Bob Peters
Well-known member
How did the pheasants survive the Minnesota winter? Pheasant Update
I went out with a buddy on Saturday for the fishing opener. We tried a new lake in "slightly western MN." We caught a fish, then another. Fishing started out slow and seemed to increase as the day went on. One thing that did not increase was the pheasant crowing. It started at a high and frequent level, and stayed constant throughout the day. In my youth I wouldn't have noticed, because I didn't hunt(but have always fished). On Saturday I heard one crow, and then crow again. Next I heard a crow to my left, then a squawk to my right. An ever so faint err-errrr way off in the distance. We motored to a spot 1/2 mile away. A thankful respite from all that rooster racket
. A peaceful spot to wet a line...then one sounded off so close with a high pitched cackle he almost startled me over the side of the boat!! I was staring into the cattails looking for that rascal but couldn't glance so much as a feather. Needless to say we fished 9 hours and I don't think 5 minutes went by without a rooster sounding off. It was something to hear the chain reactions when one bird would start, then another and ano.... Well you get the picture. It was neat to audibly isolate so many different roosters crowing, and just think after the hatch how many will be out there! It was rainy, it was sunny, it was hot, it was cold, it was windy, it was calm; crow crow crow cackle cackle cackle. I didn't speak with any guides, outfitters, or the local mailman. I didn't even talk with MNGFP to get their take on it. Purely anecdotal, but it was a cacophony of pheasants the likes of which I'd never heard before. I've got a few doors to knock on later this summer. The pheasants survived the winter snows "like a champ." Wait is that plaigarism of the Aberdeen coalition....
P.S. Fishing was good, our best 5 went 25lbs. on the nose. Lots of nice bass in the boat, and even a few slough sharks(not pictured).
I went out with a buddy on Saturday for the fishing opener. We tried a new lake in "slightly western MN." We caught a fish, then another. Fishing started out slow and seemed to increase as the day went on. One thing that did not increase was the pheasant crowing. It started at a high and frequent level, and stayed constant throughout the day. In my youth I wouldn't have noticed, because I didn't hunt(but have always fished). On Saturday I heard one crow, and then crow again. Next I heard a crow to my left, then a squawk to my right. An ever so faint err-errrr way off in the distance. We motored to a spot 1/2 mile away. A thankful respite from all that rooster racket
. A peaceful spot to wet a line...then one sounded off so close with a high pitched cackle he almost startled me over the side of the boat!! I was staring into the cattails looking for that rascal but couldn't glance so much as a feather. Needless to say we fished 9 hours and I don't think 5 minutes went by without a rooster sounding off. It was something to hear the chain reactions when one bird would start, then another and ano.... Well you get the picture. It was neat to audibly isolate so many different roosters crowing, and just think after the hatch how many will be out there! It was rainy, it was sunny, it was hot, it was cold, it was windy, it was calm; crow crow crow cackle cackle cackle. I didn't speak with any guides, outfitters, or the local mailman. I didn't even talk with MNGFP to get their take on it. Purely anecdotal, but it was a cacophony of pheasants the likes of which I'd never heard before. I've got a few doors to knock on later this summer. The pheasants survived the winter snows "like a champ." Wait is that plaigarism of the Aberdeen coalition....P.S. Fishing was good, our best 5 went 25lbs. on the nose. Lots of nice bass in the boat, and even a few slough sharks(not pictured).
