2014 Minnesota Rooster Reports

[bobberineyes]

The kid and I made it out on saturday west of hutch a ways in the dense fog. Hunted public land and saw quite a bit of pheasant tracks in the snow and not much for boot prints. Put 2 roosters in the air out of the cattails ( dropped 1 of the 2 but could'nt find it) god I hate that. Made our way into Meeker county and hit 1 more spot that looked promising but nothing.

[123fish]

Had a four man limit of eight on Friday and five this afternoon. Worthington area private land. Great weather for hunting. Pretty much no wind for the last three days. Unheard of around here. Cattails and the other types of thick cover is where they were. Put the hurt on a coyote today and shot a skunk on Friday.

[Arago]

I've been a rooster hunter for years, member of pheasants forever for years. Went out to the Jackson Minnesota area. Pathetic hunting. Our state needs to step up along with farmers to upgrade habitat period. Basically our duck and pheasant hunting has truly gone to hell. Absolutely awful. That is reality fellow hunters. We walked our butts off for two days in out of the way, sneaky cover and kicked up 2 hens and one rooster. Actually I am not sure who is to blame. Last years high corn prices, lack of foresight from us and lawmakers, constant drain-tiling, I just do not know.

I'm also a big time duck hunter. Once upon a time, I could limit out in no time at our hunting slough north of Park Rapids. Now I am lucky to see 3 groups of ducks flying high over the slough.

Fellow hunters, you better be worried and concerned. It's not going to get any better without some major changes and imagination. If you want to have a quality hunt you will need to do pay for play (not hunting) or spend big bucks and head west. And that has been getting worse by the year and is getting posted big time.

If you can't tell, I'm a bit disgusted. I spend dollars on PF & DU and nothing changes for the better. We seem to be a very short-sighted state in regards to our game. Just my opinion...

[CaptainMusky]

That is really surprising the lack of birds you saw. I'm not saying the population is as good as early 2000's but I have seen birds every time out and I rarely walk more than 3 hrs. Dealing with a young dog and hunter I keep my hunts short.

Last time we flushed 31 birds in 2 hours on public land. There are birds around but hunting midweek is best idea.

[Jmnhunter]

I've been trying new areas this fall, tried WNW of Alexandria and NW of Alex with enough flushes to keep things interesting, but this past saturday we tried West of Alex about 40 miles and ....wow... the worst I've done in MN in a long time. we flushed 2 birds all day, 1 rooster that got up about 100 yds early and 1 that my friend should have had. No hens at all which was very discouraging. there was some good habitat out there too on the WMA's, WPA's and WIA's we hit, although the pieces we hit had plenty of sign of people hitting it a few days prior, but even with the pressure, there should have been some hens out and about. very little tracks of birds too.

didn't see any other hunters driving around but they probably already knew about the area!

[CaptainMusky]

I had very similar results Friday. Hunted areas I had seen good numbers of birds around thanksgiving and flushed 1 rooster! That's it. Thankfully I dusted him but very surprised and disappointed.

Surprisingly the first two areas I had planned to hunt had hunters already. So I moved on and didn't actually hit an area until 930.

I just stepped foot into the field and a truck drives by and then hits the back end of this big Slough.

I think with this warm weather the birds are all spread out again.. Even the areas I did hunt there had been someone through them either that morning or day before.

I was so pumped with my pup on the bird we got. Perfect point, great flush, decent shot and folded him right up. My dog saw it drop and bolted after him. The bird was flopping and he tore after him. He was so excited as was I.

[smalliehunter]

I was also out yesterday on the only chunk of private land I can hunt in McLeod county. Saw tons of hens and 1 rooster. Dog had a perfect point and first shot out oF my new gun bagged a rooster. Didn't find birds in any obvious cover. They were scattered and in weird places, I think the weather has them all screwed up. I usually have the fields to myself by now but the nice weather is keeping most of the hunters, hunting. Which is kind of a bummer.

[herm]

Hit public close to home for a few hours Sunday afternoon with a buddy. Flushed 1 rooster wild, another I missed (although it was on edge of gun range , plus a few grouse. Heard others crowing in the fog. Weird. All in all, a decent trip for a high-pressure, late-season spot. Note to self: Go to the range regularly next summer!

[CaptainMusky]

Herm I've had the shooting issues too this year. :-)

Curious about the grouse. Were you in sauk rapids area? I ask because I live north of sartell and I had a ruffie in .y crab apple tree in October. Never saw one around here before. Pretty cool

[MattL]

I hunted west central MN with 5 other guys on Saturday. We found birds in the cattails on private land. Ended the day with 10 roosters. There were a lot of birds that flushed ahead of us, but the ones that held tight made for pretty easy shots when the dogs kicked them up nice and close.

[herm]

CaptainMusky, Yes. I've seen them on private and public land the past few years no farther than Little Falls.

[CodyDawg]

Time for the late season push to the end! Pretty good year so far considering what some have been seeing. Put up 25-30 on two different farms recently in about an hours hunt each. The keys that I have seen are areas with good nesting habitat have held good bird numbers.

[CodyDawg]

Got out Wed and today. Limits both days. Around Ortonville today we saw probably 150-200 birds. Man I love late season pheasant hunting!

[CodyDawg]

Jeez, am I the only 1 still hunting? 3+ (couple of guys just took part in one walk) guys today and got 4 plus a bonus ruffed grouse. So the last 3 times I have been out it has been really good. Gotta work for them as a good number are coming out of the cattails, but we are seeing good numbers and getting opportunities. Good shooting has helped, we figured out that we have shot 16 birds with the last 19 pulls of the trigger! Only 1 bird got away of the last 17 birds.

[smalliehunter]

Was out today in yellow med co. Saw plenty of action. Got one, and had another opportunity but just couldn't quite capitalize on it. Roosters were very jumpy lots of hens held tight. Fun day, I'll be out almost every day till the end

[CodyDawg]

keep us updated smallie! I wont get out that much, but should get out a time or two yet. I have one honey hole that is on my list!

[123fish]

Shot three today in a little over an hour after tracking them down after last night's three to four inch snowfall that didn't blow around. Could have jumped on two of them after tracking them to their little hidey holes. No dog at this time so the snow was a blessing.

[CodyDawg]

that is a great time to get out isn't it? We didn't get any snow, so I didn't get the chance. Well, that and I was busy with family stuff. Nothing like a rooster exploding out of the new snow!

[smalliehunter]

Got out today and had much different results. Saw lots of fresh tire and boot tracks.. and pheasant. Got plenty of action but only hens in range. Three hour drive round trip and no roosters stings a little, but any day you can hunt pheasants is a good day!

[grey ghost]

Was out today and bagged 1 rooster in public land cattails in about an hour. It was the only rooster seen but there were lots of hens. I've been out on private land in that last couple of weeks too and have bagged birds. They were bunched up and in willows or brushy cover.

[herm]

Finished my season today. Friend and I hit three spots and hunted each about an hour. Didn't see a bird. Brutal cold and wind, but, you know, I still had fun! Overall, this was my worst of the 5 years I've been chasing roosters on public land. I really struggled the last month on public lands. Saw lots of hens but very few roosters and even fewer in gun range. Is it just me? Before next season, I vow to spend time at the range. I owe it to my dog. Promise. How would you grade your season? I give mine a C. Would have been a B if I shot better.

[CaptainMusky]

Herm I'm right there with ya! I didn't get out near as much as I hoped but I had low expectations with a pup entering the season. I would grade his season a B-, mine a D+.

Saw birds and a good number of them almost every time out. Missed plenty of chances that I should have harvested more birds.

I will spend considerable more time with him in the field and at the range.

So far the wimpy winter we have hoped for is playing out. Hooefully the rest of it is similar.

[CodyDawg]

great question! I would give my early season a C. Didn't get out as much as I wanted to, didn't see a lot of birds, but enough to keep my interest up. Midseason I would give a B. Shot well except for a trip to ND I could have been better. Tons of birds out there, great time with good friends. Late season I would give an A-. Shot lights out, saw good numbers of birds considering the year and just had a bunch of really good quality hunts.

[bobberineyes]

I went into this season with low expectations, pup was a little under 6 months at the start and it was basically an exposure year for him. To my surprise we actually kicked up birds about every time out, pup went from walking at my heals to working out front so that was a plus. It was great to see birds on public land so I'm gonna give the birds a C. The pup has a ways to go yet but he deserves a strong C anyhow at this point. I'm going to have to give me a D, since my abilities to hit something were a smidge off this year.

[BLACKJACK]

I'd give the season a B+. The three year old lab came into her own, first year hunting by herself, she's just a joy to hunt behind, so happy and enthusiastic, she pops out of the cover, looks at me with a 'now what boss' look, I point my arm off toward the next patch of cover and off she goes. Beyond the enthusiasm she has the pheasants down also, when that tail starts going, I know to get the gun ready, a couple weeks ago I dropped a bird 30+ yards out on some thick cattails - and pretty soon she came back with it and dropped it at my feet!!! Swell!! 45 minutes and two miles later, I dropped another one deep into the cattails and she found it!!!

Beyond the happy dog work I was pleasantly surprised at the number of birds out there, had a few trips with two birds and one with three. Combine that with two trips to Dakota where birds were down but we still shot lots, some fairly decent shooting on my part, and I'd definitely give the season a strong B+. I'm bummed that its ending, going to make it out at least a couple of times before it ends on Sunday.