2011 Pheasant Hunting Season

[grey ghost]

Just got in from my 2nd solo hunt over the past 3 days. Bagged a total of 3 birds. One was a nice mature bird with a 23" tail and 9/16" spurs. The other 2 were this year's birds. They were all in thinner cover than they had been the couple weeks before. The great weather can stay through December if it wants to!

[Jameson]

Heard one today. One. Last year on the same deer stand it was nothing for me to see three roosters and a couple of hens in half the time.

[fivebucks]

Got one rooster (only one seen) and flushed 4 hens last Saturday in central/west MN in 4 hours of walking. I worked off that turkey and pumpkin pie at least and the bird tasted good on Sunday.

[Musky Buck]

Boy I was hoping when the crops came off this year we'd start seeing the usual amount of birds but that's not been the case, have yet to see a hen this fall, that's not good news, I usually see 10-20 per day driving the gravel to work and after work, this year it's a stretch to see a rooster a week, unfortunately. I don't hunt pheasants either however I've bought the stamp every year just because.

[no bait nate]

Took my dog out today with the snow falling and we had some fun. She got birdy instantly into the thicket. I had to hit my whistle a few times to get her to stay close and low and behold THREE roosters flushed about 30 yds ahead of us. They cackled and gave the whole show. I didn't shoot as my dog didn't flush them and wouldn't have know what was going on so we were off again. worked the field edge and then she goes on point hard. clicked the safety off and all but shouldered the gun as I was commanding her to get the bird. She gets up a rooster about 10 yds in front of me and I follow with three big holes in the sky around it. It made it to the neighbors property safely and is probably nested in tight for the night. Oh the look of disappointment from my dog was terrible. She did great today in the snow, I just wish I could have held up my end of the bargain... Hopefully this snow will bring more success for us soon.

[CASTnBLAST]

Man I love my e-collar,don't even carry a whistle anymore. Especially important on late season birds, money well spent!

[Arago]

Quit wasing my ecollar when dog was 4 or so. Shouldn't need a whistle or ecollar at some point with a dog. Whistle alerts any bird within a mile that your there.

[CASTnBLAST]

So your dog never starts hunting too far out? Hmmm, maybe it's because I hunt more than one dog together. I rarely have to shock my dogs just a reminder with the vibrate mode is enough to make them pay attention....priceless.

[Stringerless!]

Mille lacs area/ Grouse till 9. Never flushed a thing . Saw one rooster in ditch before 9. Flushed 2 hens out of cattails. Quit at 1. That was all we saw.

[CASTnBLAST]

Evansville north,fringe area for pheasants. 1st spot 3 hens,2nd 2 hens,last spot 4 hens and 1 rooster. Dogs did their job, I didn't.

[herm]

3 of us (and 2 dogs) hunted a couple of spots today. Flushed a half-dozen hens and one rooster. Took the collar for the first time in a long time. Also, saw more hunters today than any other Sunday this season. What's up with that? (I'm thinking 2-10 Vikings and not enough ice on the lakes...) Still, love being out there. Only a month left!

[IceHawk]

3 of us hunted west central mn yesterday we ended up with 5 saw a total of 7 roosters and 8 hens not a bad day. Nice to see a few hens havent saw very many this yr. This yr has been alright we are getting some birds but you have to work for them (walk a ton) thats for sure. We also noticed alot of hunters yesterday!

[Augusta]

3 of us (and 2 dogs) hunted a couple of spots today. Flushed a half-dozen hens and one rooster. Took the collar for the first time in a long time. Also, saw more hunters today than any other Sunday this season. What's up with that? (I'm thinking 2-10 Vikings and not enough ice on the lakes...) Still, love being out there. Only a month left!

Vikings poor season??..could be...it certainly couldn't be because of all this internet chatter about how everyone is seeing and taking pheasants lately....

[pureinsanity]

I got some new tires for my car a few weeks ago so I decided to head out in the am and see how it handled on some country back roads. To my surprise I saw 6 birds in one shelter belt and a half a dozen other birds scavenging in a field.

The only down fault was it was very close to a game farm so its hard to know if they were wild or pen raised. They did seem to run away as soon as i stopped instead of just starring at me.

They also had some good size to them. Lets hope they are wild!

[Farley]

We shot 4 yesterday in a few hours walking some RIM land and we also got out in the cattails on the duck slough. Saw a mix of hens and rudis , probably over a dozen or so total.

[grey ghost]

Saw 6 hens and 3 roosters today. All the hens held tight. Had 2 of the 3 roosters flush wild at the edge of my shooting range and the other held tight in some heavy cover for a nice point. Bagged that one on my only shot of the 2 hour hunt.

[MNpurple]

Got out for an hour yesterday morning to a small WMA after the three inches of fresh snow. I walked the edge of a standiong cornfield with not a track to be found so I headed into the cattails. The birds were still tucked in tightly from the night before. It doesn't get much better than seeing your lab dissapear under the snow covered cattails only seeing her head pop up on occasion and waiting for that rooster to explode through the snow. Saw 6 hens and 1 rooster. The rooster came home with us.

[Fatty07]

Hunted Sunday and got 5. Hunted today alone and got 3. All private land but the snow was really holding the birds tight. For the first time all year I jumped a covey of birds today. Must of been 10 or 12 birds came out of thicket. Was nice to see a group of birds for a change. Been hunting woody areas with lots of thickets. Dog comes home happy but with a bloody smile. Good luck.

[pureinsanity]

Hunted Sunday and got 5. Hunted today alone and got 3. All private land but the snow was really holding the birds tight. For the first time all year I jumped a covey of birds today. Must of been 10 or 12 birds came out of thicket. Was nice to see a group of birds for a change. Been hunting woody areas with lots of thickets. Dog comes home happy but with a bloody smile. Good luck.

This is why I love hunting in late december when the birds change their patterns. Easier to find where they are, but still harder to get to them! Congrats!

[tori's dad]

:)Hunting southern mn today and got four with a good buddy and our two labs- saw four and shot four- great to have the snow to bunch them up a bit but Wow- the last four yrs we would have had six no problem in the same areas with even a few misses out there- saw a decent number of birds picking out in the fields too along with many Turkey's and more deer than I saw all deer season- good day to be alive!

[djlong]

Went out north of Benson on Sunday and was dissapointed that all the snow melted. With the warm temperatures and wind I knew that I was in for a tough day. Hit a spot that I had seen a couple of roosters before and the dog was immediatly birdy. Tracked him for about 200 yards and he busted out for a long shot but I didn't lead him enough. Dog got birdy again a little after and tracked the bird for atleast 400 yards before he busted out about 100 yards out. Marked where he landed for later. Never put up another bird for the rest of the day. The dog was birdy a couple of times after but led me right to where private butts up to public so they were safe. I saw serval on the way out and on the way home had two roosters mock me by almost fly into my windshield while going past a public spot right after sunset. Atleast the year has been mild for them this year and there is hope for next. I will make it out one more time and hope for snow.

[pureinsanity]

In late season bird hunting it seems you always need a poster. They run and flush out the back as soon as they see or here you coming.

[djlong]

I hear you there pureinsanity. I could not wrangle up anyone to go with me so it was only the dog and I. I know that people get frustrated late but I love trying to outsmart the pressured birds. I had one yesterday that I tracked through the cattails and my dog circled back around me. I wanted to pull him off but I trust him so I followed. About 30 yards I came back upon my old tracks and noticed that there were pheasant tracks righ over my tracks in the little snow that was left that were not there before. I followed until I was in the open field and gave up due to the fact that I had no chance. Atleast I was able to get out when it snowed a while back and got to see an actuall point with a bird this late season.

[grey ghost]

I got out on sunday...saw two hens. Went out today and saw 20+ birds. 15 or so were grouped together and they got up as I was out of position...Bad planning on my part. Did get 3 hens pointed and 1 rooster which I bagged. All the points came after the dog had tracked the bird a while.

[CodyDawg]

A buddy and I went out today and got 5 in a couple of hours. one old bird with big spurs and a 22.5" tail and one from an early nesting this year that had a 23.5" tail. Plus a really, really young one. The calm day was fun to hunt in and they really, REALLY held tight. Lotsa points on hens and the rooster flushes were close. My brittany had one hen that she was pointing from about 8 inches!

[Brocster]

I went out Tuesday between Hutch and Litchfield for 4 hours with my little lab buddy and never kicked up a pheasant. Looked like great potential in the two areas we hunted. I am not sure if they were running or not, but the dog only got birdy once in a while, and not the tail wagging 5000 miles an hour birdy either. Dissaponted but awesome to get out anyways.

Going to give it one more shot this week, maybe in the Madison area.

Any luck happening in other parts of the state? I do have a Wisconsin license and am even considering heading that way.

[grey ghost]

Hunted this morning and saw plenty of birds. 90% of them were busting out of a large cattail slough. Had 5 hens and 1 rooster pointed in grass next to the slough. Bagged the rooster. The odd thing about the rooster was it had no spurs at all, not even a nub of a bump, but a 22 1/2" tail.

[Scott M]

It's selfish of me perhaps, but I could use some snow and cold because my late season spots are worthless right now. Was planning to do some hunting Christmas weekend in the mornings but it might be worthless. Hope there is enough ice to fish instead!

[Arago]

Your right. Lack of snow hurts for concentrating birds. Upside is, it's easier to get into fields....

[BLACKJACK]

I agree, 5-6 inches of snow would help!!! Upside is that the lack of snow will help the few birds that are left survive the winter. Still fun to get out and follow the dog around, was out Sunday morning, saw three birds, never fired my gun, but was still fun. Will be getting out at least a couple more times.