MN Hunting Reports

FCSpringer said:
I saw some nice birds yesterday, 4 roosters and 6 hens together. And a couple singles. Not seeing much else around here right now. So letting them be. Think I am done. Maybe go one or two more times . Not going to waste my time around home.
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Based on half or more of the recent hunting report posts originating from FCS, we can see he came to his senses. ;)
 
FCSpringer said:
Got some on public land, and some on private. We asked I think about 6 or 7 farmers I never met before, all land posted like crazy. And only 1 said no because he had someone coming. Awsome hunting here in MN. I don't give a hoot what any one says LOL. It's flippin awesome.:thumbsup: Loren and her loot. She has become a pretty nice pup. She found this one on the right that was real nice. 22 3/4" tail.

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Nice birds FC. I love your enthusiasm and love for your state too:).
 
Ken, I can tell by the looks on the pup that, You better take Him for another walk. He ain't ready for the couch yet.

MAN! that's good hunting!

Opps, sorry, I know Loren is a She, dang good girl at that!
 
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BRITTMAN said:
Based on half or more of the recent hunting report posts originating from FCS, we can see he came to his senses. ;)
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I meant done near home. And I was only out 3 more times since that post;):D 30 miles from home. Still nothing here. Been around the blocks several times. Sucks to say the least. I don't know what the deal is or if they are hiding way out below some hills somewhere. But are not showing them selves. Never said the entire state was void of excellent opportunity. In three days I would say I saw between 150-200 birds. More then enough. But being able to do this walking out the door is missed a little. Gotta spend 10 bucks on gas. Just not right.
:cheers: Anyone doubts me your welcome to walk my land this weekend. I will not be with you LOL.
 
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MN will always pheasants. The populations will fluctuate with winter weather and spring/summer nesting success. I suspect pheasant populations are down " a little", but a great late nesting effort by persistent hens kept the number higher than expected.

Like I said on the SD page, part of the % down is tied to the loss of habitat. If MN looses 50% of its private grasslands, the pheasant population will fall proportionately. The areas with adequate habitat will continue to hold birds at good numbers.

As the DNR drives their routes - they will not see the same concentration of birds where habitat is no longer present. Thus a reduction in pheasant counts is not uniform across the route, nor the entire section, township, county or state.

Hunters will get squeezed together or the number of hunters will fall (second one is more likely).

30 years ago ... pre CRP I was killing plenty of pheasants in ND and SD where I grew up behind my first Brittany.
 
Interesting day today. Actually a few people out and about. First time I saw other hunters in the three times I have been out the past 9 days.

Mix of new and old places today. Most of my "old" spots were too filled in with snow to make much fun. I could tell no one else has bothered since the last snow if not longer.

Did shoot two roosters in two new spots today. The two roosters were all I saw, but tracks in the snow suggested they were not alone this morning or the day before. One spot will be good from Day 1 of the season 'til snow makes it impassable.

Snow soften and was wet. The big crunch is coming. :(

Likely my last time out in Minnesota. Decent season only brought down by my busy schedule and inability to get out more. Explored two completely new areas across counties I have never visited.
 
Today was a real nice day to walk. Put up about 20 by noon. Got the one I shot at. The rest were just out of range volenteers, or saw too late. Lots of hens. Finaly saw my loner rooster here with 2 hens, so hope they get through.:thumbsup: Now, this may have been me last go. Time to clean the garage. Things look good as far as numbers in several areas for next year. Hope the rest of the winter is mild. Hills melted quite a bit yesterday.
 
Having some bare fields for the birds to feed is good news.

Up here, 38 yesterday, 32 today, nice, water dripping.

Forecast is for -30 by morning. :eek: SHYTT!!!!

Throw another log on the fire. :cheers:
 
mnmthunting said:
Having some bare fields for the birds to feed is good news.

Up here, 38 yesterday, 32 today, nice, water dripping.

Forecast is for -30 by morning. :eek: SHYTT!!!!

Throw another log on the fire. :cheers:
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Brace yourself, it's on the way. It was around 32 hear at noon. It's now in the teens and dropping fast. Wind has picked up to around 30 mph gusting to 40+. We have blowing snow and near white out conditions. Suppose to head to Redfield in the morning to have Christmas with my daughters and grand kids but that looks unlikely at this point. :mad:
 
I did a day trip from Stillwater out to Ortonville yesterday. Beautiful 36 degrees with no wind up until 12:30. Wind started picking up and by the time I left at 3:30 it was 14 degrees with 39 mph winds. I did mange my limit though and saw a good 60 plus birds. I got a couple good picts but photobucket is on my desktop which is in for repair. Man that season went quick!!
 
Heading over to the Canby area today to hunt one last time this year. Meeting an old friend who also is from Canby (now lives in Buffalo, MN). It's snowing now and we are suppose to get about an inch. We only plan to hunt 2-3 hours this afternoon but that may be long enough with the snow and cold.
 
Well 9:00AM to about 4:30PM is only 7.5 hours.

That is all the pheasant hunting hours you get in Minnesota this time of year. :eek:
 
Final day for me!!

Went out today, one last time. West Central area, private ground that I can't hunt until after muzzleloader season. Snow was tough going, did see 50-75 birds, very jumpy though. Ended up with two birds, had opportunities for #3 but that is a story for another time!! IMO any bird this time of year is a trophy!!! Good luck to anybody attempting to hunt tomorrow!!
 
Went out today for about 2 hours. I managed to shoot at 4 roosters. Unfortunately my shooting was very poor today and I only put 1 in the bag. Thought it was going to be it for the year but a buddy texted tonight and I guess we are gonna give it a go in the morning. It's going to to be cold, but I think we will get by.
 
We were out in that 40 below stuf last week, it was dang good hunting. But Sat was my last day. Saw a couple I could have gone and went after today, but said the heck with it. Back to training and some yote hunting.
 
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My season is done for the year. Just to cold sure would have been nice to get out one more time but im calling it quits.
 
I hunted by Canby yesterday for several hours. Light snow and about 7 degrees. The biggest problem was just getting around in the snow. There is a real thick crust on top so it makes walking quite difficult. We walked 4 smaller places all on private land and saw one rooster and one hen. I don't know where they are, must be in the big cattail sloughs. I'm not about to try walking those. I may try to get out one more time here in SD, probably on Friday when it warms up. Or I might just take Tbear's positiion, call it quits and start packing for Arizona.
 
That's where we found em. Yes walking was hard. I pretty much stuck to open ice edges and walked the deer trails. It worked. Hard to find the bird too. You did not want to shoot 3 then look. You had to mark them well, in case they disappeared in the snow. Plus in those cats, the crust is off the ground 3 feet or so.:eek: I think its been 3-4 years in a row with that rain crap. Getting old.
 
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