Hunting MN pheasants sure saves on shells!!!

[BLACKJACK]

After going thru 3+ boxes of shells in SoDak for the opener, I've been hunting five times since I got back to MN - and shot five shells!! The difference in the number of birds is unreal. Luckily I've managed to bag 3 with those five shots but I've put in the required 2 hours of walking per bird.

[Neighbor_guy]

MN does not "liberate" 10million pheasants a year.

SoDak mandates that presearves, guide services, and game farms release between 8 and 10 million birds a year on both public and private lands.

Why??????

Because pheasant hunters bring in a LOT of tourist dollars. In MN we have fish, and make our tourist dollars there, thus we (MN) release Millions of fish every year to suppliment that production.

Comparing the two, SoDak-MN, is like apples to oranges....

[mrklean]

thats a good comparision neighbor, are the numbers down this year? My dad did pretty good last year but its been so wet and the crops are still in

[CodyDawg]

Yep, no birds in MN. i wouldnt even bother going if'n I were you!

[harvey lee]

Yes, I think I will stop going out in Minnesota and stop shooting my limit when I go. Its very bad. This is the best year I have had in years and the majority of the corn is still in the field.

Yes, I do hunt private land but there are birds out there. Soon I will travel to SW Minnesota for a weekend of fantastic bird hunting when the corn is out of the field.

South Dakota can be great right along with Iowa where I have hunted for many seasons.

For me, I can go out locally and shoot my birds without the motel bills and gas. My license is also far less.

To each thier own when they would like to go outstate for birds. I also go outstate for my deer hunting but for the birds, I will not be going out of state this year as I did not last year either.

[lawdog]

I haven't done a lot of Pheasant hunting yet as there are tons of crops in and I was down with the H1N1 for over a week too. BUT, when I have gotten out, I sure haven't had much luck finding birds. I'm sure there are some around, but the numbers are definitely down.

Tom you must be in a pocket of good numbers, but I don't think your experience so far this year is normal. Every one of my hunting companions is seeing significantly less birds than the last few years.

That being said, we still have good hunting around and I don't feel the need to travel to SD and shoot fish in a barrel!

[harvey lee]

I have had a wonderful start to this 09 season. Maybe better here as you suggested Jeff.

[crothmeier]

its hard to judge how the counts are with all the crops in, and the wet/cold weather the birds havents patterned as usually. give it a few weeks and we'll see how good the hunting is.

[fishinfey8]

croth's got the idea. It isn't so much the bird count is down, you just don't see the birds. I hunted opener in SoDak and one thing I noticed is that without a GOOD dog, you wouldn't find 50 percent of the birds, the just ran and sat VERY tight. I actually stepped on two roosters wich is pretty much unheard of. Especially when the birds I hunt are pretty wild. The patterns are totally different too. The birds were in the tall blue-stem and not in the cattials, elephant grass or corn even...too wet yet. Once the corn comes out it will get alot better and there will be fewer hunters as well...just gotta wait out the weather!

[BLACKJACK]

Lots of 'interesting' comments so far!!

Pheasant hunting is only as good as the land you have to hunt on and that applies to both MN and SoDak. If you have lots of private land to hunt, few hunters, and in a good pheasant hunting area, your hunting will be pretty good. The flip side is hunting public land that gets pounded every day, those roosters become wild and scarce!! But thats what makes those public land pheasants true trophies!!! Even in SoDak the birds wise up in a hurry!! You might hit an area and have a real 'shootout' but you come back later in the season and those birds whoose out the side in a hurry!! Its not as easy as people think, you still have to hunt for them.

If you like to hunt pheasants, you owe it to yourself, just once, to go out to SoDak, and if you hit it right and see hundreds fly out of a cover spot - we call it 'the wave' - even then, even with blockers, sometimes you're lucky to get one or two dumb ones to hold tight until you get there. Just the experience is worth the trip to SoDak. Then throw in the beer drinking, cribbage playing, and comraderie for five days - can't beat it!!!!!!

My first post was kind of referring to the fact that I'm just amazed at how many birds you see in SoDak and how few you see here, thats what I was getting at. I love to hunt pheasants, I maintain two labs so I'm never without a dog during pheasant season, instead of taking all next week off for deer hunting, I'm going to save a couple of those days for 1/2 days of pheasant hunting later because I think there is going to be a lot of birds to be shot after the crops go out here in MN.

[chub]

Pheasant hunting is only as good as the land you have to hunt on and that applies to both MN and SoDak. If you have lots of private land to hunt, few hunters, and in a good pheasant hunting area, your hunting will be pretty good. The flip side is hunting public land that gets pounded every day, those roosters become wild and scarce!! But thats what makes those public land pheasants true trophies!!! Even in SoDak the birds wise up in a hurry!! You might hit an area and have a real 'shootout' but you come back later in the season and those birds whoose out the side in a hurry!! Its not as easy as people think, you still have to hunt for them.

I'm sure you and I pound much of the same "public" realestate. It does get pounded pretty good, especially the areas that are good, but I hunt almost exclusively "public" land, and do well atleast by MN standards. This year so far has been no exception.

Once things get stiff enough to walk on, then it will be truly "game on". LOL.

SoDak is nice, but for whatever reason, I prefer hunting here. (More of a challenge maybe?) Makes it more fun when your dizzy and seeing stars after re-inacting the Bataan death march, and that bird takes you by surprise......LOL

It's all fun. Now if there were just any birds around......

[harvey lee]

Chub, I like the bataan death march as some years it can be that tough.

Your correct in regards to hunting state land. I have a few spots in my area that I do well on for the first week. After that, there are human trails in the field.

If one has some private property he can access, the hunting can be so much better.

[CodyDawg]

I have two farms that are located 12 miles apart or so. Most of the time, they are pretty even in terms of bird numbers, but they do fluctuate. Two years ago, they were very close in numbers. Last year, the smaller farm was better. This year so far, the bigger farm is better. Crop rotation, nesting success, predators, it all plays into it and you can have good bird numbers even in supposedly down areas. All in all, this year has been very good.

[Snag]

I enjoy hunting the public land and also consider most birds I harvest to be trophies. If it was easy, it wouldn't be as much fun or rewarding when you get a bird or two. That said, I can't wait to hit some private land once the crops are harvested.

[Musky Buck]

BlackJack, u fired how many rounds on opener in SD ? 75+ ? What's the limit like 25 a piece ? Anyway, tons of birds where I'm at in MN and we haven't started hunting them, we wait until deer season is over maybe that's why there are so many, no one hunts them in the 3 sections of land I live around. There are good pockets and bad ones and over pressured and under pressured areas. My area is under-pressured and in 10 years I have seen zero hunters and no one stops in to ask permission to hunt them which shocks me some when the gravel road has birds on it so often, this month though the rain and lack of sun I haven't seen many. Happy Halloween !

[deacon]

MN does not "liberate" 10million pheasants a year.

SoDak mandates that presearves, guide services, and game farms release between 8 and 10 million birds a year on both public and private lands.

Where do you get that information 10 million released?

That is like comparing a strong live tree to fire wood.

[candiru]

I do not know exact numbers but many of the Lodges in SD release birds. This classifies them as game farms and allows the hunter to shoot above their normal daily limit. The latest number I have seen from one place was that the birds above your limit are about 45 dollars a piece.

[mrfish1991]

BlackJack, u fired how many rounds on opener in SD ? 75+ ? What's the limit like 25 a piece ? Anyway, tons of birds where I'm at in MN and we haven't started hunting them, we wait until deer season is over maybe that's why there are so many, no one hunts them in the 3 sections of land I live around. There are good pockets and bad ones and over pressured and under pressured areas. My area is under-pressured and in 10 years I have seen zero hunters and no one stops in to ask permission to hunt them which shocks me some when the gravel road has birds on it so often, this month though the rain and lack of sun I haven't seen many. Happy Halloween !

Musky Buck, I would gladly come down and help you with your pheasant control problem

[Neighbor_guy]

10Million was a bit of an over-exageration.

The actual numbers are closer to 3-5million/year. Ask any SoDak Guide or Fish and Game guy who is willing to tell you the truth. Thats were I got my info, right from the "horses mouth". I have family who owns several sections of SD land. In exchange for opening it up to public hunting he gets a gov. kick back. They, SD game and fish, "liberate" as many as 5,000 birds a year on his land alone....

Like it or not, most SD pheasants come from pen raised birds, either directly, or are hatched from once pen raised birds.

[reddog]

10Million was a bit of an over-exageration.

The actual numbers are closer to 3-5million/year. Ask any SoDak Guide or Fish and Game guy who is willing to tell you the truth. Thats were I got my info, right from the "horses mouth". I have family who owns several sections of SD land. In exchange for opening it up to public hunting he gets a gov. kick back. They, SD game and fish, "liberate" as many as 5,000 birds a year on his land alone....

Like it or not, most SD pheasants come from pen raised birds, either directly, or are hatched from once pen raised birds.

Let me get this straight, SDGFP releases birds on private walk in areas?

[grousehunter]

nope

[pureinsanity]

I highly disagree with the pen raised comment. The pheasants habitat is just that much better in south dakota than in MN.... Millions of acres of CRP is huge compared to all the grounds for pheasants here in Minnesota which were all turned into crop land and other stuff. Ever wonder why pheasant hunting is tough in MN? Look around when you are driving. Houses, Farms, Commercial Development will explain the poor numbers of birds... When you get out in south west Minnesota all you see if farm fields... How are birds and other animals going to survive when they have nothing but bare dirt to live in????

[MNUser]

I agree with pureinsanity. SD has done a great job of creating great habitat for local wildlife.

The climate in SD is much better for the local population of pheasants too. With it's proximity to the mountains, they get a lot more days in the winters months that are mild. SD will have stretches of days that are in the 50s and 60s in the middle of the winter. They might get some big snows but they will not be locked up in the cold that follows. This too plays a role.

[pureinsanity]

If you take a look at any of the CRP programs in the Minnesota. Most of them after the contract is up is plowed up by the farmers and used for crop... The ones that stay are such [PoorWordUsage] and not taken care of. They need to be burned off for thicker new nesting grounds.

Public land is pretty abundant here in MN, However, they need to be taken care of. Organizations such as Pheasants Forever makes sure most of their land they donate is set up for the things pheasants and other wildlife need. Food near by, water, shelter and plenty of nesting ground. I have helped build a few of these WMA's. It is just a shame when I stop at one and some careless person is dumping their junk, or the guy hunting before you stopped there and a wrapper fell out of his truck and he was to lazy to go and get it... I always pick up garbage when I go out on WMA's...

Food plots are huge too. Yes some farmers leave them, others do not. This also plays a big role. Seems in south dakota all farmers leave a bit of a food plot for deer, pheasants and all other animals. I believe many of them that live out there see how it values the economy. I would love to see some numbers on the profit made from out of state hunters spending money...

SD just has everything they need. Nesting grounds, water, thick cover and abundance of food. You think you see a lot of birds now, go out there at the end of the season in winter when all the birds are stacked up together staying warm.

[pureinsanity]

SD is just flat out a better area for the pheasant to prosper in compared to Minnesota. It is much more a part of their habitat...