Where are the pheasants?

[fishnhuntnboy]

This is my first year pheasant hunting and my dogs first year too. We have put on some long walks but not even flushing a single pheasant. I know the population is low and would like to get on some birds. Right now I am hunting around Isanti but about to move to Ramsey. I dont want you to name your spots. Hopefully I can get pointed in the right direction on where to go. I like to scout and will be back out tomorrow morning.

Any info would be great.

Thanks

[RangerJack]

Not to start any wars here, but I've honestly decided to NOT hunt pheasants until I can get my population back up. I'm already designing new winter cover and food plots for next year. Maybe take the dog to a game farm to get him started, otherwise I would try to let the pheasants survive another winter without being shot at.

my two cents.

also, I have plenty of my own birds, so I don't have to worry about not finding wild birds! my dog doesn't know the difference.

[GO4]

I was in the Madelia area last weekend on public but only saw a few hens. Lotta walking with little to show.

I'm hoping a little more West will hold some more birds.

[Acemac]

redfeild SD

[bottomdweller]

I was a little further west of redfield the last five days and wow is all I can say, best bird hunitng in my life, the last two days alone I seen over a thousand birds.

[rundrave]

Right now I am hunting around Isanti but about to move to Ramsey.

The further South West you go from there the better and you probably want to make it a couple hrs drive.

[tori's dad]

Bottomdweller, did you hunt private land or some public too? I am heading out to Winner SD next MON to Wed but Redfield is closer and I dont have any specific plans yet? Any info greatly appreciated.

[muc33]

Extreme SW Mn has some of the best hunting and habitat in the state. consider a trip down to my neck of the woods where there is plentiful public ground as well. Look at the banner ads above for Hunt and Fish SW Mn and click on the banner, it will bring you to a page with all the Nobles County WMA and you can then get the map to those locations!

[Tom7227]

A big problem for the pheasants this year was the drought in July and August. The chicks need bugs to eat and the bugs need water. no rain, no bugs, no chicks.

[brittman]

A big problem for the pheasants this year was the drought in July and August. The chicks need bugs to eat and the bugs need water. no rain, no bugs, no chicks.

That explanation I do not accept at all. Pheasants do extremely well in western Dakotas which often have little moisture in late summer.

Plenty of late hatch birds making up the harvest this year. These birds hatched in late July and early August.

[pureinsanity]

As long as there is seeds and crop, its fine.

most of the birds I shot this year were pigeon sized. Still had some chick colors on them too. Crop full of seeds and or corn or soy.

[Musky Buck]

The pheasants had a difficult year I think it was well documented, even where I live it's pheasant heaven and no 1 hunts them in our section, numbers are way way down regardless of pressure, that's why enjoy the hay days because they don't always last forever. Each rooster should be viewed as a trophy especially this year.

[harvey lee]

I did not hunt this season for the 1st time probaby since I was 15. Thats about 43 years ago.

yes, there may be a bird here and a bird there and a few areas may have a few more but overall state wide, very poor from the reports I have heard from buddies that have hunted hard and run good dogs. Most areas I see look like a black desert and I would guess the birds have a very hard time during the winter with so little cover in a hard winter.

Lets hope for a few easy winters and a good hatch next spring and it should start to look better.

[ac777]

Not to start any wars here, but I've honestly decided to NOT hunt pheasants until I can get my population back up. I'm already designing new winter cover and food plots for next year. Maybe take the dog to a game farm to get him started, otherwise I would try to let the pheasants survive another winter without being shot at.

my two cents.

also, I have plenty of my own birds, so I don't have to worry about not finding wild birds! my dog doesn't know the difference.

Not trying to start a war either but unless you are shooting hens, a few roosters dying isn't going to affect the population. I believe the number one factor in pheasant population is weather, both cold hard winters, and cold wet springs mean double trouble. but surprisingly in my area, there is still decent numbers.

[pureinsanity]

Not trying to start a war either but unless you are shooting hens, a few roosters dying isn't going to affect the population. I believe the number one factor in pheasant population is weather, both cold hard winters, and cold wet springs mean double trouble. but surprisingly in my area, there is still decent numbers.

You are correct. Not hunting them isn't going to help the population at all. The only way you will help the population is feed them in winter, make sure they have habitat and cover from the elements. The other thing you can do is rid the number one thing that kills birds every year. Predators....

Hunters hardly put a dent in the population.....also roadside counts they really do not mean much. If you think about it a area that had no birds now has 3 birds, that's 300% increase. So us being down isn't really that bad.

They are their, you might not see them you might not flush them, but they are there just running around you at your feet!

[harvey lee]

Very few around my neighborhood asnd nothing running around my feet.

Birds are simply way down. I talk to many farmers and others who work in the farm country and they sinply have seen next to nothing in the countryside.

may be some birds in other areas but not here.

Unless one can dream up some birds, it's very slim pickens here.

The farmers seem to always know what there is for wildlife and the birds are almost to nothing.

[pureinsanity]

Very few around my neighborhood asnd nothing running around my feet.

Birds are simply way down. I talk to many farmers and others who work in the farm country and they sinply have seen next to nothing in the countryside.

may be some birds in other areas but not here.

Unless one can dream up some birds, it's very slim pickens here.

The farmers seem to always know what there is for wildlife and the birds are almost to nothing.

All thought I do agree with you the farmers know. In South Dakota we literally had to show the farmer our birds as he did NOT believe us when we said we limited out. He said they didn't see near the birds as normal.

With that being said numbers are down, they are still there, but yes way down. One thing I noticed this year was places that are proven spots to hold birds, did not hold the birds this year. I found more birds in grassland then I did in heavy cover and sloughs. Reason being flooded sloughs and low lying areas all year.

I know it made me change my tactics. I still hit those spots, but i look for other areas on high ground with decent cover and that is where I am finding birds, as well as scattered through out grassland.

[fishnhuntnboy]

Thanks for the info guys. Made it out today but when I got to the property it wasn't what I was expecting but still walked. Didn't see any. I'll be keeping at it till I find some!

[QueticoTim]

Not to start any wars here, but I've honestly decided to NOT hunt pheasants until I can get my population back up. I'm already designing new winter cover and food plots for next year. Maybe take the dog to a game farm to get him started, otherwise I would try to let the pheasants survive another winter without being shot at.

my two cents.

also, I have plenty of my own birds, so I don't have to worry about not finding wild birds! my dog doesn't know the difference.

There have been a few studies on this showing not hunting pheasants doesn't help populations. In fact in some cases you will actually get more pheasants the next year if you hunt the roosters. In tough years roosters are hard on the hens competing for cover. You lose a few hens to roosters in the winter and now your population plummets. Just like in the real world males just are not that important

Quite a few years back MN closed the pheasant season for 2-3 years to "get the population back up" didn't work. While Iowa left theirs open and I believe their bird numbers went up.

There is nothing wrong with waiting to hunt though. Just sharing info is all.

T

[herm]

Thanks for all the posts. I find them very interesting for two reasons. First, I'm only in my third full season of pheasant hunting. Second, this has been the best of those three seasons. I hunt only public lands and we have seen - and bagged - more birds than the previous 2 years. (I suspect that is due mostly to my dog really coming into her own.) Also of interest - we are hunting a lot of the same places as previous years - and most of those places have birds. The thing missing the most this season is other hunters. That's OK, though. (Of course, posting this will probably jinx the rest of the year....

[BobT]

We haven't been seeing many roosters but encouraging is the number of hens we've been flushing. Hopefully they will have a decent spring.

[chocolab]

just got back from sw mn, me and my two brothers. we got three birds, and missed a couple. bird numbers are down for the area than what we're used to but there are still birds there, just gotta work a little harder for them. the high winds today did not help us much either.