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Ponds near Warm Springs

6K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  phutch30 
#1 ·
Hello,

Been lurking the forum for a while, just started bird hunting last year and am absolutely hooked. I live in Missoula and have been hunting mostly Kelly Island, 9pipes in the Flathead and Lee Metcalf down in Stevensville. Had a pretty good season so far getting better with my decoy layouts and my calling. I'm trying to expand my options since it's pretty crowded around here, the problem is I have zero connections with other bird hunters. Family and friends never really got into it and finding new areas close to Missoula has yielded pretty poor results. Even so just searching around with my trusty black lab is my favorite thing in the world.

The people I do talk to are pretty tight lipped about their areas, which I totally understand. I'm thinking about wandering out to Warm Springs this weekend. I've heard whispers that this is a decent area around the DU ponds and I always see a ton of birds flying when I drive the highway. I'm curious if anybody can tell me if that would be a waste of time? I have a suspicion the ponds might be frozen up with the cold snap coming through and have no idea if this is even a good place to hunt. I'd like to not waste a good hunting saturday driving out there. I'm not asking for the exact GPS coordinates of the optimal blind location I prefer to scout myself! Just wondering if one of you fine gentlemen can tell me anything about the area out of the kindness of your heart.

Thanks! Good luck this week!
 
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#2 ·
Pretty simple there. You can hunt anywhere except pond 3. The area can hold a wide variety of birds (divers puddlers, geese). I have seen just about every type of duck. And it is one of the few areas around that you can shoot divers if you want to. That is when the water is open. I am gone this past couple weeks for work but am sure the place is frozen. When the water is open there can be thousands of ducks in the area. But 95% usually stay in the middle of the lake. Always interesting to watch 500 ducks lift off only to have them fly 400yds and land on other end of lake. The ponds have plenty of food (plant and animal) for ducks so they can be anywhere. Lift a rock up on the big ponds and the scuds are so thick it can look like shag carpeting.

The ponds are deep so have a dog or be sure your bird will land on dirt or will blow to the bank if you drop it. I scouted the area a few weeks ago and finished off a goose and a couple ducks that had broken wings. usual sky busters walking the dikes dropping birds only to watch them float away. Also with the deep water don't wade from shore on the big ponds. Either gets deep fast or the shallow ends the mud can be terrible.

Like anywhere in the upper clark fork, the birds can be thick one day and gone the next. Talked with a guy today that said sunday he found open water and could have got a limit with a baseball bat they cupped in one after another. But am sure by this weekend they will all be gone.
 
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