First year pheasant hunting

B

Bassin

Member
I’m new to upland hunting. First time pheasant hunting was last December. A buddy took my son and I on a trip to see how we like it. My son likes it so much that we bought a pup. This was my son and I first opener. Over the weekend, we were north of Marshall,MN hunting public lands. I have been a deer hunter my whole life and the orange army is nothing new to me but from what I saw this last weekend was amazing. I seriously thought hunter numbers were on a decline unless this is the norm? Overall we had a great hunt with lots of birds seen.

I hope newbies like my son and I are welcome.
And thanks for letting me join this forum.
 
Welcome! What kind of dog did you get? Yes, you will see a ton of hunters opening weekend, then after deer hunting it gets pretty quiet (and good ). Looking forward to hearing about your adventures
 
I been a huge fisherman my whole life. Always my number one go to, and I still love it and go a lot. Once I got into pheasant hunting it's like my whole world changed. Glad you got a bird dog and are giving it a go. You will love it! And you'll learn everytime.
 
Give it a month or so and the hunter numbers will decline, especially once the weather turns cold and nasty. Best time to hunt is december when we get snow on the ground and things freeze up!
 
There are a few of us on this site that refrain from the Opening weekend chaos you observed. Most of us have been there and done that. Opening day or weekend is great if you go in with the right expectations and allow your well-crafted plans to change and change again.

Note that the DNR publishes a fall pheasant population and hunting prediction sheet each fall. That data likely amplified the number of hunters in the area you chose to hunt.

Good luck
 
waterdog09 said:
Give it a month or so and the hunter numbers will decline, especially once the weather turns cold and nasty. Best time to hunt is december when we get snow on the ground and things freeze up!
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I second this. Wait until the second half of the season and go during the week if you can. You will encounter far less hunters and far more birds. Right after the majority of the corn is harvested seems to be my best hunting of the season, especially if it coincides with a fresh snow fall. Most pheasant hunters give up long before the snow flies.

Oh, and the daily bag limit goes to 3 in December too. Another reason to hunt then.

What you experienced in SW MN is the norm early in the season. Seems like just about every bird hunter goes there nowadays. You might consider hunting a different part of the state instead to avoid crowds. Some people have this notion that if they don't head west towards South Dakota, they aren't going to find any pheasants.
 
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Welcome to the world of pheasant hunting! The first few weeks are crazy but once November rolls around it slows down due to deer season and colder weather. But as everyone mentioned, that’s when the hunting gets good.
 
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