2011 Outlook

FCSpringer

FCSpringer

Moderator
Man has it been a weird year. Coming off a winter from hell, with about 90" of snow. And now this wet spring. Despite that I am seeing lots of birds out there. Not sure about other parts of the state, but wst central looks like yet another great season on the horizon.:thumbsup:
 
I'm over on the north end of Washington county and seem to be seeing more pheasants than normal for this area. It has me feeling a little optimistic. If i'm seeing them on a regular basis here then maybe the high population areas are doing just as well.
 
I wish I was as optimistic as you guys. The turkey harvest was down 30% this spring which is an indication of the carryover from winter. If the turkeys took a hit this winter I suspect the pheasants did also. On my golf course this spring I have never seen fewer pheasants. I would say the numbers are down 70-80% from the normal spring numbers I see & hear. I know this a very small sample but it does concern me. This terrible spring & early summer weather can't be good for the nesting either.
 
The turkeys by me took a beating this winter.
I have seen a good number of roosters and a few hens. I have not seen any chicks yet? Must still be hidding in the grass.
We have lots of water the cattle may need a life jacket soon when out in the meadows.
 
I seen no hens or at least very few in my travel's across the state. Seen a few roosters though.
 
In a square area made up of Blue Earth, Mankato, Springfield and Jackson at the corners is where I spend 95% of my time hunting and scouting and I can't tell you how excited I am about this fall's harvest. I have never seen the numbers of birds that I have this year in my spring scouting drives and even here on the farm I can't step foot outside in the morning or evening without being serenaded by a cavalcade of cackling. I SEE more hens than roosters but the roosters sure let me know they're doing fine with their squawking. It is going to be a great season!
 
I hear roosters crowing, haven't seen any broods yet. With all the cover it's not surprising.
I may have to spend a little more time hunting MN roosters this Fall. Doesn't sound good at all in Montana.:(
 
FCSpringer said:
:10sign::10sign::thumbsup::D:):cheers: Exact same thing I have seen, and a good portion in your area as well. I'm from BE so I saw what you saw. Man, nth wst of you I never in 30 years seen so many birds, worked in F mont for 9 weeks. Some got hit but others will be booming. Might have to hook up for a hunt Kal. I have some nice little spots to go down there. Fmont Gukeen etc. area. Then from there toward Rake. I think it will be fun this fall.
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i'm down... we'll chat as the season gets closer.
 
FCSpringer said:
:10sign::10sign::thumbsup::D:):cheers: Exact same thing I have seen, and a good portion in your area as well. I'm from BE so I saw what you saw. Man, nth wst of you I never in 30 years seen so many birds, worked in F mont for 9 weeks. Some got hit but others will be booming. Might have to hook up for a hunt Kal. I have some nice little spots to go down there. Fmont Gukeen etc. area. Then from there toward Rake. I think it will be fun this fall.
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FC, make sure you let me know if you get down to the southern part of MN for some pheasant hunting this fall. If you have room I might drive over and hunt with you. I'm sure I'll be in the canby area a few times. Looks more and more like we will be moving to Watertown, SD before hunting season which will put me closer to MN.
 
I see turkeys every day while I'm working in the hay fields. Tom's, Hen's and Jakes. Real odd that I haven't seen any broods.:confused:
One lone half grown pheasant Chick.:(
 
Ken the DNR's article in the Outdoor news recently didn't paint a very good picture for the hatch this year because of cooler wet conditions this spring and early summer. I think their being cautiously optimistic about whether the hatch will turn out even reasonably well.

Still there is nothing like eyewitnesses to what is actually happening first hand in the fields. Roadside counts should lend a little better clue later this summer.
 
FCSpringer said:
I don't ever hold water on road side counts either. Personally I think it is a waste of tax payer funds, except volunteers. There is an awful bunch of crops, grass and area a bird or chicks will be that they will never see. They can put on thousands of miles driving around right past them and not see a one. It is an un useful tool in my little mind.:D
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Yeah I suppose your right, although the only one they have in place unfortunately.
 
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Ive been seeing a few birds around. Im with FSCspringer there is so much cover that you cant know how the season is going to be until you get out there.
 
I know where tbear and i live we saw a ton of birds this winter around our place and saw a good amount of hens this spring so if that is any indication of how they survived the winter things are looking up, i also agree that roadside counts aren't a great indicator of what the season will be like way to much cover that they can't see which means alot of birds that don't get accounted for
 
No, you guys have it all wrong. Minnesota pheasant hunting is terrible and always will be. No one should ever travel here to pheasant hunt. There are no pockets of birds and the hospitality in the SW part of the state is terrible. I can't even believe we have a season sometimes. So everyone from out of state can stop reading this and just stay home.:laugh:

(Tongue planted firmly in cheek!!)
 
i'm sure there are pockets with birds, but overall the numbers are down. anyone who drives our highways and gravel roads towards sunset or early in the am can attest to this. sure there will be some pockets here and there but those pockets will be small, real small. we were out last weekend scouting for geese and the numbers were way down from last year to this year. WAY DOWN!!!! out near canby,madison to ortonville we saw less then 10 broods saturday am and maybe 4 - 5 sunday. Last year during the same drive we saw 3 times that amount and we thought that was down from years past. It was a rough winter, followed by a really bad spring and wet summer. the deer numbers look very strong in that area, lots of does with fawns and we even saw a couple of nice bucks running together. The goose numbers look strong too and most of the wheat was out. Not many birds flying though. still too young. ducklings varied from looking like they are ready to fly to some broods that looked like they were born in july. strange year.
 
i talked to some farmers nw of madison that said thier birds made it through the winter just fine, but they kept them fed all winter with food plots and they have great cover with several 8 year old pine tree rows that they put in for the wild life. they said that on nice evenings you would sometimes see over 100 deer feeding on thier hay. that would have been a cool picture. they also said that during sunny days you could see hundreds of birds up with thier cattle feeding on whatever was available. As the winter progressed they said the phez numbers did decrease some. That might be one of those pockets you are talking about. One area out of millions of acres but these guys definately have the cover and with that came the birds. The deer herds are growing in these areas and thats good to see.
 
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