hunting trips

Canadians make American entry simpler

Foremost among complaints for taking Canada hunting trip is that certain misdemeanor criminal offenses, such as DWI, are recognized as a felony.  Visitors with criminal felonies are denied entry.   It requires explaining Canadian inadmissibility with clients during pre-trip planning, and it has always been a delicate point of discussion, "Does anyone in your group have a DWI from back in the day?"  But it beats their being unaware and driving all that way only to be denied at Canadian Customs.

That soon changes.  Canadians are easing rules regarding American visitors entry.  The Canadian tourism industry - comprised in no small part by hunting and fishing operators - put sustained pressure on Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)  to implement a new common-sense policy.  With an estimated 35 million tourists visiting Canada annually, you can imagine the loss of revelue and number of comlaints from would-be visitors caught unawares, or from guides and outfitters that had their groups turned away at the border.

Beginning March 1, 2012, visiting American hunters and anglers with one minor conviction can be granted a free Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) to enter Canada.  Obtaining that permit was previously lengthy and costly.

Americans with convictions still must receive "rehabilitation" to permanently clear their record, but receiving the TRP will prevent their rejection at the border.  This new policy covers DWI if it's the only conviction on their record.  It is yet unknown whether this is a one-time-only pass, or if it will apply indefinitely.  But it's good news for traveling hunters.

More information about Canadian Inadmissibility visit GetDucks.com Sporting Travel Resources.