2016-2017 Hunting Reports and Photos

Hunted near Willmar today and my hunting buddy pointed 10 hens. Was nice to have birds sitting tight. Didn't see any roosters.

South Dakota numbers were better than last year for my group. We limited 3 of our 4 days and saw lots of roosters.
 
Hunting last Saturday, flushed up 3 hens and a rooster. This is the first legitimate year my nine year old springer has been in the field (other than a game farm about 5 years ago). She did amazing for the little practice she's had. She also retrieved her first mallard as well. Pics are below.
 
Seve said:
Has anyone hunted in the Worthington area yet this year?
Click to expand...

Yes I have, 1st and 2nd weekend. Lots of corn up at that point but bird numbers seemed pretty promising based off what we did see and what we could get to. Looking forward to getting down there now with the corn being out. We did not limit either trip between my brother and myself. Shot 3 the second weekend in two days.
 
Went to Cottonwood county on 11/12. Being that it was my first time out, I wasn't sure what to expect or what kind of brush I would have to walk through. Started walking at 9am and left the last field at around 4:30.

It was just a buddy and me with no furry companion. We walked 2 WMAs, 1 WPA, and roughly 7 mi total that day. We were able to kick up 3 hens and what we believe to be is 2 roosters but they were so far out of range. There is a WMA with corn still up and a 1/4 of the field was taken down. There was also wheat next to the corn field. Great opportunities for some birds.

We didn't bring anything home but some sore legs. Was a great hunt and can't wait to do it again!
 
Got out a couple of times this past weekend with a friend who was in from out of town.

Made it down toward Worthington this past Friday. We had an awesome day and saw a ton of birds. Hunted two WMA's and a WPA.

Went out yesterday around Hutchinson and it wasn't very good, despite all of the corn seemingly out in the area. We chased a couple of hens out at one point (saw them run across the road) but that was about it in a couple of hours of hunting.
 
Conditions were just about perfect on Friday. Hunted a WPA somewhere around the MN River Valley :D and saw probably 25 birds with a combination of points, flushes from me, accidental flushes from the dog, and a few wild flushes. Got our limit in an hour or so and the pup pointed one in the road ditch on the way back to the car.

Saturday was super windy. Tough hunting for the dogs. Kicked up a few hens but only saw one definite rooster. That was in Blue Earth County.

Hunted further west on Sunday and saw a 7-8 birds. Dog had 3 great points on roosters. 1 was already dead, 1 got shot, 1 got away.

Cold weather is on the way. Maybe it will keep the weekend warriors out of the public :)
 
I went out for a quick hunt on Sunday with the pup (9-11) and flushed up 6 hens and 1 rooster that guessed the wrong side to flush out of some thicket. We were hunting west of Hutch.
 
SW MN trip last Friday/Saturday with my brother and cousin. Hunting conditions were great Friday, windy on saturday, however it wasn't quite enough to shut down a day of hunting and we still did quite well on that day. birds were speratic as to location and how tight they were holding. Great dog work by my chocolate, he will be 2 yrs old come new years, really impressed with where he is at, a ground covering and flushing machine. Great two days of hunting with family and hard working dogs on a mix of state and private property, cant ask for more!
 
Last edited:
TBIRD19 said:
SW MN trip last Friday/Saturday with my brother and cousin. Hunting conditions were great Friday, windy on saturday, however it wasn't quite enough to shut down a day of hunting and we still did quite well on that day. birds were speratic as to location and how tight they were holding. Great dog work by my chocolate, he will be 2 yrs old come new years, really impressed with where he is at, a ground covering and flushing machine. Great two days of hunting with family and hard working dogs on a mix of state and private property, cant ask for more!
Click to expand...


Reminds me how much I need a pup.
 
before the storm

Went out yesterday saw about 20 to 25 birds lots of hens. I got 2 my partners missed theirs. Hope the storm doesn't hurt them to bad.
 
Got out Wednesday. Wind.

Hunted 2.5 hours. Dog pointed two roosters and I had a shot and killed one. The other exploded on the other side of the bush. No hens pointed.

This area has been a very good area for me, but it was knocked back a couple years ago and shows up in the "poor" category on the MN DNR website.
 
New to forums and new to hunting. I've been pheasant hunting twice. I'd like to go out tomorrow morning with my dog. Looking for advice for WMAs or county north of twin cities. I don't need the best hunting ground, I just want to avoid popular areas so I can spend the day getting comfortable in the field and let my dog learn from experience. Thanks in advance and I will gladly share any success or lack there of that I find this season.
 
Not sure on where you live but I would try to head west of the cities vs north if possible, better hunting. I know you said your not looking for great numbers but it would atleast give you a chance at finding some decent numbers for your dog. Look at the DNR's website and you can find plenty of spots off there or go to fleet farm or gander mtn and get a atlas from there. Good luck!
 
Thanks for response. I headed north hoping to find less people and get into some of that 'good' area marked by DNR roadside survey. I went to 2 WMAS near Isanti and found a lot more water than I expected. Ended up hiking through a lot of marshland with water hidden underneath snow. Only saw one rooster flush out of range in a heavily wooded area. 3rd WMA had two trucks parked so I went home. Good time and mileage with the pup, regardless. Maybe I will need to go SW tomorrow for more birds and less water.
 
Hunted wmas in the windom and st James areas today. Very tough conditions. Lots of wet spots and very little huntable cover. Shot at one bird and flushed 11 total. Seems like they were mostly in cattails but we couldn't get into any because of the water. Not sure of what to do next time we get out if there isn't ice yet.
 
I went out yesterday and had another great morning hunting out by Worthington, MN. I have had little luck this year at spots "close" (<90 min drive time) to the Twin Cities, so I figured the extra couple of hours in the car would be worth it. In about 2.5 hours of hunting at one WPA, I got one rooster. Missed an easy shot on one and missed on a harder shot on another. My pup probably had 6 or 7 really good points on birds that were holding after ~2" of snow. I probably saw over 25 birds, which included about 7 roosters. Had few double and triple flushes of hens which was really fun. Had a few roosters get spooked and flushed out way ahead of us, which I suppose is normal for late November. Didn't see any other hunters around, either, which is a huge benefit as I feel the Hutchinson area is getting hit super hard this year for whatever reason. So overall instead of getting back home by 12:30 after seeing no birds around Hutchinson, I got home at 2:30 yesterday after seeing a bunch of birds and listening to the Vikings game on the drive home. Well worth the extra drive time and a fun day with the pup who got some great work in!
 
Anybody been out in the last few days? I went down the day before Thanksgiving and it was cold and rainy but no snow. Flushed one hen. Heading down this Saturday and have a feeling most birds will be in the cattails and hunting will be pretty brutal with no ice in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top