2011 Pheasant Hunting Season

[muc33]

Good thing you brought your barrel straightener and eye wash, paintbrush! Nice report!

[123fish]

We had a four man limit by 11:45 this morning. We had ten roosters come out of one waterway and a 30 by 50 yard red willow patch. What we are finding if there was a farmer's grove good enough to winter some pheasants last winter there are roosters in the area. On my buddy's 40 acres we shot twenty roosters last year and we have not even put up one hen this year. His cedar trees are only six years old and not big enough to winter pheasants in a winter like we had last year. Like always the best of the best has birds.

[TylerS]

Shot two roosters this weekend in Nodak in between duck hunting. Remy scent pointed both, but I failed to get them to flush. Had to release him to get the birds up. Didn't try very hard for them. Just hit some marginal areas that looked promising and reaped the rewards. Looking forward to chasing them a bit more seriously after deer opener.

[eckum54]

Finally on the board with my first rooster of the year, but more importantly it was Gatsby's first flush being that he is just turned a year and this is his first season...small bird but no complaints here.

[pureinsanity]

I went to SD to hunt sat-mon. Limited out saturday and sunday by a little after noon. Monday we had to work for birds. Winds put them in heavy cover and they were just staying put or running around us.

Birds are way down, but they are there and in good numbers yet. Just hard to pin point where they were. Been hunting this private land for 20 some years and places we always got birds, didn't have a single bird in it.

A weird year for sure! Very late broods too! 95% of the birds we shot were small, and this years birds. Got a couple veterans here and there though.

[crothmeier]

been out a few times and am seeing birds. flushed 6 roosters almost all at oncem shot the second one and watched the res fly. i'll shoot another the next time i head out there.

they're definitly around, just not as plentiful.

[grey ghost]

I've been out twice this week and seeing good numbers of birds. Got 1 each time and missed 1 other. Been picky on the shots I take making sure my Weim is holding solid on point before I take a shot which limits my shooting but should pay off for me and my dog down the road.

[WildFan10]

What area of the state have you been hunting?

[NWBuck]

Bird numbers waaay down here in NW Iowa. So much so that I kind of thought I'd skip the season entirely and spend the extra time in a deer stand. But then Pepper gave me the look that said "come on, let's go...I'll find one out there somewhere". So we've been out twice for about an hour each time, and managed one bird in each trip.

[QueticoTim]

Been down to Iowa twice and limited out both times. Lower number of birds but less hunters too. Areas that had good winter cover still producing well. Pleasantly surprised so far. I almost didn't get a license this year

T

[QueticoTim]

Here is last weekend. Let my Dad shoot one too

[QueticoTim]

Sunday Opener in the AM terrible windy conditions dog did well.

[Arago]

Hey Folks, Where are all the reports?! I'm heading out soon and will post results. Just waiting for the deer hunters to clear out.....

[bhs91]

Glad to see some guys doing well in iowa! Spent 20 years hunting there, but not the last 2 years due to low bird counts. Good luck to all that are smarter than I!

BHS

[123fish]

We were out Saturday here in the extreme southwest and five of us shot two. Only saw two other roosters and this was pretty good cover. What's really disappointing is we only put up one hen and this was with three dogs. It's really feast or famine in my area. We found out if you have cover within a reasonable distance of anywhere where they could have survived last winter there are some birds around. Even a single sheltered farm acreage providing winter survival cover and a decent waterway close by will have birds in it. A good example is on my buddy's 40 acres we shot 20 roosters last year and ZERO this year so far. None on the 80 acre WMA which is a quarter of a mile away either. His six year old red cedar shelterbelt isn't tall enough to provide good enough shelter from the likes of a winter like last year and the farm acreages around him are too clean also. End result no pheasants. Two miles away we walk a 50 X 50 yard red willow patch and out come ten roosters plus a nice group of hens. It's all about the habitat.

[NELS-BELLS]

Went out yesterday, mid-day, by myself and shot my biggest rooster so far this season. I saw 3 roosters and 2 hens in about 3 1/2 hours. I've been having a really good season so far and I've only hunted public land, all in an area from Regal to Glenwood and Sauk Centre. I think I've managed to shoot at least one rooster per outing.

I have to give a lot of the credit to my black Lab. She is 4 yrs old now and has been unreal for finding the birds for me this year.

Nels

[fireman]

One positive to a very disappointing deer season, were the number of birds that we saw. We hunt in Clay/Ottertail counties and was suprised by the numbers of birds out there. Time to start chasing some roosters...

[WildFan10]

Were you seeing the birds on public land? Good to know.

[fireman]

Were you seeing the birds on public land? Good to know.

We hunted public and private, saw birds on each.

[TylerS]

Numbers in Nodak are definitely down, but we've still managed to find birds.

Hunted hard all day Sunday, and thanks to some excellent dog work between mine and my buddy's GWPs, we managed to scratch 7 roosters and 2 sharptails for three people. Day before I went out with my wife and shot 2 roosters (one scud that must have been from a very late hatch). Should have had a limit, but the third rooster somehow ran off after getting pillow cased and we never did find it. Considered my limit filled, regardless, and called it a day. Besides, Remy got sprayed by a skunk, so that put a damper on things

My friend's dog (my dog's litter mate) is the liver GWP, and my pooch, Remy, is the liver and ticked GWP.

[pureinsanity]

OMG you shot hens??? Jk Nice bonus birds! It is always nice to flush a chicken! Way to go!

[TylerS]

OMG you shot hens???

Shhhhh...keep it down! You're gonna get me in trouble!

[MNpurple]

The first 4 outtings of the year resulted in 6 birds from public land. Birds numbers are definitely down, but walk enough and bide your time and you can usually find some birds. Tuesday, me and the dog hunted for 3 and a half hours and never flushed a single bird. Especially on public land, be prepared to take the good with the bad this year. Tuesday I finally said forget it, snapped some pictures and we both took a quick nap in the bluestem!

[wormdunker]

Nothing better than a nap in the grass but usually much better with a pillow of roosters.

[mnmofro]

Hunted two different public areas in Meeker cty. saw no birds at one and found the hen hangout at the other! Found about 10 hens in a 100 by 20 yard area, otherwise only two jumpy roosters that got away, took one shot and missed. Good dog work though steady through my one shot, so he is getting there which is tricky with low bird contacts.