![]() ![]() "I would say Suisun Marsh is the flagship location for waterfowling in the San Francisco Bay area," says Jeff McCreary, a DU biologist in California. Nearby Suisun Marsh, with 52,000 acres of managed wetlands in both private and public ownership, is one of the most important breeding and wintering areas in California for mallards. ![]() San Francisco Bay is rich in waterfowl, both dabblers and divers, and is the most important wintering area in the Pacific Flyway for scaup and canvasbacks. You'll find lots of fields full of birds," Marks adds. "Rochester has some of the best goose hunting in the country. Just an hour south of MinneapolisSaint Paul are expansive croplands that draw huge numbers of resident and migratory Canada geese, including true giant Canadas that can tip the scales at well over 10 pounds apiece. "Fortunately, we're right next door to the Dakotas, and there are also great places to hunt in western Minnesota." "There's public land right outside town but it gets hunted pretty hard, so it's best to be flexible enough to drive a little," says DU regional director John Marks. Within a few hours' drive from the Twin Cities, waterfowlers can gun divers on large glacial lakes, pursue puddle ducks on creeks and sloughs that connect these lakes, or find plenty of both in neighboring North Dakota and South Dakota. Padilla Bay holds the largest wintering population of these birds north of Mexico. Gunning for Pacific brant is another unique hunting opportunity for waterfowlers living in western Washington. Seattle-based waterfowlers also have the unique opportunity to bag a harlequin duck, which is considered to be a bona fide trophy among local hunters. Opportunities for light and dark geese, puddle ducks, divers, brant, and even sea ducks exist for those who put in the time to scout and get to know a specific area," says DU regional director John Tierney. "The greater Puget Sound area is blessed with waterfowl hunting as varied as anywhere in the nation. Popular waterfowl hunting areas near Seattle include Skagit and Padilla bays and the Nisqually River Delta. Puget Sound is framed by the Olympic mountain range to the west and the Cascades to the east. There's no doubt that waterfowlers living in the Emerald City hunt in extraordinary surroundings. Don't be surprised if you find your metropolis among the 10 profiled here (in no particular order) for the great diversity of ducks and geese flying just outside the city limits. And south into the Mississippi Delta are vast bottomland hardwood forests that each season host thousands of migrating and wintering waterfowl.īut the Bluff City is not alone many other metropolitan areas are within reasonable driving distances from incredible waterfowling opportunities. To the north is Tennessee's storied Reelfoot Lake, where the duck hunting is almost as epic as the earthquake that formed this eerily beautiful body of water. Just across the Mississippi River is eastern Arkansas, renowned for its world-class flooded timber and rice fields, which attract mallardsand duck hunterslike magnets. I live in Memphis, home to DU's national headquarters and within a two-hour drive from some of the best waterfowling this country has to offer. And contrary to the stereotypical notion that large urban areas are lacking in sporting opportunities, it's not too far from some darn good duck hunting. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about living in a rustic cabin on the edge of a marsh that looks like a scene out of a Terry Redlin painting.īut like most waterfowlers, I live in a big city. From the Ducks Unlimited magazine Archives ![]()
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