pheasants report

[hunter83]

Hows the Pheasants looking this year in mn?

[herm]

Terrible. There are no birds. Any. Where. Plus, the Vikings are undefeated ... So everyone should stay home all fall and watch the Vikes. I will sacrifice and go out and try hunting. But you should stay home. There are no birds. Anywhere. All fall. And winter.

[kevfish1]

Yep, I second what Herm said. Very poor pheasasnt numbers this year. Good year to do a little fall fishing.

[raymondk]

I hope everybody thinks the same way less hunters is always good .The numbers should be better than last year and last year wasn't really that bad.

[smalliehunter]

My dog had knee surgery so she won't be field ready till middle of november, but we will be out in full force once she can run all day! I saw allot of birds last year and hope this year is better

[Ryan_V]

Here it comes again, doom and gloom..... no pheasants, no pheasants, no pheasants... I second raymondk thoughts, and like herms thought! :-) The same thing was said last year about bird numbers and I had one of the best years I've ever had last year. That being said, I darn near wore out a pair of boots doing it. I put lots of time and miles in, and I found birds, all on public land. Yes it would be nice if there were more birds, but I'll take what I get. I love, Love, love to hunt birds, nothing better than being in the field. Too many guys want to go out, shoot their two birds, and go home to their coffee that's still warm. I had several times last year that I shot limits, but it took time and effort, i was able to try some different recipes, and got my daughter out hunting with me. I'll be out there, rain, shine, snow, hail every chance I get from opener until the bitter, cold end!! Can't wait for season to start!

[BobT]

Numbers do seem to be down around here but then this area is not what one would call a pheasant mecca. I've seen a few around though.

[NELS-BELLS]

2 years ago hunting public land in Central MN, I had one of the best seasons ever. Last year, I hunted the same public lands and hardly saw any birds. Maybe it was due to the types of crops around the properties, IDK. ...or maybe Herm shot em all.

This year I have been bow hunting on a couple of the public lands that I have shot birds on in the past, and I haven't seen or heard a single pheasant.

Nels

[westguy]

There is more than last year from what I've seen, but with all the corn standing yet might make things alittle difficult early on

[birdguy]

Hunted three farms this morning around the Cambridge area, didn't flush a single bird. Heard them calling though so we'll see what happens once the corn comes down?

[Billy G]

Kicked up 2 hens yesterday but never saw a rooster, good thing to see nowdays though!

[Pleasant]

was out Sunday with couple other guys and two dogs in the Fergus Falls area, seen birds but they were just "hopping" and running in the heavy cover and would not flush. I agree once they get more of the corn off it shall improve a lot.

[stretch]

went out sunday afternoon for a couple hours and found a crippled duck, picked up a bunch of garbage and shot one out on public land. so it wasn't too bad.

[22x]

Heading down to the Windom area for MEA....anyone been out or heard any reports from down there?

Am guessing many of the crops are still in, although beans may be coming out...

thanks!

[TylerS]

Bit of advice for anyone take the time, effort and financial wallop to travel to North Dakota for pheasants this year: Go as far west as you can, then go a bit further. Seriously, the SE corner of my grand state is a disheartening desert of black dirt and former grasslands. I've all but decided not to waste time in my past favorite areas, because the habitat is disappearing, getting posted or both.

I have two trips west this year, which is something I would have never dreamed of even just five years ago. I figure that for the amount of time, money and effort I would spend in SE ND normally, I could afford to actually get into some decent birds if I made a weekend trip out of the deal on the other side of the state.

It's a sad, sad state we're in. I hope something changes before I have to tell my son about "the good old days."

[Eric Wettschreck]

Just finished walking this with no dog.

Quite a few hens. Some may have been real young roosters. Hard to tell. 6 does. 2 small bucks. 1 rooster that scared the flippin tiddleys out of me when it got up. He'll be in the crock pot tonight

[harvey lee]

I did not go out, simply due to the fact the farmers I know have seen very few and I personally have seen very few birds since this past spring. I did talk to 4 different guys who went out, 1 guy got 2 total last weekend hunting for 2 days on their own farm. The other 3, well, I guess it was a nice day is the report I got.

There may be a few birds around but I have not seen them, I know, they are all hiding.

[CaptainMusky]

Lots of crops yet Harvey. Wait some time for the farmers to do their work and the less devout hunters get frustrated and have a bonanza end of November and December.

[CaptainMusky]

I am hoping to get out this weekend. Walked for a couple hours Saturday in an area I knew would be terrible because there were so many hunters already in the more "prime" spots. I didnt want to walk anywhere around other hunters with a young hunter and a pup. So we walked around, only flushed a woodcock, which got up in front of my son. By the time I saw it and say, hey, we can shoot those it was long gone. Those little buggers are fun to see though, so I would have held off anyway even if I saw it earlier.

I plan to head West this weekend. probably hunt a half day or so Saturday. Trying to slowly ease the pup into it. So far he is doing just fine, but I really want to get him in some birdier habitat to really guage him so far. At this point he is ranging FAR better than any pup I had on opening day so that is a definite plus. Now we just need the birds!!!

[Ryan_V]

Only spent a couple hours in the field this weekend due to the heat, but there are birds. A saw a few, put my first rooster in the freezer yesterday. I have a friend who has seen over a dozen, all public land, in a few hours of hunting. They are there, just have to work for them, they won't jump for you without some leg work. There was a late hatch as well in some parts of the state. All the corn in will make for some good late season hunting! Feels great to be out there again, birds or no birds, I still love it! Once the weather cools and my dog won't be in danger of overheating, I plan on hunting 4-5 days/week until season is over. I have public land close enough to sneak out after work for an hour or 2 during the week. Love love love pheasant hunting! I'm in my happy place! Yipppeeeeeee

[Billy G]

Walked from 9 to 11 this morning and tried 3 different spots, never saw anything. I did hear what sounded like a pheasant or 2 in some trees but I couldn't get to them threw all of the thick bushes and trees. The last half an hour of shooting time has shown the most pheasants to me so far.

[brittman]

I did not go out, simply due to the fact the farmers I know have seen very few and I personally have seen very few birds since this past spring. I did talk to 4 different guys who went out, 1 guy got 2 total last weekend hunting for 2 days on their own farm. The other 3, well, I guess it was a nice day is the report I got.

There may be a few birds around but I have not seen them, I know, they are all hiding.

You had the same comments last year. Not sure about the year before.

Had a very solid season last year and expect similar this year. Average was over 1.2 birds per hunter per day (nearly all public land). Probably walking just 3 hours per day when you include 9AM start and 6:30 close and driving between spots.

Dogs and I averaged almost 1.9 birds per day when I was the only one hunting with them in Minnesota.

Note also I no longer bother with opening weekend.

[brittman]

the SE corner of my grand state is a disheartening desert of black dirt and former grasslands. I've all but decided not to waste time in my past favorite areas, because the habitat is disappearing, getting posted or both.

It's a sad, sad state we're in. I hope something changes before I have to tell my son about "the good old days."

Well pre CRP I lived in SE ND and was killing two bird limits on a somewhat regular basis once we were a few years behind the winters of '77 - '79. All this in SE ND. Smaller groups of 1 - 3 hunters are best behind a good dog.

[ETH310]

Well pre CRP I lived in SE ND and was killing two bird limits on a somewhat regular basis once we were a few years behind the winters of '77 - '79. All this in SE ND. Smaller groups of 1 - 3 hunters are best behind a good dog.

Does the landscape in the late 70's compare to the landscape today? Was every low area tiled, every field plowed ditch to ditch, and ditches mowed like a fairway? Honest questions, I was born in 78, so I don't know, but I'm guessing you're comparing apples to oranges.

[brittman]

Actually this area is maybe even worse for pheasants since much of the protected upland is now flooded under water. Some Federal WPAs located in this part of ND are now large wetlands ... 30 years ago they were dry, but good pheasant habitat.

Drain tile continues to go into the better land, but there is a TON of water around that was not there 30 years ago.

IN MN, much of the drain tile runs to large ditches (so big they have names or numbers and are shown on maps) which runs to creeks and rivers. The water is removed from the township, county, state?

In ND, much of the drain tile runs to smaller ditches that run into wetlands and make them bigger ... The water is moved to the lowest part of the section.

[R. Miller]

Had my best year last year despite down roadside counts. Seeing quite a few birds again this year, seems a little down from last year in western and southern MN where I've hunted. Seeing many really young birds the last two weekends with the late hatch. My setter pointed a group of 6 on a WPA last Saturday that could hardly fly.

Brittman, had a couple questions regarding your Brittany. Can I PM you?

[bottomdweller]

Got back monday night from western n.d and we filled out for four days of hunting. We had to hunt most of the day to get them but thats what makes it great for me. Lots of birds, found most of them by grain or buck berry brush.