Hunter numbers

R

Rude One

Member
Hunter numbers this year have been crazy. I saw more hunters in 4 hours yesterday than I did in 4 days out in SD. It was hard because every piece of public land either had someone in it or was just recently walked. There were even a couple of large groups which surprised me with the new Governor order put in place. I saw three birds and couldn't find a spot unoccupied for the golden hour. Kind of depressing. Its good people are getting out but dang I haven't seen it like that in past years. Hopefully once it gets cold things will calm down. What are others seeing?
 
Hi Rude One, I guess it depends what part of the state you are hunting. I would say if you are hunting within an hour drive of the Metro then yes I would agree with you assessment. Outside of that range, it hasn't seen so bad this year from my observation.
 
I’m seeing more hunters this year also. I thought I sneak out Thursday for a short hunt at about 11am, first four wpa’s I checked had hunters in them. Saturday went farther west and saw lots of hunters out. I’m several hours from the cities so I don’t think the groups I’m seeing during the week are from the cities. The good news is I’m seeing birds most walks and getting my share of shots. Also the traffic is making me look at places I haven’t tried in past seasons. Stay safe.
 
We went west of the metro 1.5 hours yesterday and hunter numbers seemed average. The first two spots we tried were open. The 3rd spot we guessed had been walked because we didn't see a thing and we had two dogs with us. The final spot at the golden hour we had one long shot at a running rooster. We bagged one pheasant on the day.
 
You had to expect there would be more hunters. They're part of the covid crowd. It happened all summer too. More people fishing, camping, boating, etc. It may die down some if we get some winter weather and some colder temps/snow but if it continues to stay 50 degrees out they will come. I hope they all go back to their normal lives when this pandemic thing is done. The less people I encounter out there, the better.
 
I hope the people who have rediscovered the outdoors this year keep enjoying it long after the pandemic is over. And that their new or renewed interest helps them think about public space, conservation, and wildlife in ways that have been forgotten by a large segment of the population, I think with deleterious consequences.
 
It is good to see people out enjoying the outdoors. It would be nice if this spurs more conservation and hopefully more land open to hunters in the future. I just want to see some birds. Without my dogs I wouldn't have seen anything yesterday. We found a few birds even with places having already been hunted. I was just curious if it was just me thinking that there were a ton of people out compared to the last couple years. Good luck the rest of the season.
 
Agree that I have seen more hunters out the past two weekends than I had expected. Great to see hunters with dogs in the fields and has forced me to explore some new places.
 
I hit cottonwood and Lyon and watonwan counties on Saturday. It seemed as busy a day as I've ever seen pheasant hunting. I flushed 3 hens and never saw a gamecock. Heard one packing up my truck after sunset from the ground I'd just walked:cry:
 
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