Pheasant Reports

[harvey lee]

So how many you you that are complaining about the pheasant numbers are members of Pheasants Forever or actually do something to help the birds? The areas that have good habitat have birds this year. The areas that do not have good habitat have very little in the way of birds. That is not a coincidence folks. Go to a banquet, plant a shelterbelt, build a feeder, plant a food plot, plant nesting cover...do something.

I am reminded of the time that I asked a farmer for permission on a pretty good looking little piece. He said he hadnt see a bird in years, but go ahead. 150 yards from his barn I had put up over 50 birds and had my limit. Since then, I dont trust what anyone says about bird numbers unless they have personally been out hunting them.

I guess I am one of the so called whiners CodyDawg.

First, so you know that I have tried all I can, 24 years ago I called PF and talked to Joe Duggan and we got together and he explained to me how to start a chapter.

I was a President and Habitat director once upon a time. I did all that you have asked of others who you believe are whiners.

Sibley county has done alot in regards to feeders and the purchase of habitat land. I have picked corn, built bird feeders and kept them full for the winter. I have planted native grasses and all of the above that you have mentioned. It takes more than a few habitat projects to rebound the bird population. The farm programs can do more than PF but everything helps. Hard for a pheasant to live through the winter in a black plowed desert.

This year, due to the last hard winter and wet springs, the bird count has dropped big time. I spend alot of time on the area gravel roads and have seen next to no birds.

When farm land goes for up to $7,500 an acre, it is very hard for a local chapter to purchase land for habitat but in conjunction with other wildlife groups, we have done some larger projects in the county.

Yes, if one goes to those areas, one can find a few birds the first weeks or maybe two but after that, the birds are gone.

The rest of the ares are almost birdless.

I am glad that you may have helped with some projects or that you have suggested for others to do so but it does not help that much for the dollars spent each year.

Those are the facts I have found in the past almost 25 years while whining about the bird population.

I do not know what the bird hunting is like in other areas of the state but in my area, it is as bad as it has been for as long as I remember.

One can hunt some state land or others wildlife projects but that only lasts for a few days as they get about run right into the ground from traffic. Some areas in the state has lots of pulbic hunting to take the pressure off the birds a bit but not here locally. We have alot of metro hunters due to the fact that iuyr area is close to the metro and that also adds pressure.

I enjoy going out with a group of others chasing the ringnecks but when the birds are down so bad, I see no need to whack the few that are left.

Let's all hope for a soft winter and less spring rain and maybe in a few years the bird population will rebound.

I have seen next to no difference in the bird populations in the past 25 years and all counties around my area have PF chapters. Weather and farm programs will do more than any PF chapter for the birds. At least that is what I have seen in the past years.

[401TE]

Pretty clear to me the biggest problem for the pheasant numbers this year was the amount of snow last winter and rain this spring/early summer. When Mother Nature deals those kinds of blows, you're going to get these kinds of years regardless of the quality and quantity of habitat.

I remember 10 years ago the pheasant numbers where I deer hunt on the MN/SD border were very low...then for the past 5 or 6 years they've been really high...this year I've been told they're way down again. It's all about weather in my opinion.

[CaptainMusky]

Harvey,

As someone who is involved with a PF chapter I think that message is deplorable to hear. Honestly. Im sorry, but to basically tell someone not to hunt is the completely wrong message and to couple that with basically saying that contributing to PF doesnt do much good (Im paraphrasing, not exactly your words, but that is the message I took from it).

This is the message I would like to hear. YES, the birds are down, but get out there and hunt. If enough people take the message sent like I interpreted it and quite hunting what does that mean? Less dollars to go toward habitat restoration.

We will not hunt pheasants to extinction and they can rebound quite nicely. For every bird you flush, there is probably a half dozen you walk right past and not even know are there.

We dont want popularity to drop too much (look at duck hunting, its plummeted in MN) because then less money is brought in to help improve things.

I am going to hunt this year, as much if not more than I did when the populations were high. I do it for exercise, camerderie with friends, enjoyment watching my dog and if we bag some birds great, if not, it is still great to be out there.

I had an eerily similar conversation with a gentleman at the local watering hole one winter about the local snowmobile trails. I gave him suggestions to help improve the trails and he said "why ride around here, I go to the Iron Range and dont even ride here". This was a guy who was once the President of the club! That is ridiculous to say stuff like that if you represent some organization.

Get out there and hunt. There are birds to be had, not as many, but there will be pockets of lots of birds.

I enjoy talking to the farmers and see if I can get permission to hunt, but 95% of my hunting is public land.

[TylerS]

We dont want popularity to drop too much (look at duck hunting, its plummeted in MN) because then less money is brought in to help improve things.

I am going to hunt this year, as much if not more than I did when the populations were high. I do it for exercise, camerderie with friends, enjoyment watching my dog and if we bag some birds great, if not, it is still great to be out there.

While you make a valid point (true outdoorsmen hunt for the passion of the sport, not necessarily bagging game) you cannot deny that popularity of hunting fluctuates the most with game populations. You compare it to waterfowl. Well, the reason people in Minnesota are hunting less ducks in recent years than years past is because there are LESS ducks. Oh you can throw in the public land argument, too, but the bottom line is that if a person goes out enough times with no success, he's less likely to do it again in the future.

Why do so many people go to Canada or the Dakotas for birds? Because they are there in vastly superior numbers than other states.

You can't just say "we have to keep pheasant hunting to keep the popularity of the sport up." That's like saying the Vikings should garner the same fan base regardless of their dismal record and game performance.

In reality, hunting is a sort of Catch 22. If the bird numbers drop (either because of nature or the loss of habitat) then their pursuit also will dissipate. With the loss of participation, you see the loss of dollars to benefit the birds and, ultimately, increase their numbers.

Just like down years with ruffed grouse. When you hear about the poor drumming counts in the spring, that typically translates to less hunters come fall simply because they know they're less likely to bag a bird and, sadly, our generation likes immediate reward for any energy expelled.

I don't think "rallying the troops" to get out and hunt pheasants if they're not seeing any will do much good. Someone on the fringe is less likely to buy a license if they think they have little chance at harvesting birds.

[harvey lee]

Harvey,

As someone who is involved with a PF chapter I think that message is deplorable to hear. Honestly. Im sorry, but to basically tell someone not to hunt is the completely wrong message and to couple that with basically saying that contributing to PF doesnt do much good (Im paraphrasing, not exactly your words, but that is the message I took from it).

This is the message I would like to hear. YES, the birds are down, but get out there and hunt. If enough people take the message sent like I interpreted it and quite hunting what does that mean? Less dollars to go toward habitat restoration.

We will not hunt pheasants to extinction and they can rebound quite nicely. For every bird you flush, there is probably a half dozen you walk right past and not even know are there.

We dont want popularity to drop too much (look at duck hunting, its plummeted in MN) because then less money is brought in to help improve things.

I am going to hunt this year, as much if not more than I did when the populations were high. I do it for exercise, camerderie with friends, enjoyment watching my dog and if we bag some birds great, if not, it is still great to be out there.

I had an eerily similar conversation with a gentleman at the local watering hole one winter about the local snowmobile trails. I gave him suggestions to help improve the trails and he said "why ride around here, I go to the Iron Range and dont even ride here". This was a guy who was once the President of the club! That is ridiculous to say stuff like that if you represent some organization.

Get out there and hunt. There are birds to be had, not as many, but there will be pockets of lots of birds.

I enjoy talking to the farmers and see if I can get permission to hunt, but 95% of my hunting is public land.

Where did I say others should not hunt? I stated I was not going to. I did say I did not want to whack the last few around but that's what I want and not what others have to do my any means.

I was only speaking the truth in regards to the bird numbers. Sorry you did not care for that.

I am glad you enjoy your time in the field. I enjoy it also but I do like to see more than 1 or two birds. I choose to not hunt due to the low bird population.

In regards to PF, yes they are a great group but I can honestly say I have not seen any real increase in the bird population due to their efforts. I am sure you do not like what I am saying but sometimes one needs to be honest.

[brittman]

Like so many other threads. Hijacked !!

Would have been nice to keep this thread on pheasant reports. Yea or Nay.

The bantor on why we pheasant hunt, why we may not hunt pheasants or hunt less this fall, and PF promotions could have all run on other threads.

Winter was harsh and summer tough on pheasants and pheasant reproduction. Population down, but of course spotty. If license sales run 15% - 20% below prior years - well those are the people that probably get invited to tag along anyways. Not necessarily every pheasant hunter is a dog owning, hardcore pheasant hunter.

[brittman]

Well since we are already hijacked.

In regards to PF, yes they are a great group but I can honestly say I have not seen any real increase in the bird population due to their efforts. I am sure you do not like what I am saying but sometimes one needs to be honest.

PF is a nice model. Plenty of nice projects on a county by county basis. If you missed their work, you probably do not live or hunt in their more successfully run counties. Much of the local money stays loca.

One of the first hunter based conservation organizations to lobby Congress heavily. DU and others now follow their lead to protect CRP and CREP. Total acres lost, but one wonders where it would be without them.

One or two PF guys lobbying Congress vs all the ag companies (ADM, Cargill, Deere, Pioneer, Monsanto, etc...)and their deeper pocket books. Ag companies benefit more by more acres planted than acres in CRP.

Regarding increases ... well weather is the deciding factor and BOOM. Tough winter and rough summer has resulted in low populations. Nothing can prevent that. Habitat needs to be in-place so that when favorable weather patterns return, the habitat is there for them to nest more successfully.

CRP is a benefit to deer too.

[muc33]

brittman, spot on. on all accounts.

[CaptainMusky]

Like so many other threads. Hijacked !!

Would have been nice to keep this thread on pheasant reports. Yea or Nay.

The bantor on why we pheasant hunt, why we may not hunt pheasants or hunt less this fall, and PF promotions could have all run on other threads.

Winter was harsh and summer tough on pheasants and pheasant reproduction. Population down, but of course spotty. If license sales run 15% - 20% below prior years - well those are the people that probably get invited to tag along anyways. Not necessarily every pheasant hunter is a dog owning, hardcore pheasant hunter.

Complaining about hijacking and then piling on more hijacking? LOL

[CaptainMusky]

PF is a model organization that returns like 80 cents of every dollar back to habitat. How can that not be good? Though not all of these efforts lead to "public" hunting opportunities they work with landowners to improve their land as well.

Tyler S - you made my exact same point with this comment "With the loss of participation, you see the loss of dollars to benefit the birds and, ultimately, increase their numbers."

If people do not buy pheasant stamps (down 13% this year) the birds in the end will suffer.

I used the example of ducks as a prime example. People quit going because the flyway appeared to shift West. This lead to a tremendous drop in dollars.

Maybe there are so many "fair" weather hunters out there I guess.

Dont get me wrong, I dont mind not competing over public land with others, but it can be a snowball affect. We are losing hunters (overall) every year. Some people who leave now, will never come back. Kids do not get into the sport at the same percentage as they did when I was their age.

There are birds out there, just like other years, just fewer in number when compared to last year.

Kind of reminds of the the Fall of 92 (remember Halloween Blizzard 1991) when the population was way down.

Maybe the MN DNR should stock pheasants like they do walleyes then we can have all the fair weather hunters back? This practice works for SD where they release 1 million birds annually. Insert tremendous sarcasm here.

[CaptainMusky]

Well since we are already hijacked.

Regarding increases ... well weather is the deciding factor and BOOM. Tough winter and rough summer has resulted in low populations. Nothing can prevent that. Habitat needs to be in-place so that when favorable weather patterns return, the habitat is there for them to nest more successfully.

CRP is a benefit to deer too.

Completely correct. CRP wont help us now the season is upon us, but helps birds winter and then if we can catch ANY luck, mild winter, low snow, warm spring, low rain and BOOYA!

[Musky Buck]

If you hunted where there were quite a few birds opening weekend you may think oh lots around but the truth in many areas is comparing to other years there's a lot less than what had been sorta normal. Lots less in many areas.

[lindy rig]

So........ does anyone have a pheasant report ? LOL!

[Stcloudangler]

Will have one from north central SD in 6 days for ya! And the birds around here are definitely down. But, so are the hunters... alot of opener traffic but I can see it rapidly decreasing soon.

[CodyDawg]

[IceAge@work]

In regards to PF, yes they are a great group but I can honestly say I have not seen any real increase in the bird population due to their efforts. I am sure you do not like what I am saying but sometimes one needs to be honest.

Must have been hibernating between years 2002 & 2009 when the MN pheasant harvest doubled from 250,000 roosters annually to over 500,000 roosters annually. That increase in populations and bird harvest was a direct result of PF, DU and a few other habitat organizations successfully lobbying congress and the Bush Administration in the late 1990's to expand the conservation title in the Farm Bill.

Since 2009 conservation acreage in MN has decreased substantially and will continue to decrease unless PF & DU can pull a rabbit out of there collective hat while preparing for the next Farm Bill in Washington. Funding organizations like PF & DU over the next couple of years will be critical to the cause of maintaining viable habitat.

[CaptainMusky]

So........ does anyone have a pheasant report ? LOL!

I saw three VERY young ones on Sunday afternoon while driving around checking out spots. I never intended on hunting and decided these guys needed more time to grow up.

2 were roosters and one hen. The roosters you could barely tell what they were.

I talked to a farmer nearby combining beans and he had seen ZERO birds while working the field. They would be hitting the corn next and if they saw none at that point I would become really concerned.

he did say he was seeing a lot of deer this year.

Central MN area.

I will be hunting this weekend in my normal spots. It will be interesting to compare year over year. Lots of birds last year. I will report my findings upon return.

[harvey lee]

I use to believe in what PF has done and their efforts.

I will agree that with the help of PF, the farm bill to some degree has helped the bird population in thwe past years. I will say with the value of crops today, I see very little in regards to any CRP or other programs of the like.

The end result still is that our bird population in my area goes yup and down a bit with the winter snow and the damage from spring rains.

As I stated, in the past 25 years, I have seen very few if any increase in the population other than from the weather.

last fall late in November, there was a feeder in the country with corn and there were approx 25-30 birds feeding there daily thanks to a local PF member who kept that feeder full.

Come mid Jan., there were no birds there feeding as the hard storms had wiped them out. yes, they put the feeder out but come spring, there were no birds to have chicks and increase the population. We needed habitat and with the price of land, those days of local chapters purchasing a mere 100 acres is about gone.

I have many friends who are farmers and run thousands of acres and they have said they have seen next to no birds.

I spend alot of time in the rural areas of my area and in the past years, I plain and simply have not seen next to anything for bird numbers. It was better 40-50 years ago with the soil bank days and the farming practices will never allow that again in our future nor will the Gov spend that kind of money again in todays dollars.

So please do not try and tell me how well PF has increased the population.

Enough of this baloney.

Sorry you do not like what I write but it is so true here in my area.

There maybe areas in the state where land sells for less and the PF chapters have made a difference but the bird numbers in the past years have shown otherwise. I know south of Marshall and to the west to South Dakota the past years have been very good for bird hunting as I have been there.

[PurpleFloyd]

I have been a member of PF and Minnesota Pheasants Inc for a long time and while they certainly do what they can in terms of habitat, I agree with Harvey that the weather has played a much bigger role in the number of birds than PF has.

Yes, the bird population increased dramatically from about 2005 until the last few years but then again we have had decent winters that have kept mortality low during that time. CRP helps but unless you are planting conifers in the plots the birds get hammered hard in the grass and cattails when we get a heavy snow, driving winds and freezing rain like we had the last few years. In those cases the grass and cattails transform into a killing field and the numbers drop.

Populations are always in flux and right now we are down from the recent past but with a few more good winters and springs we could see a decent rebound in population. Food plots, the correct cover and the space to elude predators all will help bu there is no way we have the resources to provide enough of all of them to establish a stable population through all of the weather events we get.

[BirdWhisperer]

Not really sure if this is suppose to be sarcastic or not, but I work for SD GF&P and I've never heard of the STATE releasing birds. Yes indeed, there are hunting preserves littered throughout the state (mainly central SD) where up to 30,000 pen-reared pheasants are released annually by just one preserve. Again, I hope this post was sarcastic. The state of South Dakota works extremely hard (brood surveys, WIA sign-ups, enforcement, etc.) and has all the resident and non-resident hunters to thank for the financial support they receive to implement quality land use practices to provide the best hunting opportunities as possible.

[brittman]

Not really sure if this is suppose to be sarcastic or not, but I work for SD GF&P and I've never heard of the STATE releasing birds. Yes indeed, there are hunting preserves littered throughout the state (mainly central SD) where up to 30,000 pen-reared pheasants are released annually by just one preserve. Again, I hope this post was sarcastic. The state of South Dakota works extremely hard (brood surveys, WIA sign-ups, enforcement, etc.) and has all the resident and non-resident hunters to thank for the financial support they receive to implement quality land use practices to provide the best hunting opportunities as possible.

The high end preservses and high dollar commercial operations release 100,000s of pheasants. People have incorrectly heard the stories and passed it on that the state release the birds.

[Da Biggin]

Ventured out Monday morning toward the Hutchinson area. Saw 3 birds on the day in total. 2 hens and a single rooster. All brids were seen from a moving vehicle and related to private land. Was hoping to see more but it felt good to get the dog working... heading out again next Monday.

[IceAge@work]

OK. Now I'm starting to get the picture. PF doesn't put a pile of pheasants in my backyard so therefore the efforts to preserve habitat anywhere else are worthless. That's your baloney right there.

Want a little straight talk? Entitlement attitudes among outdoorsmen who put their short-term satisfaction ahead of viable long-term conservation efforts is the biggest threat to maintaining any degree of a healthy farmland ecosystem. That outlook is way too pervasive and if the next version of the Farm Bill goes bad for conservation look for all of Minnesota's pheasant range to become an agrarian wasteland just like it was during the late 70's and 80's.

For those who think it is all about weather show me that correlation between weather and pheasant numbers during the 1980's when nesting & brood rearing habitat was nonexistent. Pheasant numbers were in the basement year after year in MN at that time. In fact that population crash is what prompted individuals to start PF in the first place.

Winter habitat in MN while not abundant is plenty adequate for pheasant survival. The real limiting factor is healthy nesting and brood rearing habitat. That habitat is beginning a free fall right now and this season of poor bird numbers is just a sign of what is to come. Weather matters year-to-year. Good habitat can have an impact for a decade. Unless something changes in regards to Farm Bill Conservation Policy the next decade looks bleak.

[Snag]

Got out yesterday for 3 hours. Hit all my old honey holes and only got up one hen. I'm going to try Marshall, Montevideo or Windom next time out. The hen was on a Pheasants Forever WMA. Talked to a farmer who lives next door to the WMA and he said all the pheasants died last winter. He didn't see any this spring and summer.

[Fatty07]

On my way to a south Dakota pheasant hunt as I write this. I am very sad to see some of the comments about pheasants forever. They have done a great job along with du and south Minnesota pheasant Inc. In acquiring and maintaining land. It is not their goal to maintain short term bird populations. Rather invest in the future of the habitat. PLEASE support your local chapters they are not perfect but do amazing work. Thank you all that support and donate your time so my two young boys will be able to hunt in the future.