MN report

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
Went Saturday group of 3 with 3 dogs. Very busy, maybe even more than average opener. Hunters everywhere. Lots and lots of shooting around us. Our shooting was a little below average, my buddy had a really bad day. He's normally a good shot but woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We had lots of fun, bagged two roosters.

Sunday I hunted with a buddy in the morning. Less hunters and less shooting. We each bagged one and missed one. We split up at noon, and each got our 2nd rooster. The dry conditions made for really tough scenting. Majority of crops are out, harvest looks way ahead of schedule. 20241013_171818.jpg

SC MN. Skye hunted saturday and was wore out so Sunday was just Roxy.
 
Saturday morning 4 man limit on west central MN public land. Bird numbers are excellent. Normal to below number of hunters.
 
Saturday we saw more hunters then past years. Lots of people driving around at 9am hoping to find an open spot with no success. With no measurable amount of rain in two months made scenting difficult. We had to work to find our roosters.
 
Went out this weekend, ended up with a 5 man limit on public ground by 11am on Saturday. Sunday I had my 2 by 10:30 and the rest the group came up a couple short by 1pm. Overall we saw a ton of birds, probably around the same amount of hunters as years past. Looking to be a good season, could definitely use some rain to ease the abuse on the dogs. Looking forward to this weekend in MN and then IA and SD in the coming weeks!
 
The guy from the birdtales got a couple huns last year in MN. And one video he even flushes a flock of quail! He doesn't shoot at the quail because I don't think that's allowed in MN.
 
Bob Peters said:
The guy from the birdtales got a couple huns last year in MN. And one video he even flushes a flock of quail! He doesn't shoot at the quail because I don't think that's allowed in MN.
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Yeah bobwhite quail are a protected non game species in MN.
 
Munster927 said:
Where about were you that you got your hun? I haven't seen a hun in the SW part of the state in about 10 years.
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In the last 5 years, I've flushed huns from 3 WPAs and at least 6 WMAs that I can think of. I GPS track coveys when I see them (primarily from the road in the winter), and have at least 15 likely populations identified. There are more huns out there than you think.
 
Tough for my son and I in Stevens county opening morning, saw 2 the first walk, 1 hen and 1 small young rooster, didn’t shoot at that one. 855 we saw a handful of roosters fly into the corn. Went back out Sunday just me and the dog, kicked up 2 hens during the day, 1 hen and 3 roosters during the golden hour; got my 2nd bird 3 minutes before sunset. Monday morning, dog got birdy a couple of times but no flushes, they must have flew to the corn before shooting
About the same number of guys on opener
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Honey and I have been out 4 times so far this season. Public land. Opening weekend had more hunters than usual where we were hunting (SW MN). There were even a bunch that Monday morning. The bone dry conditions made for difficult scenting and, along with the higher temps and sun, made for more taxing hunting for dog and hunter. We had to work to get our birds, but did find them. The corn where we were hunting was mostly out, so that helped a bit. 2nd and 4th days were fairly windy.

Observations: Not many young birds. Did see some underdeveloped, late hatch roosters, posing as hens, except for pitiful cackling. We've found our birds next to dogwood/brush growths. A guess is they are trying to stay out of the sun to conserve moisture.

More runners than usual, I think. Not sure if that is simply because they are older birds or if the dry conditions have something to do with it. I think about half the birds we've bagged have been runners (who didn't run far enough and fast enough, obviously).

Bonuses: Saw 2 woodcock, which is relatively rare where we hunt (no plug, so no shots taken). Saw quite a few swans on ponds/marshes (not enough room in the back of the vest to take them home either).

Fur: One less plains pocket gopher digging up the landscape. 3 disagreements with raccoons. Honey doesn't appreciate wild pheasant killers, and asked them, impolitely, to leave. Note to self: Tail up = Bird. Tail out behind = Let's get ready to rumble.

1st Day:

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2nd Day:

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3rd Day (saw more than the one, but he was the only one who wanted to come home with us):

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4th Day (SC MN):

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Was out yesterday 9 - noon. Took one rooster.

My Brittany was casting out and I could tell he was on a bird. He was out about 30 yards in front of me and starting to lock up facing me (that said the wind was coming at him over his butt and not into his face) ... I look out front and to the left of me and I can see the grass moving ... and the movement is coming to me. I hustle over to my left about 15 yards to cut off the movement. Six pheasants (all hens) were attempting to run back around me but when I had them pinned between me and the dog they flushed 1 or two at a time.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Was out yesterday 9 - noon. Took one rooster.

My Brittany was casting out and I could tell he was on a bird. He was out about 30 yards in front of me and starting to lock up facing me (that said the wind was coming at him over his butt and not into his face) ... I look out front and to the left of me and I can see the grass moving ... and the movement is coming to me. I hustle over to my left about 15 yards to cut off the movement. Six pheasants (all hens) were attempting to run back around me but when I had them pinned between me and the dog they flushed 1 or two at a time.
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Wow, lots of ladies! Chicks/first year birds?
 
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