New to MN

T

Trusty20

New member
Hi Everyone,
I'm pretty new to MN and am looking forward to meeting some fellow pheasant hunters and learning the places to hunt for pheasant or grouse. I've got a 3 year old GSP. She works the field pretty well and listens well to commands but is still polishing up on finding birds and holding back when the bird is flushed. I could use some good places to take her out and give her a chance to find some birds. Does anyone know of some good locations within a 2-3 hour drive from the Twin Cities?
 
Trusty20 said:
Hi Everyone,
I'm pretty new to MN and am looking forward to meeting some fellow pheasant hunters and learning the places to hunt for pheasant or grouse. I've got a 3 year old GSP. She works the field pretty well and listens well to commands but is still polishing up on finding birds and holding back when the bird is flushed. I could use some good places to take her out and give her a chance to find some birds. Does anyone know of some good locations within a 2-3 hour drive from the Twin Cities?
Click to expand...

Welcome to Minnesota.

There are quite a few options for pheasant hunting within 1-2 hours of the cities but they see lots of use. Depending on where you live I'd go 3-hours or more to hit the less pressured options.

Southwest and west central MN have the best combination of decent pheasant numbers and abundant public hunting options. In a nutshell the closer to South Dakota the better and if you find it on the map and it looks like an inconvenient place to get to from the metro again all the better.

As for grouse the northeast & north central areas of MN are prime territory and there are lots of public land options within 1.5 to 2.5 hours from the cities. The hunting that close to the metro can be average to good. If you want good to very good grouse hunting look at traveling 3-hours or more again.

Good Luck

DB
 
What part of Mn do you live?

If you don't have lots of time and money, a game preserve may be your best bet for introducing your dog to lots of birds - either chuckers or pheasants.

There are several within 100 miles of the Twin Cities and you can locate these on line. I personally use Major Ave. Gun Club near Hutchinson.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the good information DB :) and the game farm suggestion jonnyB. I've tried a farm near Rochester that was decent and the guy running it was friendly and had good advice. But finding one closer to the cities would be great, I might have to give that one in hutchinson a try
 
Try to google Wings of Watertown. Located just 25 miles from Excelsior...

Scratch hunt during the week - @ $20 plus birds. Good deal if you're retired!
 
Go out and get the Southern Minnesota edition of the Sportsman's Atlas. It is a little expensive but when I started out it was invaluable in finding public spots to hunt. It also helps if you can get out mid-week early on so you can get into some spots before they are over-run. I have not yet worked up the courage to ask around for private permission, due to the tales of woe and disappointment, but that may pay off as well and if so, get a plat book.

besides it is fun to look through the maps in the off season, scheming for that next big trip. This year's paid off too well -- on Tuesday I limited out in 90 minutes after a three-hour drive. I had four more spots to try and never got out of the truck.

Daisy and Buck were ticked off...
 
Daisybuck said:
Go out and get the Southern Minnesota edition of the Sportsman's Atlas. It is a little expensive but when I started out it was invaluable in finding public spots to hunt. It also helps if you can get out mid-week early on so you can get into some spots before they are over-run. I have not yet worked up the courage to ask around for private permission, due to the tales of woe and disappointment, but that may pay off as well and if so, get a plat book.

besides it is fun to look through the maps in the off season, scheming for that next big trip. This year's paid off too well -- on Tuesday I limited out in 90 minutes after a three-hour drive. I had four more spots to try and never got out of the truck.

Daisy and Buck were ticked off...
Click to expand...

Daisybuck,
Sounds like your scouting was on spot. :10sign: I think I saw those Atlases on sale at Fleet Farm I'll have to pick one up on my way out to deer camp. Give me something to do on my downtime this weekend, scheming where to take the dog first. If you feel like sharing what county or area I should start with you could PM me. Thanks for the good info
 
For some reason, pheasant birds (roosters) are in short supply, hence the price increase. It was $19 per bird. Chuckers are less - @ 13.
 
I went to St. Olaf college in Northfield..

If you want pheasants that way... go towards the SE.. along iowa border and such.. if not make longer trips towards the SW..

You could easily get into ruffies form the cities by heading north.
 
I heard that a ton of local game farms are struggling to get birds because so many people in the dakotas are paying top dollar since the numbers are down and that's such a big part of there revenue.
 
I know of a game farm out by Mobridge that paid for and released 500 birds the week before opener because numbers were down and they didn't want to disappoint their hunters. Who knows how many more they have purchased.
 
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