2015-16 Hunting Reports & Pictures

I made it out to a couple of spots south of Sleepy Eye again with another buddy and his dog. We went into one WMA right at 9am and in our first pass we probably saw 4-5 hens and one rooster which we hit in the wing on a long shot and got the bird down. We searched hard for it but I think it just ran off quickly before the dogs could get there. After that we drove to a couple of WMAs near by and saw a lot of other trucks and hunters. We were driving along one WMA when a rooster flew right past the hood of the car and ~100 yards into the WMA. We got out and looked for that rooster for a while but couldn't find him. Didn't see anything else the rest of the time walking that WMA.

Regardless, it was a perfect morning for hunting yesterday. So it was fun to get the dogs out running and on a couple of birds. Went to a local bar in Fairfax on the way back and had a burger topped with pulled pork which made the trip almost worth it.

I might try a few spots closer to St. Paul this weekend, maybe around the Hutchinson area. Anyone have any luck over there so far this season?

I'm thinking I might save my 2-3 long drives out west for a couple of weeks out once I know all of the corn is out.
 
Went out last night for a couple hours with Dad and my boy. Flushed 3 hens and then this young guy. My kid was pretty excited when I dumped him, I think he ran over faster than the dogs!


 
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Made it out hunting on Saturday down in sw mn. There was a lot of people out that day, the first 4 spots we wanted to hunt were filled with hunters by 830am. So we went on to one we had scouted earlier in the year. It ended up working out for us we shot a 2 man limit in 40 min and saw 3 more roosters on the way out. We also put up 5 hens. Funny how things work out!
 
Seve said:
I made it out to a couple of spots south of Sleepy Eye again with another buddy and his dog. We went into one WMA right at 9am and in our first pass we probably saw 4-5 hens and one rooster which we hit in the wing on a long shot and got the bird down. We searched hard for it but I think it just ran off quickly before the dogs could get there. After that we drove to a couple of WMAs near by and saw a lot of other trucks and hunters. We were driving along one WMA when a rooster flew right past the hood of the car and ~100 yards into the WMA. We got out and looked for that rooster for a while but couldn't find him. Didn't see anything else the rest of the time walking that WMA.

Regardless, it was a perfect morning for hunting yesterday. So it was fun to get the dogs out running and on a couple of birds. Went to a local bar in Fairfax on the way back and had a burger topped with pulled pork which made the trip almost worth it.

I might try a few spots closer to St. Paul this weekend, maybe around the Hutchinson area. Anyone have any luck over there so far this season?

I'm thinking I might save my 2-3 long drives out west for a couple of weeks out once I know all of the corn is out.
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I would just drive the extra hour and shoot birds. Lots of pressure in that area.
 
miller56001 said:
Made it out hunting on Saturday down in sw mn. There was a lot of people out that day, the first 4 spots we wanted to hunt were filled with hunters by 830am. So we went on to one we had scouted earlier in the year. It ended up working out for us we shot a 2 man limit in 40 min and saw 3 more roosters on the way out. We also put up 5 hens. Funny how things work out!
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It's funny how things can work out for us isn't it? lol

Cool pic/pretty roosters:thumbsup:

Nick
 
Made it out Friday and Saturday with my brother SW MN. Weather was pretty good for hunting, more Saturday than Friday, seemed a little windy still on Friday afternoon. Ran into a lot of hunters that wanted to avoid opening weekend rush, which in turn created its own rush, not to mention MEA. A lot of corn is still noticeably standing, which it seemed birds are still hunkering down in during daylight. Seen a lot of birds making their way to corn from grass in the morning and back to grass in the evening (just my own observations) while scouting. Managed to flush 1 Friday morning about 100 yards from the truck that I dropped (knee high grass). Provided a nice challenge for my 10 mo. old chocolate but wasn't able to come up with it. We searched about 15 mins before we had to move on. Made a nice shot and mark so there was no reason bird should not have been there. I believe bird literally hit the ground running and the dog never had a chance. If I wasn't a fan of steel shot before I am even more skeptical now. I am the last one to feel good about dropping a bird and never finding it, I would have rather missed it completely. What percentage of birds that are crippled do you think actually make it in the long run? Anyway, we ended up taking 1 more while running into a nice flock Friday evening at a private permission parcel. Hunted hard Saturday and not much action until last 20 mins of hunting where my brother redeemed himself of the misses he racked up over the two days with a nice shot and retrieve :10sign: pics to come, next trip planned on Halloween Weekend.

On another note, hen to rooster ratios already becoming imbalanced compared to opener.
 
Hunted in my favorite "none core" areas last Friday. Despite being MEA, saw very few people out ... maybe that was tell tale.

While outside the core high density pheasant range, these fringe areas have been very good to me over the years ... I typically move birds at every spot and two of them are consistent rooster producers for me and my party.

Walked five spots across 70 mile span ... alternating my two dogs. Shot a rooster on my first walk. Never had another point ... not even a hen. Weather was cool (little breezy ... more than the forecast).

Few other hunters out, little if no sign that spots had been hunted recently and corn was out in most areas.

Saw one roster and hen early and another flock (5+ hens & 3 roosters) late on private land.

I have not given up on these areas - quite yet.
 
Went out for a few hours Saturday evening in SW MN on public land. The wife and I saw 4 roosters and 2 hens. Had a shot at one and missed. Went out again Sunday morning with my Vizsla and flushed one rooster - made a decent long(roughly 30yards) shot and knocked it down. Searched for about 30 minutes when I decided to move on...Winston went on point shortly after and a bird attempted to flush but couldn't fly...found the dang thing about a football field away from where I shot it. Winston earned it, I was very impressed with the 2 yr old.

That was my first wild bird ever. Something that I'll never forget - it was a special event for Winston and I.

Additional note(I am still somewhat new to this), I am heading down for a day trip Saturday - my wife has a family b day party and approved me to tag along and hunt while she is there. I will have nothing to do but hunt from 3:00 - sunset. Any tips for mid-day hunting? Types of cover to focus on around 3:00 or 4:00?
 
lovenstein said:
Went out for a few hours Saturday evening in SW MN on public land. The wife and I saw 4 roosters and 2 hens. Had a shot at one and missed. Went out again Sunday morning with my Vizsla and flushed one rooster - made a decent long(roughly 30yards) shot and knocked it down. Searched for about 30 minutes when I decided to move on...Winston went on point shortly after and a bird attempted to flush but couldn't fly...found the dang thing about a football field away from where I shot it. Winston earned it, I was very impressed with the 2 yr old.

That was my first wild bird ever. Something that I'll never forget - it was a special event for Winston and I.

Additional note(I am still somewhat new to this), I am heading down for a day trip Saturday - my wife has a family b day party and approved me to tag along and hunt while she is there. I will have nothing to do but hunt from 3:00 - sunset. Any tips for mid-day hunting? Types of cover to focus on around 3:00 or 4:00?
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Great first bird. Great Story. :10sign:
 
Seve said:
I made it out to a couple of spots south of Sleepy Eye again with another buddy and his dog. We went into one WMA right at 9am and in our first pass we probably saw 4-5 hens and one rooster which we hit in the wing on a long shot and got the bird down. We searched hard for it but I think it just ran off quickly before the dogs could get there. After that we drove to a couple of WMAs near by and saw a lot of other trucks and hunters. We were driving along one WMA when a rooster flew right past the hood of the car and ~100 yards into the WMA. We got out and looked for that rooster for a while but couldn't find him. Didn't see anything else the rest of the time walking that WMA.

Regardless, it was a perfect morning for hunting yesterday. So it was fun to get the dogs out running and on a couple of birds. Went to a local bar in Fairfax on the way back and had a burger topped with pulled pork which made the trip almost worth it.

I might try a few spots closer to St. Paul this weekend, maybe around the Hutchinson area. Anyone have any luck over there so far this season?

I'm thinking I might save my 2-3 long drives out west for a couple of weeks out once I know all of the corn is out.
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I would say if the weather is nice I would work a cut corn edge that has some nice knee high to waist high grass.
 
Tbear said:
I would say if the weather is nice I would work a cut corn edge that has some nice knee high to waist high grass.
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Thanks Tbear, I'll try that out. A couple of weeks ago I tried walking cover right next to uncut corn and had success flushing some hens. But I'll try your technique this weekend.
 
just got back from far north mn did a ruffed/spruce grouse hunt was gonna hunt till thursday but way to many guys out seen tons of hunters was damn near to canada seen more guys then pheasant opener??? early deer camps are tradition here...

hunted only 45 min today 2 ruffed grouse b4 a forest servise guy puts by with a girl it was raining so we went for a drive he say? 1 bird all day walking yesterday guys camping at my honey hole atv hunters so i called it quits early today drove 4.5 hours home with 3 ruffed grouse no sprce grouse seen... ill go back dec.

off to SD pheasant hunting saturday... i hope my dog does as well on sd ringnecks as she did on grouse she maid a lovely blinde retrieve on a bird i thought kept flying i was impressed... sat-wed sd pheasant hunt 2 hunters 2 dogs...
 
Missed an easy shot on a rooster last night, I hate it when I miss shots in Minnesota because you don't know when you'll get another one! Just hunting public land in SC MN, I am at least seeing birds in nearly each field I hunt. Whether it is a shootable roster, or the dog flushing a hen, or seeing something flushing far off. Get out there and put in the miles on the boots, trust your dog, set low expectations (if I flush a hen that is a successful hunt, if a bag a rooster that is a bonus), and have some fun in the outdoors.
 
jackrabbit said:
Missed an easy shot on a rooster last night, I hate it when I miss shots in Minnesota because you don't know when you'll get another one! Just hunting public land in SC MN, I am at least seeing birds in nearly each field I hunt. Whether it is a shootable roster, or the dog flushing a hen, or seeing something flushing far off. Get out there and put in the miles on the boots, trust your dog, set low expectations (if I flush a hen that is a successful hunt, if a bag a rooster that is a bonus), and have some fun in the outdoors.
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u need to locate better spots is all man theres plenty of birds in mn if willing to drive a lil i find birds on damn near every hunt by town or not... but if ur not in a core pheasant area u are in for some long walks in mn i agree...
 
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small munsterlander owner said:
u need to locate better spots is all man theres plenty of birds in mn if willing to drive a lil i find birds on damn near every hunt by town or not... but if ur not in a core pheasant area u are in for some long walks in mn i agree...
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All of my hunts have taken place within 1-10 minutes of my home on weeknights in the final 45-60 minutes of the day once I get home from work. I feel good about seeing at least a bird in less than 1 hour of hunting after a day of work, while still getting back home in time to see the wife for the evening. So no, none of them have been in the core pheasant area nor have I had time to hit more than 1 spot each night. Once we get later into the fall I will plan a couple weekend trips to western MN and my 2 trips to SD.
 
small munsterlander owner said:
just got back from far north mn did a ruffed/spruce grouse hunt was gonna hunt till thursday but way to many guys out seen tons of hunters was damn near to canada seen more guys then pheasant opener??? early deer camps are tradition here...

hunted only 45 min today 2 ruffed grouse b4 a forest servise guy puts by with a girl it was raining so we went for a drive he say? 1 bird all day walking yesterday guys camping at my honey hole atv hunters so i called it quits early today drove 4.5 hours home with 3 ruffed grouse no sprce grouse seen... ill go back dec.

.
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This has happened occasionally to me, but rarely. It was MEA last weekend (kids off Th & F), which can cause an influx of hunters. Interestingly we saw few hunters out where we pheasant hunted.

I have been hunting MN for over 20 years now and am pretty reliant if not stuck on my spots ... add one or so a year, but I rarely have time to hit everything. Hard to not return to places were you are consistently successful.

My only advise (unfortunately in hindsight) would have been to hit a new (new to you) area on your return and hunt some new spots. Maybe you would have found some new areas to visit on future trips - closer to home even.
 
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BRITTMAN said:
This has happened occasionally to me, but rarely. It was MEA last weekend (kids off Th & F), which can cause an influx of hunters. Interestingly we saw few hunters out where we pheasant hunted.

I have been hunting MN for over 20 years now and am pretty reliant if not stuck on my spots ... add one or so a year, but I rarely have time to hit everything. Hard to not return to places were you are consistently successful.

My only advise (unfortunately in hindsight) would have been to hit a new (new to you) area on your return and hunt some new spots. Maybe you would have found some new areas to visit on future trips - closer to home even.
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yes i thought going up tue-thur after mea i would have a few spots to choose from up in spruce grouse bwca land... but guys were kinda spread out funny up so far north so many guys... shot my 1st grouse on new to me area camped in new area after guy shot grouse off road to my camp at 8:15 am

i only need the spruce grouse to have shot all 4 mn grouse species in 1 year so u got to get back way up north after mn gun deer close maybe...

off to sd sat-wed cant wait
 
I'm with you BRITTMAN. I like finding new cover to hunt. There's always a hopefulness when you find a new spot, with the possibility that you've found a "honey-hole." But I have my tried-and-true spots that I always go back to because I KNOW I can get birds and know how to hunt those spots.

In fact I know of a nearby spot that is impossible to hunt until late November or December when the swamp freezes, but I love it because despite the cold, I find lots of birds there. It's fun when you see 3 roosters all flush from the same bunch of cattails.
 
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