pheasants in Windom area

[CraigM]

Wondering what kind of luck people have been having in the Windom area. I have been hunting that area a few weekends and the roosters have been hard to come by. Probably because my pup is just learning the ropes and I have been hunting alone. Have seen plenty of hens but those wiley roosters either flush 150yds out or sit so tight that you have to practically step on them to find em. Hunting mostly public lands and I know they get hit hard but after the reports of high bird numbers, my hopes were a lot higher. My pup sure is coming around though. Last Sunday she pinned a running rooster for me after re-locating 5 times. Cool stuff.

[LuciandTim]

Hunted that area one day this year. Saw about fifty birds with the ratio about 50/50. The birds were extremely jumpy!

[Tetz]

Windom/Talcot area has been great this season. Private land is key to seeing large numbers of birds. Was down Fri., Sat., and Sun., and got into several fields with 50+ flushes not uncommon. Birds were jumpy on Friday with the high wind, but Sat. and Sun. were holding very tight. I too have a 1.5 year old female Pointer who is getting some great experience this year. She has started pinning birds and is ROCK solid on point...still struggling with runners, but that will come. My expectations are high as I have a 12 yr old male that I have hunted over since a pup--had to retire him earlier than I had planned due to bone cancer...He's finishing out his days in the house--sleeping with the kids...which he doesn't seem to mind...SUCKS seeing such a good dog/friend go downhill so fast! We had some great times together over the years.....

[CraigM]

Tetz, I know what you mean about private land. I have a friend that farms 3000 acres around Windom. Trouble is, he's like most farmers these days and maybe has a total of 50 acres that is not tilled. Not much cover. It's also difficult to identify who to ask for permission these days as so many of the homesteads are rented out or the fields are leased out to other farmers. There is a ton of public land but it gets hit hard or is so expansive it's hard for a lone guy to put up birds. They just run around you if the pup doesn't happen to catch the scent. Also, sorry to hear about your dog. We had to put our Golden down last winter because of cancer. Good luck.

[Tetz]

CraigM...this was from a small (20 acre) spot along a lake on Saturday afternoon. We were done in 20 minutes--and kicked 5 more roosters up on the way out. Can't beat that action--hunted 4 days total and we bagged quite a few roosters--must have seen 2-300 birds over the weekend out scratching, etc...

[CraigM]

Looks like you had a good hunt. I was down last weekend also and did get 2 birds on Sunday. Saw a ton of birds but it was tough to get close. May try again next weekend, it's not supposed to be quite so cold.

[OUTDOORNUT]

Nice work on the birds!

A very nice pic too!

[Tetz]

Sunday was a strange day.....Saturday birds were holding great, Sunday they were VERY jumpy, then Monday and Tuesday they were holding tight again....First day of a cold snap? Don't know why they were so jumpy just the one day. Also, no birds cackling all weekend. Never heard a peep from any roosters until Tuesday. I've kept a journal for 10 years now trying to figure out when/why they cackle certain days (weather, etc...) and have seen NO patterns develop. Anyone have any insight????? Sure seems to be more fun knocking them down when they're lippin' off!!!

JT