Pheasant hunting during the gun deer season

Bob Peters

Well-known member
I'm just curious if there's any extra precautions or changes you guys make to hunting during the MN gun deer season? I am going out of town duck hunting next weekend, but am planing on upland hunting the following weekend which would be the opening weekend of gun deer season I believe. I hunt with a field bred golden and wondering if I should be worried about taking her out for pheasants during this time? I usually hunt south central or southwest MN. I never like to crowd people, so on public land I always go to a different spot if I see a truck in the area. I know myself I will dress like a pumpkin but am worried about the dog. Thanks for any insight you have, I appreciate it always. Safety is always my number one concern.
 
Hey Bob Peters, I sent you a Private Message........

Many people on this forum DO NOT hunt the public fields during deer season but it's totally legal to do so. I've done it before and plan do get a hunt in on Sunday and Monday of deer opener this year. As long as you keep your dog close, shouldn't be a problem and yes dressing in more orange than normal is always a good thing. I usually scout out the area I'm going to hunt and make sure there are not many deer hunters around. I've kicked up many deer while pheasant hunting and I'm sure many deer hunters have been gracious for a few wily pheasant hunters keeping those deer on the move during gun season.
 
I'm one of those guys that won't do it. First, I deer hunt and the season is only 9 days. So given the choice between bird hunting or deer hunting in this case, I choose deer hunting. I can bird hunt until New Years. Secondly, the safety issue. There are over almost half a million hunters out there toting rifles or slug shotguns and I can assure you that many of them are questionable hunters. Lastly, the added blaze orange rules. Standard bird hunting blaze orange isn't legal - you need to wear deer hunting blaze orange. An orange hat or upland vest with shoulder patch orange is not good enough.
 
You are fine in SW MN at least on week days. Most deer hunters are off their stands by 9AM. Respect the deer hunter or deer hunters on a public area and move on.

Pick areas that are relatively tree free on your last walk of the day ....

Lot's of deer out there. I am often seeing more bucks than roosters.

I would stay clear of the Douglas, Pope, Stearns Counties they go crazy there on big drives.
 
I live close enough to another state that has good numbers and a different deer season. I have done it in the past. I don’t worry about my dogs getting shot. It can definitely be a circus.
 
I had this same question a few years back, but on the 2nd weekend and it was a ghost town out there. I just avoided tracts with hunters/trucks but honestly, I dont remember ever running into a deer hunter.

I would recommend adding a orange vest to the pup for better visibility for all
 
I used to hunt quail in public lands in the Lake Meredith canyon area of the Texas Panhandle until one of my buddies told me he watched me all day. When asked how and where he was watching me, he said, "I could see you and your dog through my scope"...meaning a high powered rifle was pointing at me and the dog "all day". I should have punched him in the throat but instead I quit hunting quail during deer season. You can't wear enough orange to stop a .270.
 
Although it was busy with hunters this weekend, I was still able to find places to walk with the dog, flush roosters, and watch them fly away unharmed. I avoided woodsy areas and of course tracts of land that had a vehicle parked on any of its borders. I would have no worries about doing it again in the future. Southern MN gun deer is a shotgun/slug area, no high powered rifles allowed fyi.
 
I think if you are smart, you should not have any problems. Minnesota is blessed to have a lot of public land and plenty of space for everybody to spread out and enjoy. Wear orange, maybe put an orange collar on your dog. Avoid pieces that already have a vehicle in them or look like a piece that somebody would be deer hunting. If you really want to be nice, maybe avoid the opening weekend of deer hunting - let them enjoy their short season while we enjoy our longer (but still short) season. Only one time have I run into a deer hunter while pheasant hunting - late season muzzle loader who entered the property sometime after I did. He was sitting against a tree and I literally walked right right by him. Kind of startled me since there were no vehicles in the parking lot when I started hunting that piece, and there are no parking lot views while hunting it either. I apologized for unknowingly stumbling upon him, he was happy I was there because he "hoped I was moving some deer around."
 
I do not understand how avoiding deer hunters on public land is difficult

It is no more difficult than simply being courteous and not unlike avoiding other pheasant hunters.
 
This question seems to up every year. For many years I've pheasant hunted SW Minnesota during the deer season and it's never been an issue. Like Brittman said above, most deer hunters are out of the field by 9:00 AM. Deer hunters are generally going to be out early morning and late afternoon. If you hunt the middle of the day you probably won't see many, if any, deer hunters. And rarely will you see any on week days. If there are deer hunters in an area you might hunt just avoid it. And if you are in the field during deer season make you you wear plenty of orange. And it wouldn't hurt to have some orange on your dog.
 
I had seen some deer hunters on the first day but it was warm that day. Haven’t seen any since opening day.
 
I've hunted Southern MN many many times during the deer season. It's almost comical how predictable deer hunters are. If there are a decent amount of trees there will be deer hunters all over. If there aren't any trees you probably won't see any, regardless of the deer numbers on the piece of property.

I hunt a piece of public that has phenomenal deer numbers. The last two years during deer season I could have shot a 10 point and 8 point buck while pheasant hunting. The 10 pointer walked up to me with a doe and mated with her 40 yards away while I was just standing there in the grass. The problem is there's not much for trees so deer hunters won't touch it with a ten foot pole.
 
By 9:00 A.M. 95% of deer hunters are back home taking a nap. A person can usually scan a whole WMA from the parking lot and determine if there are any hunters left in the area.
 
I'm just curious if there's any extra precautions or changes you guys make to hunting during the MN gun deer season? I am going out of town duck hunting next weekend, but am planing on upland hunting the following weekend which would be the opening weekend of gun deer season I believe. I hunt with a field bred golden and wondering if I should be worried about taking her out for pheasants during this time? I usually hunt south central or southwest MN. I never like to crowd people, so on public land I always go to a different spot if I see a truck in the area. I know myself I will dress like a pumpkin but am worried about the dog. Thanks for any insight you have, I appreciate it always. Safety is always my number one concern.
I always go during deer season, Just be careful you dont go by deer hunters and if theres a vehicle already parked on the access I would avoid it. A bow hunter shot one of my friends dogs for no reason it wasnt chasing deer or anything.
 
This question seems to up every year. For many years I've pheasant hunted SW Minnesota during the deer season and it's never been an issue. Like Brittman said above, most deer hunters are out of the field by 9:00 AM. Deer hunters are generally going to be out early morning and late afternoon. If you hunt the middle of the day you probably won't see many, if any, deer hunters. And rarely will you see any on week days. If there are deer hunters in an area you might hunt just avoid it. And if you are in the field during deer season make you you wear plenty of orange. And it wouldn't hurt to have some orange on your dog.
I don't wear orange. Camo.
 
In MN (where this threads at) you have to have orange when bird hunting.
There are also extra blaze orange requirements for all hunters during any open deer firearms season, which now includes the early youth season in October. The regs are very clear on this.

When I was deer hunting on opening weekend up north in the Chippewa National Forest, I saw some deer hunters that weren't even following the blaze orange requirements. A couple of guys had no orange hat on and another guy had an orange hat on, but no other orange. Even some deer hunters don't follow the law, apparently.

By 9:00 A.M. 95% of deer hunters are back home taking a nap.
Lol some of the part time half assed deer hunters are like this no doubt, but I wouldn't say that 95% of them are like this. I know quite a few deer hunters myself and maybe 2 hunt like this. I sit every day for 11 hours straight in my stand as long as the weather is tolerable.
 
I feel the wearing of blaze orange while hunting is just a common sense and safety issue. I don't care if it's deer season or not, or what state you are hunting in. Having blaze orange on helps other hunters, whether they are in your group or not, see you and can help prevent an accident. I know there are a couple of guys on this site that refuse to wear orange if it's not required. We've had some heated debate about the issue on this site and I guess if the law doesn't require it then it's their personal preference and they accept the risk.
 
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