how far west for pheasants

[bucktailsam]

I am thinking about hunting some of the wma's in the south central Mn area this weekend for pheasants. Just wondering how far west do you need to travel to find a decent number of birds on public land?

[2thepointsetters]

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/outdoor_activities/hunting/pheasant/prospectsmap.pdf

use the link and a DNR map that has the WMA's on it and start from there. Start looking for WMA's in the brown area's.

Thats what I am doing this Thursday and Friday. I am tired of hunting the same land over and over so I am putting the dog in the truck and taking off for two or three days to see what I find. Most WMA's should have birds on them. Look for WMA's near harvested fields for best luck.

[brittman]

Depending on how long you have been reading internet message boards - you will eventually come across the term internet scouting. While your request is sincere, it will be read by many, many others.

Some sites will actually edit posts to remove town and county names.

That said, the posted reply above is great. Buy a map book and get out there and explore. You may not get limits, but you will likely find some places that you will want to return to. Plenty of birds in the "red" area too.

I try to make one or two trips per year to "new" areas.

[LovenLifeGuy]

I agree about trying new areas. I went out today and hunted two areas I never hunted before. I looked for some woods to help block the wind. I only saw two birds which were roosters. I shot both but lost one that sailed a long ways into a slough. I have found birds in areas that I have never seen in past years. Get out and try it

Good luck, LovenLifeGuy

[stayman79]

bucktailsam- I'll give you my opinion without spoiling any secrets. For public land I've hunted, 1.5 hours west of the metro can be decent, 3 hours west is better. Public land closer than 1 hour has been pounded (even more than the stuff farther west) and you could walk all day without seeing a rooster. That's my experience. If you look at a map that leaves it pretty wide open, but head to an area with a good number of public areas and check them out. The DNR roadside count map gives you an idea where the numbers should be the greatest (but everyone else has seen that too) and the MN Gazeteer is a great map book that lists the state public hunting areas and all of the roads to get there.

Good luck!