prairie chicken

Hang in there, you are young men....I hope! Actually, those are not terrible odds, roughly a 1 in 4 chance. I imagine I would turn into a terrible shot the if I had the chance.
 
Just got home from our prairie chicken hunt.

My neighbor got on bird from a covey "popcorn" flush on Saturday morning. I choked.

I got two birds with single shots on single flushes Sunday morning.

One of my birds was the subject of a government surveillance program as it had a radio beacon collar. The bird on the right in the photo has an antenna.

It was unusually warm. By midmorning, it was too hot to run my 9 year old lab.

Last evening and this morning, we hunted ruffed grouse in Northern Minnesota. We had only 6 flushes and bagged 2.

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Just got home from our prairie chicken hunt.

My neighbor got on bird from a covey "popcorn" flush on Saturday morning. I choked.

I got two birds with single shots on single flushes Sunday morning.

One of my birds was the subject of a government surveillance program as it had a radio beacon collar. The bird on the right in the photo has an antenna.

It was unusually warm. By midmorning, it was too hot to run my 9 year old lab.

Last evening and this morning, we hunted ruffed grouse in Northern Minnesota. We had only 6 flushes and bagged 2.

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Looks like a great time. One of my best memories are the prairie chicken hunts in SE kansas back in the 70’s. I hope you cut that receiver off and buried it out there. If you took it home with you they will now know where you live and how to get to your house.
 
One of my birds was the subject of a government surveillance program as it had a radio beacon collar. The bird on the right in the photo has an antenna.

That is so cool. Nice job.

We just recorded the warmest September ever. And last year is now the second warmest. Its like hunting during the middle of summer now.
 
I called and spoke to grouse research with MN DNR.

The battery on the radio beacon is dead. They last about a year.

The bird had both a radio beacon and a leg band. I sent the numbers off both and tail and wing feathers in.

The beacon was used to determine the prairie chicken use of cattle pasture land.

The feathers will be analyzed for DNA to determine if hybridization is occurring with Sharp Tail Grouse.


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Years ago we ran into a biologist that was tracking prairie chickens. It was day two of the season. Old guy told us that two older birds he tracks heads to inaccessible land on the first indication the season has begun. I did not have the courage to say ... well where would that be on this map :)
 
How do you tell the difference between a hen pheasant and a prairie chicken? I asked someone I know in person, and they said, oh you'll know. But HOW? What do you guys look for?
Look at the tail of each bird...chicken has a squared or box tail, not pointed like a hen. At least that's what I watched for, in addition to wingbeats, when they flushed in NE.
 
The link was not showing the actual or correct results last year. It appears the DNR may have abandoned the online link to check license draw success and gone with straight mail only ? It is simply amazing on how poor and far behind MN is on anything computer related.

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The IT part of MN DNR is about 25 years behind everyone. I'm sure we are putting 10x the dollars towards it with zero return. Just call up SD or Wisco and ask to copy their systems. They are at least usable. I knew I was drawn for a SD waterfowl license immediately after the app deadline. You would think MN draws it out of a hat its so bad
 
You carry your WI licenses on a plastic card (same size as a credit card). DNR officers scans the card to see if you are appropriately licensed.

ND - you can carry your license on the phone. ND wardens can pull your license up on their laptop in the cab of their pickup.

ND you can get your license plate tabs at a Kiosk.
 
You can do that in MN too. There's one at every grocery store I frequent. Been there for years.
Google says MN started in around July 17, 2023. Have not seen one around me yet, but if they are aligned with Cub - I never will.
 
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