Upland forecast

[Bob Peters]

I thought of this thread after seeing one over on the Kansas page with the same name! Don't go over there if you can help it, all doom and gloom. There are a lot of valid points, mainly that Kansas has seen a huge decrease in bird hunting due to drought, ag practices, and loss of door knocking opportunities due to deer leases.

But on to Minnesota, the focus of this thread. I did a little preseason scouting and some of the old standby spots are looking really good. I've seen broods out scampering around, heard lots of roosters squawking, etc. One thing that is oft brought up when it comes to decreasing hunter numbers is having a place to hunt, which I totally understand. Since I've gotten into chasing pheasants, it seems I find a few new places every year. I was at a wedding last weekend and got permission on multiple private places. Not giant blocks of crp, but fencerows, pockets of lowground, small sloughs etc. The place where a lone hunter can hopefully pick up a few birds. Also, and probably more important, I've seen new permanent public hunting spots come in to the areas I hunt in MN. WMAs not walk in. I never hunted in the glory days, whenever those were. I'm used to pounding the ground and burning boot leather to get a couple opportunities every day. I realize the challenges that the wild pheasant faces in this modern day and due what little I can to help them and promote the idea to others. I think this year will be a good one for pheasant hunting here in the land of 10,000 lakes.

 

[Glock]

I agree it’s looking to be a good season. Might be a little damp on Saturday morning but wild horses aren’t keeping me away!

 

[BRITTMAN]

MN has decent public hunting land across the WMA, WIA, and WPAs. That is what differentiates MN from other states.

Minnesotans should also be thankful that a lot and I mean a lot of diehard pheasant hunters head to SD, ND, MT, and other states during prime time in MN. This significantly reduces overall hunting pressure in MN

Private land in MN can be phenomenal. For those of you who have had the privilege of hunting MN private land ... enjoy it while it lasts. Unless it is family land with a future title in your name ... it may not be there tomorrow, next year, or sometime in the future.

 

[BRITTMAN]

If I remember right 2007 was a very good year.

I have only really lived in MN since 1994. I believe I have killed pheasants in (about) 20 MN counties - maybe a few more than that.

 

[BRITTMAN]

Let me add that Kansas was right up there with SD and Iowa some 20 - 30 years ago and even much further back in time. Good access, limits of 4 roosters, etc... I can see why experienced KS hunters have a little bitter taste in their mouths.

A long time ago - KS did NOT allow nonresidents to hunt whitetails. As that changed ... Nonresidents began to pay BIG $$$ to hunt trophy whitetails. This in turn closed huge tracks of land to upland game hunters as deer leases took over the state.

 

[gimruis]

Not giant blocks of crp, but fencerows, pockets of lowground, small sloughs etc. The place where a lone hunter can hopefully pick up a few birds.

That's the exact type of habitat I've hunted for 25 years now in Central MN. I knock on doors and ask for permission. The number of other hunters I've seen during that span can be counted on one hand. Its not the traditional flat, rolling prairie that you think of when you think of upland habitat. I hunt it when conditions are ideal, and I don't have to worry about it getting pounded by other hunters either. Certainly anyone could hunt it that receives permission, but apparently very few hunters are willing to go that route. I do the exact same thing in the spring for turkeys. The positive about hunting small parcels rather than big fields is that the landscape is generally not at the mercy of modern agriculture like it can be further west.

If I remember right 2007 was a very good year.

2006 and 2007 were the two best pheasant seasons I ever experienced. Between me and 4 other people who I hunted with regularly, we bagged 167 roosters in 2006 and 202 in 2007. This was hunting in Central MN no less. My Grandpa had just retired and he went a lot by himself those two seasons during the last hour of the day. He also had permission at everyone's property because he was a crop insurance agent. He probably accounted for half of all those roosters those two seasons.

I don't think MN is going to turn into the next Kansas or Iowa. Some of western and southern MN might, but as you go further north and east, the landscape is just not inducive enough because there's more timber and less open ground.

As for this upcoming season, I'll say about average. Where I hunt further north, December can have a lot of snow and it makes for extremely tough walking. The second half of December last season was very tough because of deep snow. I look for standing fields of corn when that happens.

There is a lot of deer talk on here lately. What people may not understand is that the deer is king everywhere now, except for maybe South Dakota. That is just the reality nowadays.

 

[Bilbo Baggins]

Let me add that Kansas was right up there with SD and Iowa some 20 - 30 years ago and even much further back in time. Good access, limits of 4 roosters, etc... I can see why experienced KS hunters have a little bitter taste in their mouths.

A long time ago - KS did NOT allow nonresidents to hunt whitetails. As that changed ... Nonresidents began to pay BIG $$$ to hunt trophy whitetails. This in turn closed huge tracks of land to upland game hunters as deer leases took over the state.

Correct