Wisconsin

Photo by Forrest Carpenter

The Badger State might not be as synonymous with waterfowling as Arkansas or Louisiana, but it offers some fine hunting. Wisconsin fowlers are blessed with a vast array of options. The Mississippi River gets a tremendous flight of ducks, and it might be the best place in the country to bag a bull canvasback. The Horicon Marsh is a major stopover for thousands of Canada geese each fall, and honker opportunities can be fantastic.

Unlike other states, you won't find wildlife management areas, per se, in the Badger State. Wisconsin has many state wildlife areas, such as Navarino Marsh, Crex Meadows, Powell Marsh, Theresa Marsh and White River Marsh. These areas have no draws or designated blinds. Generally, however, hunters just hunt local lakes. The state is dotted with thousands of them, although most are in northern Wisconsin, which is less crowded. You'll find small ponds that hold the state's bread-and-butter mallards, wood ducks and teal, and larger waters such as Lake Winnebago, Lake Poygan, Chequamegon Bay, Green Bay and Lake Michigan attract rafts of divers. Lake Michigan even has good opportunities for long-tailed ducks, in addition to more common diving duck species, such as bluebills, redheads, goldeneyes and buffleheads. Plus, Wisconsin's abundant agricultural land, particularly in the southern two-thirds of the state, provides food for migrating mallards and Canadas and also presents great field-hunting opportunities.

The state might not seem like a waterfowling destination, but with diverse opportunities, it's a solid all-around choice. The low number of birds bagged per hunter hurts Wisconsin in the rankings, though. We'll give it a B.

— Compiled and written by Joe Shead