Average to above average.

That's the official characterization of Minnesota's waterfowl opener last weekend.

"I'd rate it a 6 or 7 on a scale of one to 10," said Steve Cordts, waterfowl biologist for the Department of Natural Resources. "The only poor reports I heard were from the southeast."

Hunting ranged from very good to poor -- which is typical, Cordts said. The presence of lots of teal in the state likely helped boost hunter success.

"We probably shot 250,000 ducks over the weekend," he said.

So now what?

Cordts said aerial surveys last week showed an average number of ducks. Some ringnecks are migrating into the state, but some teal undoubtedly have left.

"I don't expect hunting to be all that great until we get a cold front," he said.

Hunter numbers steady

The number of waterfowl hunters on opening weekend was about the same as the past two years, based on state duck stamp sales.

"We sold about 81,000 duck stamps through opening weekend," Cordts said. "That's about what we sold the last two years on opening weekend." He expects the state to sell 100,000 by season's end.

The problem is that's still 20,000 fewer than just seven years ago, a worrisome decline in waterfowl hunter numbers, Cordts said. The DNR is trying to determine the cause of the decline.

Wasted waterfowl

The rumbling continues from last weekend's debacle forcing hunters to dump their waterfowl when they returned to the United States from Saskatchewan hunting trips.

There was some talk of possible reimbursement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the 90 or so hunters who dumped more than 4,000 birds at border stations in North Dakota and Minnesota.

But a spokesperson for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which issued the order, said that won't happen.

"USDA does not compensate for materials that were confiscated as a result of a restriction to protect against a potential disease introduction," Karen Eggert said in an e-mail Friday to the Star Tribune. "We regret that some hunters lost their birds, but our first priority was to protect the United States from a devastating animal disease."

APHIS issued an order Sept. 27 prohibiting importation of "unprocessed avian products" -- including game birds taken by hunters -- from Saskatchewan, following discovery of avian influenza virus H7N3 in that province. Two days later, the agency changed the directive to exclude game birds bagged by hunters.

But that didn't help those hunters, including many Minnesotans, who were forced to dispose of their birds in the meantime. Some donated their birds to Canadian food shelves or local people, but others were forced to dump their game.

Surprise bear encounter

And then there was the group of moose hunters that had a dead moose in the back of a truck at a camp at the end of the Gunflint Trail. As one hunter walked past, a bear jumped out of the back. The man grabbed his rifle, and he fired a warning shot when the bear started coming back toward the truck.

"He said the bear kept coming, so he shot it," officer Darin Fagerman said. No citations were issued. "It was self-defense," he said.

Did you know?

• A hot perch bite has been occurring on Lake Mille Lacs recently.

• A hunter from Maplewood was convicted of negligent manslaughter last week for killing a 14-year-old hunter he mistook for a deer last year north of Lake Mille Lacs.

Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com