Last go around for pheasants!!!

[BLACKJACK]

Season closes on Sunday, Jan. 4, whos all going to make it out one last time? Think I'll make it out for a long hike and hunt tomorrow, hopefully round up a bird or two, then out of town for the weekend

[chub]

Was out yesterday on a death march in a blizzard

Walked about a mile down a Min Maint road through knee deep snow to get back into a WPA. Saw tons of birds though most got up 200+ yds ahead. We choked on our two decent chances. Heading back out in a little while to see if I'm in any better shape than I was yesterday.......LOL

[chub]

Well?

Yesterday, put up a bunch of hens. No Cocks. Did manage to fall through the ice though

Went out today and got into a bunch of birds. Two of us managed 5 and saw a ton more that got out too far ahead. Got a little breezy this afternoon... .

[Dave S]

I'll be heading out for the last HURRAH tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get some chaces between 2 hunters and 3 dogs.

[JConrad]

I was out today for 2 hours in the field. My girl put up 5 hens and 1 rooster.. The rooster was the last bird and he came up in the trees.. When I missed, my Griff looked at me with her big eyes and basically said what's with you missing that bird. What can I say!

It was pretty tough going with the snow up to my knees and above. All birds held very tight and with the soft snow it was very quiet hunting which I really like. Sorry to see the season comning to an end.

I sure hope the rest of the winter is a bit easier on the wild life. We don't need much more snow...

[fivebucks]

Went out for my last hunt on New Year's day. Man was it windy in the afternoon. I hunted 2 till sunset hitting several small spots with only a few hen flushes. I hit some state land last and got 2 roosters, 1 easy shot in the cattails and 1 tough shot thru the trees. I flushed another 6 hens to close out the final 20 minutes but no more roosters. It was a fun afternoon. I was in the mood for a solo hunt and a workout. The charlie horse in my thigh last night let me know I got the workout. A very nice end to a very fun pheasant season.

[2 DA GILLS]

I will be making one last trip tomorrow or Sunday. I made it out Monday and Wednesday, and saw lots of birds. Wednesday was fun with the temp at - 11 F when I started hunting. The hens held the best (of course), but managed one rooster each day. Monday I had shots at 4 additional roosters, but the wind must of messed up my shots (that's my story).

The crusted snow conditions were tough on the dog and he needed a few days rest. I am hoping he is ready tomorrow and we will make one final attempt at those late season birds.

[chub]

Pounded her hard again today. Saw quite a few, but most wanted out about half a mile ahead of us. Stumbled upon one that decided to wait too long, and paid the price.

I don't think I've fallen through the ice all year, up until last week. Now every time out I seem to go "wading"....LOL

[Dave S]

I was out today also. Saw no less than 150 birds in one slough. There was standing corn near by so I think that was part of the reason.

I'll repeat what others have said about the spooky birds. Had a flock get up a half mile away.

One thing that helped was to stand one hunter in an area and the other walk the edge and push the cattails to him.

We managed to get 2 birds on the day. Was very impressed to see flocks of birds that large right here in MN.

[brittman]

Make sense to see larger flocks because even in many prime MN pheasant areas top winter (extreme winter) cover is often spread out to one or two areas per township.

Glad to see some pheasants are smart enough to move around and locate better cover than sitting in some snowed in tree belt and die.

[Dave S]

the area we were in has a high concentration of sloughs, cornfields (still standing) and tree lines (evergreens).

[tybo]

I was out today and if I had shot better I would have had my limit in half an hour. I winged one but it flew into some private land, nobody was home to ask to look for it. I was hunting some nice public land that is exclusively planted native prairie grass. I'll be back there tomorrow if we don't get too much snow tonight. They'll be back in there since it's the only roosting cover around.

If anyone ever had any doubts about how important habitat is they should have been with me today. The native grasses are the only cover the birds have in this area. I was out by myself and my English Setter and my buddies GSP, he's out of town. I had several points, some were hens, and moved at least 25 maybe 30 birds. I would be willing to bet lots of people wouldn't even think of hunting this cover. Most people would be in the cattails with good reason but there's little water in this area so this cover is perfect. I was really disappointed in my shooting but it was fun to see lots of hens and roosters this late int he year.

There were tracks everywhere in the snow and most of them lead to birds. Most got up way out of range but as I stated earlier it was nice seeing lots of roosters and hens this late in the year. It would have been nice to connect as the birds looked to be HUGE. You could see where they were eating seeds from the grasses and roosting in them. It was really cool and really fun.

[DuckDog]

I went out today in the nice wind and cold. Was driving around looking for some new area (since I have so much time) and saw a nice area. Looked in the ditch and saw a dead rooster - figured it was a good place to hunt.

Looked at the bird - frozen solid - no blood that I could see - and it looked like it did a nose dive into a snow bank.

Anyways, 30 feet in and my dog flushes a hen. 20 feet more and I got a double. An hour later in catails finished off. The lab was excellent - and sleeping nicely as I write this.

[123fish]

Made it out today for the last hurrah. Went to the giant cattail slough that has been so good to us before. My brother and I shot five in two hours of hunting. The first bird I shot was one of those where you get the last three inches of wingtip and the bird is already running in the air before it comes down. Got a mark on it and got the dog in the general area and just stood back. It took her a little bit to get the direction it had took off in and then she was off. This slough is a quarter mile wide and a mile and a half long. It was getting a little scary after close to ten minutes when we had no idea where she was. Shortly after here she came with the bird in tow. Great start! She made two more nice cripple retrieves before we finally anchored the last two. Good ending to a real nice season.

[BLACKJACK]

Was out of town for the weekend but made it out on New Year's day. The pheasants were spooky, the first cattail slough they were all getting up way ahead. After a long slog thru the snow I was huning some willows when one of my labs doubled back with that intensity that said 'bird RIGHT HERE'. Even with the heads up, I missed it, shooting thru the willows. *&^%##!! Reloaded, hadn't gone 20 yards and heard wings, saw the bird at 35 yards quartering away, missed!!! Not an easy shot but I've made that shot before.... Hunted another hour, saw a few more birds, season over.

Was another good season, the older I get, the more I appreciate it!! Looks like with the way the winter is shaping up, it could be slow next year, so we better appreciate it.

[ETH310]

I'm already dreaming of Oct. 09. Only 9 more months.