2025 season reports
- Thread starter MNhunter4ever
- Start date
BRITTMAN
Well-known member
A bit misleading in the area that shows little or no snow cover. I was there a week ago and the grass was completely filled in with snow. I realize that the rain may have wiped out snow cover in the fields. I spoke to someone out there and much of the cover is still drifted full of snow and or completely flattened.
Agreed, but the snow has consolidated quite a bit in the southwest. It was easier walking on Wednesday than it was on Sunday. The grass hasn't fully lodged yet, and we'll have a few days above freezing next week after the cold snap. I wouldn't be surprised if the birds will move back to the grass a little soon. The real wildcard will be the cattail ice, but otherwise it looks like a good time to get out and hunt. Just not this weekend
Bob Peters
Well-known member
How do you pull that map up? I'm guessing it's NOAA but I can't get a zoomed in state/regional view like that.Agreed, but the snow has consolidated quite a bit in the southwest. It was easier walking on Wednesday than it was on Sunday. The grass hasn't fully lodged yet, and we'll have a few days above freezing next week after the cold snap. I wouldn't be surprised if the birds will move back to the grass a little soon. The real wildcard will be the cattail ice, but otherwise it looks like a good time to get out and hunt. Just not this weekend
old 20 super 90
Member
we went down to the area of "grey with little snow" yea. Appears to have mostly blown off the fields and into cover. North and west edges plenty full of snow. Once you get in the cover its not bad ... to crunchy in my eyes. If they get a couple inches of snow this weekend with limited wind (rare) Monday and Tuesday are going to be lights out and comp time will be gettin used .
old 20 super 90
Member
Instead of posting new thread. And its 2025 in minnesota. What would you guys do in the instance your sitting at a private piece you can walk 20 minutes before 9 and notice 5 or 6 hound dogs all sporting tracking collars come charging from a neighboring property and run threw piece you were about to hunt. Then the person on the other end of the collars shows up..... no permission.
Not my land but permission from land owner for duration of season after slug hunting .
Not my land but permission from land owner for duration of season after slug hunting .
bryantukkah
Member
I would've stayed in bed that extra 20 minutes.
BRITTMAN
Well-known member
Coyote hound dogs I suspect ... coon dogs, coyote dogs, bear dogs do not worry about property lines ... best if they hunt big areas...
Did the owner pick up the dogs or get them moved on so there was no risk of his dogs interacting with yours ?
Did they bump any birds ?
If you know the landowner well enough ... let him know what happened.
Did the owner pick up the dogs or get them moved on so there was no risk of his dogs interacting with yours ?
Did they bump any birds ?
If you know the landowner well enough ... let him know what happened.
old 20 super 90
Member
Yea coyote dogs... I could really give a shit less what they do... but really sucks watching them run threw a 2000 sq foot chunk of cattails you can hunt... next to a public piece mind you and watch about 60 birds flush out of it simultaneously. Called local CO. He was doing some digging into it. ... called this afternoon, Said they had same truck on another chunk of private land (no permission).
I've dealt with a variety of trespassers on land where I was given exclusive permission to hunt. It almost never ends well. In the worst case example, I lost permission on an incredible deer property because I called the CO on a guy who poached a deer in front of me (with a rifle in a shotgun zone, no blaze orange). Landowner declined to press chargers, the guy got to keep the deer, and the landowner told me no one gets to hunt moving forward because there's too much fuss.
If it was a deer hunter who had setup shop for the season, I would tell the landowner without making a big deal about it and move on. Sounds like these guys were likely there today, gone tomorrow. I probably wouldn't even mention it. Those pheasants will be back in the slough in no time, and you'll have plenty of other chances to hunt them.
Bob Peters
Well-known member
Figure even if the landowner didn't care about trespassing the game warden coulda got him for the other stuff?
Springer22
Well-known member
So. I am for all types of hunting. Dogs even better. Watching videos of hounds working is freaking awesome. But.. there seems to be a thing with hound hunting where some people think it’s acceptable for the hounds to be on private land because you really can’t control them on a trail. I very much do not agree with that idea at all. I think it’s bullshit.it is trespassing. I don’t have any direct experience with this, just stuff I’ve seen on YouTube and some prominent guys in the outdoor industry views on it that really left a sour taste in my mouth.
That being said I would have gathered info and told the landowner probably before telling the CO
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Yeah, you would think. Long story, but he paid a small fine and that was it. Karma caught up with him later, but not in a way that restored my hunting permission.
gim
Well-known member
This happens quite a bit in Wisconsin because they can use hounds to hunt bears. It has a very small, but dedicated following there. Most of them do it in the very far northern sector of the state where there are large tracts of public forest, but not all of them do. A sizable percentage do it exactly how you described it; they simply allow them to run loose on a fresh track, and they follow the GPS collars wherever they go. Trespassing be damned.
It's a risk some of them are willing to take. You never know what could happen to a dog on a fresh track either; they could step into a connibear trap, a snare, fall into a hole, or get mauled by an angry bear...or run into a pack of wolves. The GPS can take you there, but you might not get there quick enough. Many hounds have been lost due to these circumstances.
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bryantukkah
Member
Not that I necessarily agree but I believe it is illegal for dogs to run big game and it is legal to shoot a dog on sight that is doing so in Minnesota.
gim
Well-known member
In Minnesota yes, it is illegal to hunt big game with dogs. You can, under specific circumstances, use one to track a wounded deer. It has to be on a leash.
You can only shoot a dog that is in the act of chasing deer between Jan 1 - July 1. The regs are very clear about that. its mostly to discourage a dog from chasing fawns in the spring.
Springer22
Well-known member
It’s pretty damn cool. Some videos I’ve seen of them tracking mountain lions are a blast. And definitely a risk with it like you said.
You just gotta have a very large price of property to do it or else you can pretty much garuntee the dogs will be on private property, and surely they are aware of that. And I just don’t think that’s right. Then you go retrieve them and you are trampling through someone’s land.
Meat eater had an episode where clay was down south hunting deer with hounds. Not my cup of tea, I personally thought it was pretty lame ha.
We found a ton of birds today, but only got two. A first for me, the birds rode in the bed of the truck for 3 hours in the 5 degree weather. Went home and cleaned them and flies came off of them. Hippoboscid flies according to google. Hard to smash. I’m shocked they were still alive.
