PHEASANT OPENER REPORTS

[R. Miller]

7 guys...8 birds on Saturday. Not too bad, but I agree with the person above. Lac Qui Parle County does not have the birds it did say in '03 to '05, '06.

Lots of hunters though!

[grab the net]

Five guys, 1 dog, 5 birds on saturday, 2 birds on Sunday. Saw aobut the number of birds I expected, could have shot a little better. I would agree it did not seem as though there were many guys driving around. The people that sat on the WMA's and WPA's all day, well can't really blame them for that, its not like there was anywhere else to go. Varied sucess on guys I talked to here in central MN. If hunting private, some groups limited in a couple hours, on public some limits but more of often, a couple short. Lots of opportunities. Lots of corn left, and very wet compared to last few years. I am guessing the guys who are posting especially the ones who are posting on sunday are giving totals for two days, that is why it may appear they overlimited for one day. Just my theory, I tend to look at the date posted.

[R. Miller]

Net,

Speaking of wet weather...I took a few days off at the end of this week to hunt pheasants in western MN...not they're talking more rain and T showers! That's been the story of most every weekend out there is fall for me...I can't remember that last fall that was this wet?

[BobT]

Last year for the pheasant opener I went out and walked through the grassy draws on my own property. I flushed a few birds and missed one. Hunting alone without a dog, I felt it was a successful day afield. As I was finishing my trip around my property I noticed a white suburban drive up and slowly move along the road bordering my property line. I figured it was other hunters watching to see if I was having any luck flushing pheasants so I didn’t give it too much thought. Eventually they decided to drive in and ask for permission to hunt my land as they had recently flushed a few birds from the WPA that bordered my property, which landed on my property. I agreed and then I asked them if they minded that I tag along and so the three of us and their yellow lab took a walk through my property. By the time the trip ended we had flushed a fair number of birds, picked up a few, and I met some very pleasant fellows. It was now truly a successful day of hunting.

This year, about a week before season, Len stopped in to see if I would be interested in joining them for the pheasant opener. I wasn’t home at the time but my wife mentioned that they had a nice half-hour visit. I called Len back and accepted his invite. That same evening I talked with my brother-in-law from Cloquet and invited him and his son to join us for what I predicted would be one of the best opportunities for good pheasant hunting this area could offer due to the number of birds I had been seeing in the area so they too joined us on Saturday.

We started the day working on a large WMA located about 1/2 mile from my home and things started out rather quiet compared to what I had expected. We flushed a few birds but no takers. Then we proceeded onto my land. In the next hour or so we flushed well over 30 birds and brought 5 roosters to the dinner table. After this we took a break, shared some sandwiches Len and Paul brought and chili that my wife had prepared the night before when she got home from work at 2:00am.

After lunch we decided to give the other half of my 87 acres a try. We flushed another dozen or so birds and brought 2 more home. By this time, Len was beginning to feel plenty wore out so we decided to call it a day. At 78 I hope I have half the stamina and physical conditioning he has. We spent another hour or so in good conversation and enjoyed some fresh warm apple strudel my wife made from some of the apples Len had brought us that morning.

Yup, it was a very successful pheasant opener. Thanks, Len and Paul. You’re welcome to come back any time.

Bob

[SDbowhunter]

Sat - 10 guys, 3 dogs, 19 Roosters. We lost 5 that the dogs could not pick up a trail on. It was the first season for one dog, my dog's second season, and the other dogs 4th or 5th Season. The dogs couldnt find any of the running birds and we spent a fair amount of time looking for them. It must have had something to do with being so dry and the fact the entire Walk in Areas must have reaked like pheasent. Sun - 4 guys 3 dogs 2 Roosters and a Sharptail.

[fishwithteeth]

If you have ever thought about pheasant hunting this is the year to do it!!! There were birds everywhere It's not quite SD but it was better than IA last year (at least for me). My wife and I and 1 dog had 5 birds through noon Sunday. Quit early because she was wet and I have a nasty cold. I have no doubt we could have shot a limit of birds. It's amazing how mild winters, dry springs, and a bunch of CRP helps the pheasant population. We hunted all public land in SW MN.

[trackerbrent]

I also hunted the Osakis area on Sunday only. I have very limited experience hunting pheasants and all I can say is WOW! I really only started hunting them 2 years ago and hunt mostly public land with rare success, my lab is worthless after about 2 hours of hunting.

Anyways, yesterday we had 3 dogs, 3 guys, only ended up with 3. All on private land. We got up about 15 birds in the 2 hours we hunted. Many, many missed shots. Only 4 we flushed were hens. We should have had our 6 birds in about an hour if we could shoot better. Great number of birds.

[jigging-matt]

Hunted Willamr Area. Saturday 4 Guys three dogs, 2 roosters, lots of missed. Sencond day 5 guys two dogs, (my 8 1/2 month old britt and a 12+ year old golden) 6 roosters. Saw lots of birds. Here is the six from Sun.

[KatoMike]

5 guys and one dog - 10 roosters by 10:04 around Mankato. Great hunting!

[grab the net]

Whoops!!! Wait a minute, I take that back about the posting time. It looks like he didn't jump a bird on Sunday, maybe an overlimit or cripples that did not get put in the bag. My mistake, should have read it a little closer the first time.

[dogs]

Lawdog settle down that is in 2 days. I never jumped a rooster Sun the 2 others shot 4, and the kid is hunting. No cripples.

[Heidi]

8 of us filled out near Morris Saturday. Reminded me of

South Dakota hunting. Big flocks of birds leaving roosting

areas and into the corn. The weeks to come will be good also

because the corn is disappearing fast. So many birds and so

little time is a problem for me now.

[fivebucks]

Worked Sat. and Sunday morning. Went out Sunday afternoon and flushed about a dozen birds of which 3 were roosters and I got 2 of them all in about an hour and a half on public land. I think the Vikes game and threat of rain kept people away as I hardly saw anyone else out when normally it would be a sea of orange. Dog worked great!

[reddog]

I'm glad Minnesota has birds this year, because the outlook for Iowa is dim, at least here. NW.

I think I'll go buy me a MN license so I can work the dog a little before Iowa opens up and I head to SD.

BobT, Great post!. Thats what its all about!

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[uplander]

That last picture rules, reddog Did that rooster get the 6's right after that photo? Either way it's still an awesome photo......Got the ultimate point today while out chasing pheasants near my house. My 4 year old setter went on a hard point and I moved in expecting a rooster! What I got was a hen turkey busting out from under cover and just running off. Luckily it was on the other side of a deadfall so the dog never saw her leave and just stayed on point till I released him. Oh well 1 1/2 hrs no roosters one hen turkey pointed......just when you think you've seen it all.........go get em..uplander

[reddog]

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That last picture rules, reddog Did that rooster get the 6's right after that photo? Either way it's still an awesome photo......Got the ultimate point today while out chasing pheasants near my house. My 4 year old setter went on a hard point and I moved in expecting a rooster! What I got was a hen turkey busting out from under cover and just running off. Luckily it was on the other side of a deadfall so the dog never saw her leave and just stayed on point till I released him. Oh well 1 1/2 hrs no roosters one hen turkey pointed......just when you think you've seen it all.........go get em..uplander

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Uplander,

Nope, that fez didnt get a load of 6s. Just workin the dog.

My English pointer pointed a jake turkey one time several years ago. When he ran out of the cover, the dog was on him. Ended up with a heck of a mess.

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My old lab aint a very classy pointer, but if the bird holds, so does he.

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[Stratos]

Missed opening weekend. Went out Tuesday Night 3 people 2 dogs 5 birds in a hour and a half. Missed two. saw close to 20 birds in that hour and a half. We can thank the mild winters,CRP. But we must thank the good lord for what we are seeing now. I did not think I would ever see this many birds around in my life time. Lets hope for another good winter.

[mr_jman]

GREAT OPENER! I walk out my front door and walk about 50 feet to hunt pheasants! South of St. James! Private area, crops were out on both sides!

Too bad I'm in college at Bemidji and don't get to take advantage of it like I used to!

I went out by myself with the 2 labs and kicked up about 15 birds (10 roosters) Got my first one with the first shot, then it took about 5 more roosters before I was able to take my second. Saw more while walking back to the house. Beautiful weather as well!

Sunday the weather went south but still had to go out before heading to Bemidji. Saw another 10+ birds but most got up way ahead of me and my dad. I did manage to get one close enough and got it on one shot! Lots of birds running around out there. Many young ones though!

Got 3 over the weekend. Good Start - hope to take a few more around deer hunting!

[2thepointsetters]

I am amazed at how some hunters that post on here measure a good day of pheasant hunting by how fast they get a limit. Its seems like they brag about getting a limit in an hour or two. My hunting partners and I drive 600 miles round trip from my house just to hunt pheasants and if we got our limit in an hour or two I would be very dissapointed in the short time spent chasing the birds I wait all year to hunt.

I think a good day is measured by how well the dogs run, spending time with friends, laughing at the easy shots missed, etc. If we dont get a limit or even a bird we still consider it a great day hunting. Maybe people just hunt for different reasons? But if they dont get a limit its not a good day hunting? I am just curious more than anything and not bashing anyone.

[BobT]

I think what you are referring to goes without saying. In other words, just about anyone on this site feels the same way you do but it comes down to the reference being compared to. We all feel just being out is a good day so now we are comparing our good day against that reference, that's all.

Bob

[First Ice-Mike]

I think hunting is always more fun if you're shooting something. I don't think anyone goes pheasant hunting without the intention of shooting pheasants. I've been eating pheasant all week from all the fun I had last weekend!! If I have my limit early it just means I can get some fishing in or watch the Vikes. I don't believe anyone that says hunting all day and not shooting a bird is just as much fun and hunting and taking some birds. I think its exciting to hear about all the great reports!! There is nothing wrong with a little bragging!

FI

[brassman]

Saturday; 7 guys 14 birds.

Sunday; not too bad but I recall didn't fill out.

Monday night; super wet, 6 roosters for 3 guys, one hen mallard by me

Tuesday; 3 birds 3 guys.

I shot 8 birds over the 4 days. ( young hunter in the group had his x-full choke in accidentally so I got his limit too I also hit more but didn't claim them due to multiple shots.) I saw a ton of birds, many flushed 100+ yards out, still lots of corn out, messed up plans. rain didn't help any with that. did I say lots of birds? just didn't cooperate but fun time all in all.

Here is what the main property I hunt looks like.

we don't work too hard for our birds, we actually watch them come out of the corn into the grass and sloughs and then go push them.

this is what was messing up our plans and kept the birds tied up, not all of them though.

not a bad morning for 7 guys, we filled out shortly afterwards.

did I mention it was wet? still got birds though.

[BobT]

Let's be honest. To the hunter that has never experienced an exceptional year, an average year might seem like a great year but to the hunter that has never experienced anything but exceptional years, an average year would seem like a waste of time.

I started deer hunting during the deer drought of the 1970s. It was so bad there wasn’t even a season in 1971 due to the low deer population. I was 23 years old and hunted for 10 seasons before I finally bagged my first deer and in all those years prior I had shot at a deer only once. Today, I see more deer in one season than I did during that entire first 10 years. Hunter success rate since 1990 has been phenomenal, consistently hovering from 35% – 40% compared to 19% in 1975.

One point is that as with any statistics, the numbers can be skewed depending on their source such as length of season, seasons available, and multiple licenses purchased but nonetheless there are many more deer taken today for whatever reason.

Anyone that started hunting during the 1990s has never experienced the kind of hunting we had 30 years ago and if we took that person back in time to 1975 they would likely feel they had a bad year because they probably wouldn’t see a white tail much less an entire deer. I on the other hand hadn't experienced a great year for the first 10 so seeing a deer was a lot more exciting than it is today.

Last year our 12-year old daughter, on her first ever deer hunt, took a nice 8-pointer within 1/2 hour of the opening bell. Two hours later my nephew downs a beautiful 10-pointer and a week later my brother drops an 11-pointer all from stands within a 100 yard radius. How do you top that if your goal is merely to take deer? I’m concerned that it may have spoiled her for life so my goal now is to show her that deer hunting is more than just the kill. On the other hand, isn’t that the main reason we are really out there?

We hunt because we enjoy the outdoors, the camaraderie, the experience. This is true, but we don’t have to be hunting to experience these things. We can walk our dogs, watch wildlife, smell and pick flowers, and see the forest any time of the year. If we found ourselves hunting year after year without ever seeing our target game, we would soon get tired of carrying that rifle around. Put it this way, how often do we go hunting without carrying our weapons? Why don’t we hunt wild pheasants in St. Louis, Lake, or Cook County or moose in Douglas, Tood, or Stearns county? Nope, we hunt for one primary reason – to experience the thrill of the hunt and hopefully get the prize. All the other stuff is secondary.

That’s why we gauge success by our limit. Everything we do is building up for that climactic final moment when we can squeeze that trigger. That is not to say that we don’t enjoy the process for that too is very enjoyable.

Bob

[tipup]

ok so it is not opener anymore but here is a report anyways from the second Sunday of pheasant hunting. Took my new 5 mth old pup to the Windom area on so private land. It was a bit windy but none the less I ened up with my limit. we saw a total of 9 hens and three rosters. My pup did awsome! The first few birds she pretty much flushed but after she got a smell of the first rooster I put on the ground it was like switch in her was turned on. For the rest of the day it was nose down and all about the birds. Anthow I am very happy and cant wait to get her out again. Good hunting to all.

[LuciandTim]

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I am amazed at how some hunters that post on here measure a good day of pheasant hunting by how fast they get a limit. Its seems like they brag about getting a limit in an hour or two.

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I just wanted to comment on this.

I'll be 30 this fall and have been hunting pheasants since before I could carry my own gun..so a long time. I have hunted in SD and Iowa and MN all my life. For the past 20+ years I have been working my butt off here in Minnesota just to see a few birds. These last few years have been awesome! Last opener 4 of us finished our opening day with a limit of birds around 4 o'clock. After that we sat and grilled a few brats and watched the birds pour out of the corn and into the field that we had just finished in. What a great feeling! I have actually been waiting for this since the day I was born I imagine that most others have been waiting for something like this as well. Sure, a good long day in the field is hard to beat but we have to enjoy this while it is happening becasue all it is going to take is some bad luck on Mother natures part and it will be back to the good or not so good 'ol days

A limit doesn't happen every day but it is sure nice to have the chance.

In the chair with his back to to us is your very own BDR.