Pheasant hunting during gun deer opener

R

Rooster Rodeo

Member
Looking to get some info on expectations going bird hunting during the gun deer opener. I’ve never hunted this weekend and was wondering what hunting pressure and safety is like. Ideally I’d go in the southern or western part of the state in prairie/WPA like habitat. Does anyone have any experience they can share on going out this particular weekend? Any insight would be helpful, thanks!
 
I’ve done it. Seems like most deer hunters are gone by 9am. My requirements for hunting an area is that there are no vehicles in the parking lot and the spot isnt what I would consider typical deer hunting areas. Example an area that’s only grassland, no tree, woods, shelter belts, etc.
 
It seems this topic comes up every fall whether it's in Minnesota, South Dakota or elsewhere. Like Glock said, most deer hunters are out of the field by mid morning. They may return for a late afternoon hunt. But in all my years of pheasant hunting in both Minnesota and South Dakota during the deer season I've never had a problem. Just try to steer clear of fields with hunters and be sure to wear a lot of orange.
 
I've done it and never had an issue, but I have run into deer hunters (unexpectedly) on public land who came in from private land, so no cars at the lot. It's not a terrible idea to put an orange vest/skid plate on your dog as an extra security measure, and to also make sure you're wearing the full legal blaze. And when I have run into deer hunters, I just turn around and go home. No sense in taking any risks with the dogs, or in ruining their hunt.

I will say - you will learn fast that some of the public grassland units become refuge for deer that have been pushed out of other places. I've bumped some nice bucks pheasant hunting during the gun deer season.
 
Last edited:
nater said:
It's not a terrible idea to put an orange vest/skid plate on your dog as an extra security measure, and to also make sure you're wearing the full legal blaze. And when I have run into deer hunters, I just turn around and go home. No sense in taking any risks with the dogs, or in ruining their hunt.
Click to expand...

This is the biggest issue. There are a lot of deer hunters out there, over 400,000 expected. Most of the overlapping pheasant range that coincides with deer season is 9 days long. Make sure you wear FULL blaze orange above the waist. The blaze orange on the dog isn't a bad idea either. I'd be worried about my dog getting shot. There are instances of deer hunters shooting dogs by accident thinking its a deer. Hard to imagine, but it happens. With that many hunters afield, there are going to be a lot of idiots partaking. Believe me, I know some.

Show some respect if you encounter deer hunters too. They may not be popular on this particular forum, but bear in mind they have a very limited window of opportunity to hunt compared to pheasant hunters. Most of them stand hunt in a tree.

I'll be deer hunting the entire 9 day season. Part timers leave their stand at midday. I sit there for 10 hours, every day, as long as the weather cooperates.
 
Use common sense and it's not a problem, but you also need to assume the deer hunter is also using common sense. If there's a car in the parking lot, skip it. Don't hunt a spot that looks like deer habitat.

That said, their season is 9 days long. A pheasant hunter's season is 80ish days long. If you can avoid it and get in your hunting at a different time, do it. If you can't, no hard feelings there either.
 
I've done it 2nd weekend a few years ago in western MN and never saw a deer hunter or phes hunter.
As others stated, make sure no other vehicles are around and I would glass some of the surrounding private pieces, as it seems like the box stands surround the public stuff
 
The second week and weekend are usually better than opener... that being said, I've had "interactions" with deer-hunters late morning (11 am and later) which were extremely uncomfortable in southwestern Minnesota while pheasant hunting. People forget that public lands are, well public... lately, it doesn't matter if it's fishing, feather hunting, or fur hunting; entitlement grows while kindness dies. I've had fishermen tell me to move the boat as I am sitting on "their line" of gps, hunters tell me "I was going to deer hunt this wma" as my dog is already buried deep into the cat tails. I could care less how long each critter's season is; I only have so many hunting days available too.
 
Interesting. Did not see anyone at all on Monday and hope to be out tomorrow too.

I usually stay away from most units that have forest / woody cover. I have never seen a MN hunter push cattails for deer.

By the way, I have seen zero deer while pheasant hunting either Western MN or several parts of ND this year. I mean zero, nada, nothing. Some years it seems the deer count far exceeds the rooster count many days.
 
Was out far western MN on Wednesday. Drove out the night before based on a mild (breezy) forecast of 10 - 15 mph winds.

This is what we faced by lunchtime:
1699552306028.png

It also turned cloudy ... rather low clouds on top of that.


My son made two great shots on roosters. One rooster was a stunning long-tailed beauty. I have killed so many birds ... by 2:47PM I said let's go scout all the WMA and WIAs around here for future hunts.

Dog had fun. We took our smaller SUV and it worked just fine for this short trip. Not sure the dog agreed with the drive-around strategy.

1699552783028.png

Saw two deer hunters out. One was two guys parked in a truck that left when they saw the wind. Saw one guy in a tree stand (well elevated shack) blind on private land. Saw one other pheasant hunter ... heard one shot (deer, pheasant, ??) earlier in the day.
 
MN is a deer hunting state with license sales that are 4X-5X that of pheasant stamps. Most MN hunters holding an unfilled deer tag will be looking for deer during the week if they have this week off. Party hunting allows for some to shoot deer every year but rarely fill a tag.

Many diehard MN pheasant hunters travel to SD this week to hunt if they are not deer hunters.

I will deer hunt again this weekend but do not hold out much hope. Wolves outnumber deer on some trail cams. Couple that with a rather rough winter in our zone ... still fun ... Private land, private shack. Safe to come and go, never anyone in your deer stand without you knowing, poker in the evenings .... I make it tougher yet - I will only shoot a buck with eight points or better. Maybe I will never shoot another deer.
 
Last edited:
Years ago ... didn't MN offer much of the ag region two options for deer hunting ?

You had to pick one in what was once called Zone 4.

1) opening weekend (2 day hunt)
2) Thursday - Sunday (4 day hunt) including 2nd weekend
 
BRITTMAN said:
Years ago ... didn't MN offer much of the ag region two options for deer hunting ?

You had to pick one in what was once called Zone 4.

1) opening weekend (2 day hunt)
2) Thursday - Sunday (4 day hunt) including 2nd weekend
Click to expand...
You are correct.
 
I love deer hunting. I ended up shooting a 8 point 2 hours into my season so that’s it for me. I do still have a doe tag but don’t really need to meat so. I hunted almost all private land when I was younger, so really never had to worry about running into deer hunters out pheasant hunting. Now that I’m back into it I hunt mostly all public so it was definitely a concern of mine. I decided to try this morning anyways on a new WPA, kinda picked a corner I felt secure in. Did see one deer hunter across the field. He was just walking around. Shot like 4 times into the woods, and then walked around some more. Maybe he bumped something but seemed a little weird.

I personally would not hunt public on a firearms season weekend that is for sure. I am a proud deer hunter but it seems some weirdness does come out during deer season, guys get weird and there are questionable hunters just wandering around just itching to pull the trigger. Had a few tense moments that I remember growing up deer hunting.
 
Bob Peters said:
Deer hunting is so overrated.
Click to expand...
I know lots on this forum don’t seem fond of it. Growing up deer camp up north was one hell of a special thing. That kind of faded, but I now have access to an awesome piece of land that produces 160-170 scored bucks each year. It’s a pretty big rush knowing there is real possibility a big one could come by any moment.

It’s not for all but it can be pretty fun, lots of good memories.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Years ago ... didn't MN offer much of the ag region two options for deer hunting ?

You had to pick one in what was once called Zone 4.

1) opening weekend (2 day hunt)
2) Thursday - Sunday (4 day hunt) including 2nd weekend
Click to expand...
Second weekend was Saturday thru Tuesday
We always went the first weekend. Got my first hun on a Saturday afternoon after our group filled out right away in the morning.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top