Start of Minnesota 2025-2026 season countdown

I bet you MN moves to a Jan 10th closure date either in the 2026-2027 season or the year after that. Mirrors Iowa and navigates the political side of the issue also.
 
Weather looks a bit more "reasonable" for Saturday with a high of 70-72 (across southern and western MN). A bit too warm in the peak of afternoon, but the first 3 hours and last hour should be fine.

Be careful where you let your dogs cool down and drink.
 
Weather looks a bit more "reasonable" for Saturday with a high of 70-72 (across southern and western MN). A bit too warm in the peak of afternoon, but the first 3 hours and last hour should be fine.
I'm seeing below 70. 65 to 67ish. And about 46 at 9 am on Saturday where we'll be. This is Google weather, so may be different than some other sources.
 
A copy of the questions are out there if you look.

What makes you think SD is truly only science based or is it economically driven science based ?

SD is generally warmer (not much) than most of MN across the pheasant range. Especially true the further west in SD you go.

SD gets less snow in January and February (on average) than most of MN across the pheasant range.

If pheasant hunting roosters is truly compensatory and not additive, then why does SD limit the number of roosters per day to just 3 ? Is there actual data that shows a limit of 3 spreads out the harvest across the season better than a higher limit ... or is the limit 3 primarily because of public opinion ?

To that end ... why do some states run hunting sunrise to sunset, others have a morning or mid-day start and run to sunset, others still have a sunrise start but close the day at 4;30 PM (Iowa). Doubt any of this is science based. Most of it is dictated by public opinion and tradition.
The questionnaire seems to be about your feelings and your income levels, like that matters unless your motive is getting out of state visitors here.
I've seen nothing to suggest that the extended season has negatively effected the populations. In fact Pheasants forever agrees it does not harm the population.

"DOES CHANGING CLOSING DATES AFFECT THE POPULATION?​

The argument has been made that closing hunting seasons earlier will prevent birds from being flushed from good winter cover into marginal areas where they are vulnerable to winter storms and predation. This may occur in some cases; however, because of diminishing returns to hunters as the season progresses, later season closures have a minimal effect on current or future pheasant populations. Simply put, fewer people hunt in late season and they only affect scattered pockets of cover.

WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?​

Liberal, legal, roosters-only seasons do not harm populations. If seasons work as designed, the outcome is a reduced standing population of male ring-necked pheasants. Extensive research has shown this has little or no effect on pheasant reproduction and subsequent populations."


Temp and snow keep hunters out of the field. Here and there. Hard to dispute that. And our snowiest month on average is December.

Bag limits are supposed to be set to supply enough resources for opportunities in the field to harvest game for everyone. Pheasant population combined with hunter participation numbers and success rates is how bag limits should be.

While fewer roosters are the best for the overall health of the population, we aren't talking about wiping them out either. The amount of roosters taken in January is a benefit to the hen population. It is compensatory to remove roosters as they out compete hens for food/cover and one hen is worth more than one rooster come nesting season. Science sets limits. Why did MN change the bag limit for the last month, there's fewer hunters in the field and wasn't going to negatively affect the population. The same rationale should be applied to January.

No idea why Iowa is 4:30 but that is pretty close to sunset for most of the season. Thus eliminating people having to know that it 4:36 here today and 4:45 tomorrow at a different location in the state. Actually seems like a good way to have everyone quit at the same time. SD late start was built around the farming culture of the pheasant range, so be it. I don't care if the start time changes. I don't care about hours in a day, I care about more days in the field.

I want biologists making scientific decisions for healthy wildlife populations while allowing the most access to the citizens of the state. I will not waiver from that.
 
SD is open to January 31 ... great way to extend your season .... head over there after MN closes. Kansas is open to January 31 also.

Pushing out hens from cover an hour or worse yet 10 minutes before sunset is not necessarily a good thing. In a long difficult winter ... forcing hens to run and fly when they could be sitting and storing those reserves ???

There is no way that SD or PF has the data to validate that extending the season to the end of January makes no difference in the population come spring time .... SD is only in year 2 or 3 of this longer season.

Antidotally one could argue that it actually improves the bird population but we all know there are other factors at work here - many/most that have a larger driving force.
 
Last edited:
Pushing out hens from cover an hour or worse yet 10 minutes before sunset is not necessarily a good thing. In a long difficult winter ... forcing hens to run and fly when they could be sitting and storing those reserves ???
I'm not trying to be a jerk with this question. Aren't coyotes, foxes, and other predators hunting them all night, every night? If so, how would some scattered humans and hunting dogs pose a greater risk to their reserves?
 
Interesting that you say science should dictate a longer season, but then you use sentiment and personal opinion on setting the bag limit.

Bag limits are supposed to be set to supply enough resources for opportunities in the field to harvest game for everyone. Pheasant population combined with hunter participation numbers and success rates is how bag limits should be.

If roosters should be removed, why not remove them more when more hunters are out there ?

By the way ... I like a limit of 2 or 3 birds despite what compensatory game management would dictate ?
 
I'm not trying to be a jerk with this question. Aren't coyotes, foxes, and other predators hunting them all night, every night? If so, how would some scattered humans and hunting dogs pose a greater risk to their reserves?
Not coyotes ...

No single predator gets more blame for pheasant predation than coyotes, but research over several decades has proven that coyotes focus their foraging on rodents and rabbits and do not take adult pheasants or nests as frequently as the other mammalian predators (red fox, striped skunk and raccoon). In addition, the larger home range and territorial nature of coyotes can actually result in lower populations of these other, more destructive predators. Predation accounts for three-fourths of unsuccessful nests, and nearly all of adult mortality (excluding hunting) is directly predator related.
 
Not all predation on pheasants are from mammals ... there is this also ...

1759956292020.png

Avian predators are a real threat in the winter. It is why pheasants are best served with food sources relatively close to their cover. It is a subject often politely ignored because the hawks and owls are federally protected.
 
By the way PF does not say that late season hunting does not impact bird populations ... what they say is that the overall participation is low and that pressure is sparse and the impact is only on very local populations, thus the whole population is not impacted. If the January hunting catches on that summation may prove less accurate. Also, not so sure what works in SD holds true for MN.

Love to see the Jan 10th closure date come about - guess we will see next summer or the summer after that.
 
I quoted PF.
So pheasants forever is full of shit? I think they employ biologists who know what they are talking about from an academic and hands on perspective.
Really??
The season used to close the second week of December. Why not go back to that then?
 
I won’t be able to get out until Sunday - looks like a windy day on Sunday. Also a chance of showers on Sunday morning. With the wind, any ideas of where to start when looking for birds? Sorry if that is an obvious question to some of you, but I just like to talk strategy and ideas.
 
I won’t be able to get out until Sunday - looks like a windy day on Sunday. Also a chance of showers on Sunday morning. With the wind, any ideas of where to start when looking for birds? Sorry if that is an obvious question to some of you, but I just like to talk strategy and ideas.
Yeah, Sunday isn't looking good. Hot, wet, and windy. My guess would be thickets, hedgerows, windbreaks, etc. They don't need to avoid the wind as much as in the winter, since it is warm out. But they'll still want to avoid some of the rain.
 
Back
Top