Crop Status - SW MN

[tybo]

Was thinking of hunting for roosters down that way this weekend and am wondering if the farmers ahve been able to get in the fields and get the crops out? Maybe it's decent with them still in but wanted to get an idea how things are.

[muc33]

With the three day marathon stretch of decent wx here in the Worthington many have a good run on the bean crop now and are getting started on the corn. Now I say getting started, as there are still beans in the fields in many spots that are still too wet, and with corn moisture still high 20's to 30 percent, things are going to go slow with everyone filling dryers and transfering grain, so be patient, as long as week can keep the pace up, things will progress nicely over the next week or two, but at least here around Worthington, it will be a week or so before you even notice a dent in the crops. To the north 30 to 60 miles it is better from my travels which were mostly at night but could still see they were further ahead.

[southwest]

I was down last weekend and drove from the hwy 14 - hwy 71 crossing at the Sanborn corners to south of Marshall and have never saw so much corn

in the fields this late and no tillage done. We pheasant hunted and only shot one bird. Before season every moring we saw several pheasants fly to corn and the grass was pretty much empty by 9 am. Deer hunting will interesting at best. Corn is going out but alot of farmers thought that they would at least until thanksgiving to get all the corn out and tillage done. Corn is so wet and yielding real good that eleavators

shut down most days by 5 PM and everything stops. Well at this rate if winter isnt real bad should be pleanty around next year

[CRAZYEYES]

I just got back tonight from 2 days near madison and canby. The furhter west you go the wetter it seems to be. Anywhere west of hwy 75 the corn is still just about untouched but as of today any farmer that could get whats left of the beans out was doing so. As you slowly head east from there the beans are pretty much gone and the corn seems to be coming down. We saw a lot of combines out tonight between hutchinson and montevideo. I dont think a lot of areas will come down until the groound freezes since its just so softand there is a lot of standing water. This was the wettest hunting trip I remember where the sun was out the whole time.

[fishroger]

just got back from so. dak. There is literally thousands of acres of corn unharvested everywhere. The soil is very wet with small lakes and ponds in the fields in some places. Some of the higher areas have may be able to be harvested in the next week or so. In many areas they say this is the latest harvest in 40 years. Some crops are being harvested around marshall, a good guess is 90% of the corn is still standing.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm aboot 25 miles north of muc. Lotsa lotsa lotsa crop in the fields. The weather has finally given the farmers a break and they are at it hot and heavy. Lots of standing water in fields and high moisture so they can only get so far.

If things stay dry they'll stay on it.

[jparrucci]

Was all over the SW part of the state yesterday, not much for crops gone yet. There were pockets here and there, but generally, not looking good. There seemed to be more progress closer to the cities actually.

[OutlawTorn]

I was down to Brookings, SD (only a few miles from the MN border) and there was corn up everywhere - I can also confirm the wet fields. The dogs were muddy monsters if you came out of the grass - there was even standing water in GRASS in some places.

Im headed back tomorrow and a friend who lives in Brookings says it isnt looking much better. The beans are all but finished but there hasnt been much work on the corn due to the moisture content.

Im counting on having a rough time this week again, but its good to get behind the dogs and watch them work anyway. My last trip is in December and Im REALLY looking forward to that one!

[grab the net]

I spent the last two days in the SW chasing roosters. Wednesday was the better of the two weather wise. Today the wind was a sustained 25 with gusts near 30. Walking against the wind was a chore. Shot two birds on Wed. and one this morning. Majority of the beans were gone in the area I was hunting near Marshall. They are working on the corn but it is slow going.

Most sections have at least a quarter or more of corn still up. It is wet!! Any low areas have standing water and there are plenty of low areas that won't be harvested until it freezes up. Can't predict what will happen when the corn comes out, but I just didn't see the number of birds I have seen in past years.

I do know that I had to work my tail off for the two I shot wed. one at 9:45 the other 4:48. I did have two other opportunities, the first one I would have pillow cased if I had pulled the trigger when I first got the bead on him, then he hit the jet stream and I am sure I was so far behind him he did not even know I was shooting at him. The other was in a willow patch, I guessed wrong on which side it would come out. But if you lead a bird by about 40 feet in a 25 mph wind you can get lucky and knock him stone dead at about 40 yards.

Buddy is a school teacher down in the area, said he would give me a call when the majority of the crops are gone. Probably 1st week in December.

[tweedlap]

I was down in the SW for the big blow, yesterday, too. I came home early. Fog, breezy and then heavy drizzle, today.

95% of the beans are out. Like the net said, still tons of corn to harvest. No corn or beans came out today.

No roosters came home with me either. They are still going to the corn between 7:30 and 8:30 AM.

tweed

[CRAZYEYES]

I was out wednesday near willmar and today near annandale an the beans are pretty much gone but as far as the corn it really varies from 1 mile to the next how much is out. If it stays dry the corn should be just about gone from most areas by the end of next week. I talked to a friend near glenwwod today and he said that the corn is coming down fast out that way too.

[landscaper]

The corn by Marshall MN is slowing coming out i would say 15% is out now, this next week is looking good so we will see i guess

[Scott M]

Had a friend text me from afield near Talcot....corn everywhere. saw some birds but didn't take any home. Minnesota Department of Agriculture crop harvest report comes out tomorrow morning...

[lawdog]

Rock and Pipestone are going PAINFULLY slow. No room to dry anymore so wait to take more out. That's the story I'm getting. We'll have corn for another month!

[rwwong]

Was near Marshall on Friday. This was the first time down there this year. I am not a very good gauge of % harvested, but there was a fair amount of corn harvested; alot more than I expected. We got up about 12 birds, 3 of them were roosters and 3 of them came home. We were hunting public land.

[CRAZYEYES]

I was out today near willmar and the corn is really starting to come down. I would say that as of tonight 50% of the corn is down and every combine is out. We put up about 30 birds today but only got 3for the 2 of usand hit another one that took off like mad. We could have had our last bird tonight but dark comes pretty quick and they dont want to come out of that corn until the last minuite. I know where I'm headed tomorrow morning!

[Snag]

Got out in central MN today. Corn was probably 75% out. Spot we hunted had corn on two sides and we still got up 9 birds. My partner got a double and the dog found a cripple running around on the way back to the truck. Tried one more spot on the way home near Hutchinson and didn't see any birds.

[muc33]

35-45 percent complete in Nobles Jackson on the corn right now. Biggest slow down is drying time. Lack of Propane and Propane trucks and still moving slowly along. Pray for not much in means of precip the next couple days and Tday weekend should be a good option.

[17FishMan]

Hunted Ivanhoe and Marshall areas Sat. & Sun. Crop harvest seems to be 98% complete. Hunted numerous WMA and Game preserves that have done great for us in the past. Sat. bagged 3 rosters. Sunday was just plain awful. Zero rosters and kicked up maybe half dozen hens. Hope it was just the funny weather on Sunday and not that drastic of a loss in pheasant populations. Hunted with two excellent dogs and five guys.

[grab the net]

What would your estimate be on the percentage loss in habitat (CRP) in the areas you hunt down there. My guess is in the 30-35 percent range. Have hunted the same area out there for last 10 years, so have a pretty fair history with the landscape. I would guess the bird numbers are down about the same or more. Still fair hunting but far from as good as it was just a few years ago. Friends in the area say more CRP is coming out in the near future.

[123fish]

Bird numbers are down without a doubt. Here in Nobles county there never really was that much in CRP so the areas I hunt have not really lost that much compared to a couple of years ago. A lot of corn has now come out and this past weekend we were hunting areas right next to some of these fields that were harvested the day before and really struggled to shoot a bird or two especially Saturday and Sunday. Talking to a couple of farmers they said they saw few birds while picking corn. The other local hunters have struggled also. With that said we did shoot 19 birds Thursday-Sunday and took another rooster away from a hawk that just had killed it to make twenty total. We went in with the mentality if you just keep walking something will eventually will happen. Persistence helps.

[CRAZYEYES]

The crp loss Is deffinately noticeable, I've lost 3 private fields that I used to be able to hunt to the plow. The birds are also down quite a bit, I blamed it on the corn for a while there but when the corn came down and the birds were just not there I finally hit me. I still have found a birds but they have been in very localized areas with the best winter cover which leads me to believe that last winter really took it to them. Sounds like crp loss is going to get worse so get used working hard for your birds again, The last couple years we have been pretty lucky with mild winters and a lot of crp left.

[crothmeier]

i havent noticed a decline in bird numbers. now that the corn is out we hunted this weekend and saw all the birds we could shoot at. we didnt limit, but could have both saturday and sunday.

[fishinchicks]

A lot of counties are cutting back on CRP certifying since the government is not able to fund as much, so you may be seeing a little more loss of habitat. I know we didn't see as many birds during harvest as we usually do. There are pockets where the pheasants seem to have done well, though.

Hopefully this winter will be a little easier on the birds.