MN report

We were in central Minnesota yesterday as well. Public land. Saw several birds but most were flushing out of range until we walked vegetation that was taller than my head. Lots of hunters were out for a Friday
 
Glock said:
Lots of hunters were out for a Friday
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I was too. Started at 11 at the first spot and finished by 11:43am. Raised 13, 5 of which were roosters. They were getting up dumb and close.

The entire countryside is a mudhole where I hunt. Soft, wet, sticky mud and standing water in all the ditches, canals, and cattails - lots of it. I'm looking forward to that hardening up good for easier walking when it gets cold later this week.
 

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I was out today with my older seasoned Britt. Too windy for my younger dog (today anyways). Saw five birds ... three hens and two roosters. Dog caught both roosters when released off point. One in the cattails. The other in the taller grass. I walked by my dog on point in some taller grass and the rooster flushed but only got a couple feet of the ground and landed and buried into the grass... dog got him too.

Remington, Federal and Winchester have filed an official grievance with my Brittany.:ROFLMAO:
 
BRITTMAN said:
I was out today with my older seasoned Britt. Too windy for my younger dog (today anyways). Saw five birds ... three hens and two roosters. Dog caught both roosters when released off point. One in the cattails. The other in the taller grass. I walked by my dog on point in some taller grass and the rooster flushed but only got a couple feet of the ground and landed and buried into the grass... dog got him too.

Remington, Federal and Winchester have filed an official grievance with my Brittany.
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Again!? You don’t even need to carry a gun anymore.

It’s been my experience birds have been holding tight too, even on not so windy days. Sure makes it a lot of fun.
 
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I went early on Wed afternoon and got a couple more dumb ones at the first spot. All the ground had hardened up solid which made for much easier walking. The low areas with water had enough ice to hold the dog, but not me, yet.
 

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I am going to head out in the morning and give it a try for a few hours - with the cold we’ve been having, should I hit the cattails right away, or will there still be some in the CRP?
 
MNhunter4ever said:
I am going to head out in the morning and give it a try for a few hours - with the cold we’ve been having, should I hit the cattails right away, or will there still be some in the CRP?
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Good question. This is my least favorite time of the season. Cold enough for them to get into cattails with a skim of ice. Not cold long enough for me to go in. I will be out tomorrow too.
 
Hit one spot in SW and one in SC today. As was mentioned above, enough ice that I risked cattail edges in places. Saw very few birds. 3 hens and a rooster in standing corn on a WMA (rooster was a ways away before I saw him). Saw 6 hens and 2 roosters at another wma. All the birds there were in cattails. First rooster flushed wild to my left and I didn't see him until he passed in front of me, riding the wind. Tickled him, but he kept on truckin. Second one was hard to identify in the setting sun. Might have been the only pointed flush of the day. Others ran and flushed. By the time I identified, it was a bit out there. Tickled him too.

2nd skunk full day of hunting this year. 1 in SD and now one in MN. Time to start thinking about cattail strategies. Would be easier with some snow to pin them down.
 
Wind River said:
Tickled them or scared them?? Judgement call 😁 Hope they safely flew away. 🙏🙏
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They were in no danger of not flying away, unfortunately. Just some ruffled feathers that they recovered from, as far as I could see. Either that, or they were just dodging my pellets and changed flight patterns briefly. :)
 
old 20 super 90 said:
but the water is hard
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I can confirm this too. I also went on Saturday (afternoon) for a few hours and every ditch, swamp, and drainage area was like concrete. I walked some cattails but the birds weren't in there.

I found mine in grassy areas with the sun shining. One spot had about 30 but they were on a field edge and getting up like a flock of ducks out of range. I'll be hunting that spot next time, coming in from a different angle. My friend and I got 3, but we could not get the 4th. He missed a couple. I've been out 3 times in 8 days and hunting has been very good. Looking forward to putting 3 in the daily bag next time instead of 2.
 

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gimruis said:
I can confirm this too. I also went on Saturday (afternoon) for a few hours and every ditch, swamp, and drainage area was like concrete. I walked some cattails but the birds weren't in there.

I found mine in grassy areas with the sun shining. One spot had about 30 but they were on a field edge and getting up like a flock of ducks out of range. I'll be hunting that spot next time, coming in from a different angle. My friend and I got 3, but we could not get the 4th. He missed a couple. I've been out 3 times in 8 days and hunting has been very good. Looking forward to putting 3 in the daily bag next time instead of 2.
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You need to focus less on quantity,and more in quality.
 
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