Huns are fun!!!

[toughguy]

I went to visit a friend in Williston over the weekend for a little pheasant hunting. There were plenty of roosters around so we had a blast. For me the surprise of the weekend was how much fun hungarian partridges are to hunt. These quick little guys pop up in groups of 10 or 15 right under your feet. When the first group of them popped up in front of me my fist instinct told me that they we all hen pheasants so I didn't shoot. Then my buddy shouted that they were huns and that I should shoot em. Well of course by then it was too late so I had to wait for the next group to pop up before I could blast away. It's kind of hard to learn not to flock shoot them with a dozen going every direction but once you figure it out and get them dialed in it's a ton a fun.

Are there any parts of MN that have huns? If not have there ever been huns in MN. It would be cool to have them here. It's like a little bonus thrown into your pheasant hunt.

[toughguy]

I just checked on the MN DNR page and I guess there are huns in MN. They must be in areas of the state that I don't hunt because I haven't ever seen them here.

[SpringerGuy]

We have a few down here in the SW part of they state, but never a huntable population. We don't have the right habitat for them. Don't remember what they need, but we don't have it. They are a lot of fun and a challenge when you find a covey.

[R. Miller]

The numbers used to be much better in MN in the 70's and 80's. I've only seen a few groups of them in west central MN over that last 8 years...I've heard there's a few more down in the southern part of the state...they are fun birds though, and good table fare.

[jigging-matt]

Used to see a group or two every fall. Haven't seen any for the last couple of years though.

[Early Riser]

We got into a group of 10-15 yesterday on my friend's farm in SW MN. It was the first we have seen of them in a few years. I agree that in the 80's we saw them often on the farm.

[tybo]

There are some way up North aropund Roseau. A friend of mine got one last year when we were hunting for sharptails up there. We just saw a lone bird, no coveys. I did get into some on a trip to MT this year and there were a ton of fun. Wish there were more around MN I think they're are definitely underappreciated.

[Matt Breuer]

SW MN has more than people think I would say. Every year I see at least 1-3 covey's while down pheasant hunting. If a guy were out driving early in the morning, you'd see a lot more...

Northern MN has a few. When I was a kid in the Roseau/Thief River area we saw a ton of them, and they were easy to hunt. Now we only see 3-4 covey's a year.

[fishroger]

I was out near williston last week. Good huntin, good weather. Yea the huns are the tastiest bird there is. small piece of meat, but good. It seems that they like to hang out near the edges of fields where there is grain. Have flushed some right in the middle of a combined field right out in the open when I was walking back to the farm. Lots of sharpies in the area also. Locals dont like them, dark meat, but they taste all right.Their usually more out in the grassy, open areas. Only problem is they look like hen pheasants, Got to look for rounded tail and they move slower then pheasants. Lots of wildlife out there. If you like coyote huntin thats the place to go.

[zepman]

We used to run into them all the time back in the mid to late eighties in south central Mn. Austin, Albert Lea and east of there. They were always a blast to hunt because they would rarely fly over 100 or so yards and you could stay with them. We used to shoot the heck out of them but like many of you have mentioned, you just don't see alot of them around anymore.

[Matt Breuer]

We should change the topic of this thread to "Huns are frustrating!" I bumped into a few coveys over the weekend while up sharptail hunting and was not prepared. I did knock one down, but out of the 40 or so seen, that's not very good!

[Blaze]

Wow, Matt - 1/40? That's 2.5%! Quite an improvement over your previous years, isn't it? LOL

Drove some old hunting areas in NW MN last weekend while deer hunting. Saw a handful of sharpies, but no Huns like we saw regularly up there in the 80's. Those little grey and chestnut colored rockets are what got me totally hooked on bird hunting.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

what's a hun??

[Matt Breuer]

Hungarian Partridge...

Blaze, if I remember correctly you e-mailed me once about knowing some of the same people I know... I was hunting right near land owned by the guy we both know...

As for 1/40 being better than previous years, yes, Huns are my kryptonite! In my defense I did only pull the trigger twice, on the same bird! Although last year I popped 2 in two shots, so I was running 100%...

[hanso612]

This is the first year we haven't seen a flock on the family farm in 15 years. Hans

[winniewalleye777]

Can't beat a covey of Huns busting out from under your feet. Last winter I saw about 15 of them under a bush, I snuck in behind them. They got up so quick I could only get one shot off, but 2 birds fell! A definate rush indeed. There aren't many around still, but I have seen more this year than I have in about 5 years.