Mentally Checked out!!

waterdog09

waterdog09

Active member
It's official I have mentally checked out for the rest of this week leading up to Saturday morning!! I still have the rest of tonight and tomorrow night of OT at work to go and needless to say it's going to be two long nights!! Heading down to SW MN with 5 guys for opener on Friday to do some scouting at the piece we have picked out and then the long and sleepless Friday night which means probably just getting to our spot at 5am to lock it down and drinking a ton of coffee to pass the time! I hope 4-5 trucks will do the trick in keeping our spot to ourselves Saturday morning so hopefully anyone driving by will see all the trucks and think better of trying to squeeze in at 8:45
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again... I hate opener. There are a bunch of a-holes that try to squeeze into a taken spot, and won't leave because they don't know of any others. And it gets worse in the field because a bunch of them carry a shotgun 3 times a year (grouse opener, duck opener, and pheasant opener) and they take risky shots and make the fields, woods, and ponds a dangerous place. Plus they are loud getting into the spot and loud when yelling at their fat dogs that barely know "sit."

I'll wait until they get out of the field and back on the couch to watch the gophers and Vikings, then I'll rely on good dog work to find the birds they educated with all their bad shooting.
 
waterdog09 said:
It's official I have mentally checked out for the rest of this week leading up to Saturday morning!! I still have the rest of tonight and tomorrow night of OT at work to go and needless to say it's going to be two long nights!! Heading down to SW MN with 5 guys for opener on Friday to do some scouting at the piece we have picked out and then the long and sleepless Friday night which means probably just getting to our spot at 5am to lock it down and drinking a ton of coffee to pass the time! I hope 4-5 trucks will do the trick in keeping our spot to ourselves Saturday morning so hopefully anyone driving by will see all the trucks and think better of trying to squeeze in at 8:45
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Won't help man had 6 vehicles last year since 6:00 am. 1 parking area no way for guys to go around 8:30 rolls around 2 guys 1 car squeeze in & act rude could not believe it that's opening day... Hope u have better success holding ur area down I'll be doing the same minus the coffee
 
Public land is public land. No one really has the right to holding an area or unit.

I would drive on ... actually I would not even be out there, but another guy drives by and sees 5 - 6 trucks, they slowdown and can see there are not 20 people there but 5, 6, maybe 7. They think, big area. Go for it.

To be honest, the guys flooding parking lots with trucks or maybe worse yet leaving unoccupied vehicles at their second and third spots are just as much of the problem on opening day.

See the same thing in MN on Friday before deer. Guys setting up camp at the front of an access road. Thankfully I am on my way to private land.

In MN you better learn to share on opener or get your chores done that day and hunt a few days or week end(s) later.
 
I have run my Britts right behind other groups many times and killed birds.

One example:
One time we were duck hunting (not opener) and watch a group of birds flush from the road into a field. Four guys and three dogs soon come after. They flush a couple ... one actually flies over my brother and he drops it into the duck decoys.

The birds ran around these guys or sat tight, but I knew there was a dozen or more birds in that group. Once the hunters and dogs were gone, I worked the area and after a dozen points had a pair of roosters in the bag.


That said, I guess I get the first walk frenzy in Minnesota when the crops are still up and birds are pushed into them by 10 or 11 (if not already in there at 9). Just not for me.
 
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BRITTMAN said:
Public land is public land. No one really has the right to holding an area or unit.

I would drive on ... actually I would not even be out there, but another guy drives by and sees 5 - 6 trucks, they slowdown and can see there are not 20 people there but 5, 6, maybe 7. They think, big area. Go for it.

To be honest, the guys flooding parking lots with trucks or maybe worse yet leaving unoccupied vehicles at their second and third spots are just as much of the problem on opening day.

See the same thing in MN on Friday before deer. Guys setting up camp at the front of an access road. Thankfully I am on my way to private land.

In MN you better learn to share on opener or get your chores done that day and hunt a few days or week end(s) later.
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I agree to share & I don't own the public land... That said rude is rude you don't go sit in another guys decoys or deer stand after he beats you to the spot not hard to understand my hunt is not more important then anybody else's but I won't go crap on anybody's parade either on opener guys are all about me me me not treat hunters like u want to be treated...

I have went up to orr MN 3 separate years always guys camped on a favorite hunting trail I could just walk by there camp & say u don't own this & its public land but that makes me the a hole. I just pass by & hunt else wear wish all hunters thought similar...

Hunted ruffed grouse 2 days this wkend man give me pheasants don't miss the big woods as much as I thought I'd rather sit in my truck & watch the S*** show on pheasant opener...
 
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waterdog09 said:
It's official I have mentally checked out for the rest of this week leading up to Saturday morning!! I still have the rest of tonight and tomorrow night of OT at work to go and needless to say it's going to be two long nights!! Heading down to SW MN with 5 guys for opener on Friday to do some scouting at the piece we have picked out and then the long and sleepless Friday night which means probably just getting to our spot at 5am to lock it down and drinking a ton of coffee to pass the time! I hope 4-5 trucks will do the trick in keeping our spot to ourselves Saturday morning so hopefully anyone driving by will see all the trucks and think better of trying to squeeze in at 8:45
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Hey waterdog how do u scout for birds on Friday b4 season??? Not being sarcastic I'm curious do u run your dogs on the public land b4??? Or sit in truck & listen or what???

The guys who squeezed in on our 6 trucks statement was we walked all over this WMA scouting yesterday we have a plan!? I just figured I wanna keep the birds dumb till I run the WMA??? Should I be running my dog scouting the Friday b4???

P.S. 1st I herd guys arriving early to get to a hunting spot is the problem with opening day's of season's I just thought it was the rude hunters?
 
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I grew up on the prairies of ND, but love those ruffies.

Middle dog is pinning them well right now. Still hard to hit even when you know they are there. I usually don't switch much to pheasants until Halloween.

Last time I hunted MN Pheasant opener was '07 or '08 when I had private land to hunt on.



My observation is that the rudeness is largely a Minnesota thing. You typically don't see that in NoDak unless you are really close to a larger town or it is a MN or WI group doing the encroaching. Or you are hunting waterfowl in a harvested grain field ... that is when NoDakers typically decide to encroach.
 
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BRITTMAN said:
I grew up on the prairies of ND, but love those ruffies.

Middle dog is pinning them well right now. Still hard to hit even when you know they are there. I usually don't switch much to pheasants until Halloween.

Last time I hunted MN Pheasant opener was '07 or '08 when I had private land to hunt on.



My observation is that the rudeness is largely a Minnesota thing. You typically don't see that in NoDak unless you are really close to a larger town or it is a MN or WI group doing the encroaching. Or you are hunting waterfowl in a harvested grain field ... that is when NoDakers typically decide to encroach.
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Come on I know u hunted all over maybe not USA but I seen caribou pics u posted u know that rude hunters are in every damn state EXCEPT NO DAK. But in most other states I've hunted I seen same s*** good hunters & dumb dumb its not a MN state thing... More a big city mentality I think
 
MN, ND, SD, KS, IA, WI, WY, LA, GA, TX, and Canada.

Your right it happens everywhere ...

It only takes a few to sour the entire lot, but sota boys seem to be a little more desperate and tend to crowd in more often.

That is why I have a problem with the MN DNR hyping up game populations and trying to sell more licenses. Maybe the lower total license counts are equalizing to the hunter carrying capacity of the MN hunting opportunities.

DNR cannot comprehend that quality of the hunt is a key factor in hunter retention. They did finally realize access remained another key issue and the MN WIA is first class.
 
BRITTMAN said:
MN, ND, SD, KS, IA, WI, WY, LA, GA, TX, and Canada.

Your right it happens everywhere ...

It only takes a few to sour the entire lot, but sota boys seem to be a little more desperate and tend to crowd in more often.

That is why I have a problem with the MN DNR hyping up game populations and trying to sell more licenses. Maybe the lower total license counts are equalizing to the hunter carrying capacity of the MN hunting opportunities.

DNR cannot comprehend that quality of the hunt is a key factor in hunter retention. They did finally realize access remained another key issue and the MN WIA is first class.
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Our wia is a joke in terms of we need wia for quality hunts in MN we have tons of public land & true public land not leased stuff plus one of the best WMA system of any state... Wia fee to access is good make the 1s using the wia pay for it I won't hunt wia in MN or most any state its not there to manage wildlife its there to make private Land owners $$$

I've hunted IA MO KS OK WI WY SD ND FL NE MT MN all on public land MN has it very well public land hunting wise... Our hunters are pretty nice compared to a few states I've been to & hunted with...

NE OFW land aka walk in lands First class program look into it & compare MN acres don't mean much if the land is not managed for wildlife...
 
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I usually do better hunting the last hour vs the zoo in the morning. Most of the birds have moved into the corn by 9. SW area was always the worst for people crowding. I did shoot a rooster over some body else's dog once that cut me off. That made my day. Guy showed up at 8:55 with a clown car full of hunters.

I'll probably get out in the middle of the week.
 
mnbirdchaser said:
I usually do better hunting the last hour vs the zoo in the morning. Most of the birds have moved into the corn by 9. SW area was always the worst for people crowding. I did shoot a rooster over some body else's dog once that cut me off. That made my day. Guy showed up at 8:55 with a clown car full of hunters.

I'll probably get out in the middle of the week.
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You are 100% correct on last few hours of day lots of guys stop early on opener to go eat drink watch sports etc. & go home early Sunday b4 evening hunt I've done great first few minutes of legal shooting but as good or better more times last few hours especially opener... Last year seen birds bombing into cattails from cut bean & corn 2-3 times at sunset on Sat& sun of opener...

Out west by Marshall MN is as nuts as any wear also hunt west & SW only had 1 issue in SW MN. Last year will let you know how this opener go...

Only time we seen decoy cars at parking spots over night was in SW last year he had balls to leave his truck there all night & then say to my brother how early does a guy gotta get here to beat other hunters here lol
 
BRITTMAN said:
I grew up on the prairies of ND, but love those ruffies.

Middle dog is pinning them well right now. Still hard to hit even when you know they are there. I usually don't switch much to pheasants until Halloween.

Last time I hunted MN Pheasant opener was '07 or '08 when I had private land to hunt on.



My observation is that the rudeness is largely a Minnesota thing. You typically don't see that in NoDak unless you are really close to a larger town or it is a MN or WI group doing the encroaching. Or you are hunting waterfowl in a harvested grain field ... that is when NoDakers typically decide to encroach.
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I'm a NoDak boy as well!

I haven't hunted many places, but I have done some fishing in Canada, along with hunting in ND and MN. In NoDak I never once had the experience of another hunter trying to leap-frog me into a spot. It just never happened. I was taught that if you see a car there to move on out of respect and safety (you never know where people may be or set up). Then I moved to Minnesota. Oh boy, was my world changed.

BUUTTT that being said, I have done some fishing north of Winnipeg in the fall... Things can get hairy there, both at the public access and while fishing. We generally pull cranks, and if we catch a nice 'eye, we are real hush hush about it because you can bet your a** that one of those Iowa boys will swoop in, anchor, and jig in that spot for the next 2 hours if he sees you.
 
I never seen such trash or bird carcasses as I did in ND pheasant carcasses hanging on fence post at parking spots etc I mean we can replace the state names & keep telling story's of rude hunters its not only a MN thing go to WI for deer opener or ND this Saturday bet there is rude hunters from ND same as IA same as MN travel around a Lil u will see this is not just a 1 or 2 state issue...

Good luck & safe hunting this MN opener those who choose to attend & hunt public

Do to others what u want done to u should be taught in MN gun safety classes nowadays
 
I am not saying that I oppose sharing a area with another group, but I know the gys I hunt with when we see another group at a spot we move on we don't try to squeeze in to a little swath that isn't being walked. Even opening morning I know guys are just trying to find a spot to hunt but if you see a bunch of trucks at a spot don't try to walk right next to that group it's just not a good idea! You don't know what kind of safety they take when it comes to shooting? If a area is big enough for multiple groups and you can go to the other end of a piece and not interfere with either groups hunts I am all for it, but when you start putting groups on top of groups in a small piece your asking for problems be it someone shooting when they shouldn't, dog fights, or people fighting.
 
Have to disagree ... Most MN WIA is first class. I would take most of them over most WMAs (under managed) any day. Many MN WMAs offer great winter cover, but not much in the way of great hunting cover. In my opinion, most MN WIAs are as good if not better than many ND PLOTS or most KS WIHA.

ND people rarely (never seen it once) leave carcasses ... they clean their birds at home. Probably nonresidents lacking a place to dispose. Can't tell you how many times I find ruffed grouse carcasses with the breasts pulled in northern MN.

For small groups of hunters I believe pure and simple that MN is one the best upland bird states in the Nation. Most hunters are good sports and I have yet to have a single conflict ... in part by design and my effort not to allow those situations to even begin.
 
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