Pheasant sightings

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
Coming home from the cabin today, which is in SC MN, I've started to get better at looking for birds on the backroads simply because I enjoy seeing them. I saw two roosters in two different spots, both coming to peck gravel on the shoulder. This was about 2:30. The first one was near a posted property that has some of the best cover for birds I've ever seen. The second one was in a WMA with thick cattails. The first bird ducked down in the grass and I could still see his head. The second bird did the same, but since I stopped the truck, he flushed and flew into a small tree clump. Any day I see a pheasant is a good day.
 
Pheasants and other wildlife have experienced low mortality this winter. We had about 2 weeks when it was bitter cold, but only average snowfall and overall, mild temps (in MN at least). It also appears spring is on the way now too. Spring/summer rainfall will be the next item to watch when nesting season gets going.
 
Out by my deer stand. Obviously no ones hunts birds out there
 

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Bob Peters said:
I would rather hunt for a pheasant than a deer any day.
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That's not really what he was getting at. I think the point is that he doesn't want anyone trouncing around the area looking for pheasants because that is the area he hunts for deer. There are several spots I hunt for deer and I stay clear of them for pheasants until deer season is over.
 
I don’t hunt birds out by the deer stand as it’s a swamp. Even with the latest cold snap it all doesn’t freeze solid. People have tried and it didn’t go well. I enjoy hunting pheasants and watching the dog work as well. Deer season is only a week long in my zone, and some days I’ll sit in the morning, hunt birds midday, and then sit the evening.
 
Ya deer season is short, I only needed one day this year and used a day of pto, so it didn't even interfere with my bird hunting. 2 completely different deals for me, I would willingly give-up a weekend of bird hunting to get a my deer. Are you fellas who would rather pheasant hunt, willing to give-up your deer, just don't deer hunt anyway or deer hunt, but keep thinking "I would rather be bird hunting"?

Bird sightings should be going down now with the snow about gone and the fields are wide open to feed in again. I was tickled to see we had a pile of birds make it through this tough winter. Fed over a 100 gallons of corn this winter, once the heavy snows came. It had to have helped them being able to find an easy crop filling meal when we had the string of below zero temps with deep snow.
 
remy3424 said:
Ya deer season is short, I only needed one day this year and used a day of pto, so it didn't even interfere with my bird hunting. 2 completely different deals for me, I would willingly give-up a weekend of bird hunting to get a my deer.
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Rifle season where I hunt in MN is 9 days long. I usually hunt the entire 9 days unless there is some really awful weather. Pheasant season is 2.5 months long. There is plenty of time to chase roosters compared to chasing a deer. So when deer season is open, I hunt deer. Its not like I can just "hunt deer again next week" because the season is closed (with a rifle). Additionally, a fair amount of land I hunt on for pheasants is also hunted for deer, either by myself or by someone else, and trudging around on that land prior to deer season is a great way to keep the deer away. So I avoid those areas until after the 9 day deer season is open. Plus, its a safety thing for me too. Deer hunting is far more popular and therefore has more participants and therefore has more safety issues, and that is too big of a risk in my book. I don't need to have someone put their rifle up on me or my dog just to look through the scope at it.

If I didn't deer hunt, I would avoid the 9 day season even if pheasant hunting, also for safety reasons.
 
gimruis said:
Rifle season where I hunt in MN is 9 days long. I usually hunt the entire 9 days unless there is some really awful weather. Pheasant season is 2.5 months long. There is plenty of time to chase roosters compared to chasing a deer. So when deer season is open, I hunt deer. Its not like I can just "hunt deer again next week" because the season is closed (with a rifle). Additionally, a fair amount of land I hunt on for pheasants is also hunted for deer, either by myself or by someone else, and trudging around on that land prior to deer season is a great way to keep the deer away. So I avoid those areas until after the 9 day deer season is open. Plus, its a safety thing for me too. Deer hunting is far more popular and therefore has more participants and therefore has more safety issues, and that is too big of a risk in my book. I don't need to have someone put their rifle up on me or my dog just to look through the scope at it.

If I didn't deer hunt, I would avoid the 9 day season even if pheasant hunting, also for safety reasons.
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I'm with you on the not pheasant hunting during deer season. I deer hunt in Northern Minnesota where the season runs 2 full weeks and typically hunt 5 to 8 days a season.

I've gone pheasant hunting during the deer season out West but I never hunt WMAs where another truck is parked since I assume it's a deer hunter (or pheasant hunter and I never want to step on anyone's toes anyway).
 
remy3424 said:
Ya deer season is short, I only needed one day this year and used a day of pto, so it didn't even interfere with my bird hunting. 2 completely different deals for me, I would willingly give-up a weekend of bird hunting to get a my deer. Are you fellas who would rather pheasant hunt, willing to give-up your deer, just don't deer hunt anyway or deer hunt, but keep thinking "I would rather be bird hunting"?
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Ive shot a bunch of deer in my life already, so when my 13 yr old shot his buck opening morning, it wasnt a hard decision to forego the 2nd weekend of deer camp to take him out to SD pheasant hunting. (FWIW it was awesome). Plenty of venision in the freezer yet as of now.
 
I don't mind hunting deer if there's nothing else going but really, it's better one wild rooster in the bag than a whitetail any day.
 
I would like to get into deer hunting, but I have 2 things holding me back: A young family makes time away difficult, I'd rather take my free time passes for pheasant hunting. No access to land, with a lack of time, I'm just not into trying it on public land and proper scouting.

A few years ago I spent 1.5 days sitting in a stand. It was enough to spark my interest and someday want to do it more, however mid morning a pheasant hunter and his dog walked near my stand and I watched him with jealousy and thought, "I'd love to be working a field with my dog right now and being active, rather than just sitting here in this tree...". So down I went from the tree, went home for my dog, and spent the afternoon pheasant hunting.
 
We have had a tremendous winter in ND. We had little snow in North Central ND and throwing out the cold snap three weeks at the end of January first half of February our Winter has been unseasonably mild. I continue to take both of my Vizsla's into the field for exercise for both my wife and I but for them as well. We are bumping tons of birds. Unless we have an epic snow event this spring yet they will be in great shape. We have a bigger concern with drought-like conditions that could cripple the hatch so we are keeping our fingers crossed for timely rains. For now, the dogs will continue to enjoy their workouts and wonder why we aren't carrying shotguns.
 
We have had a tremendous winter in ND. We had little snow in North Central ND and throwing out the cold snap three weeks at the end of January first half of February our Winter has been unseasonably mild. I continue to take both of my Vizsla's into the field for exercise for both my wife and I but for them as well. We are bumping tons of birds. Unless we have an epic snow event this spring yet they will be in great shape. We have a bigger concern with drought-like conditions that could cripple the hatch so we are keeping our fingers crossed for timely rains. For now, the dogs will continue to enjoy their workouts and wonder why we aren't carrying shotguns.

 
NDPheasant said:
We have had a tremendous winter in ND. We had little snow in North Central ND and throwing out the cold snap three weeks at the end of January first half of February our Winter has been unseasonably mild. I continue to take both of my Vizsla's into the field for exercise for both my wife and I but for them as well. We are bumping tons of birds. Unless we have an epic snow event this spring yet they will be in great shape. We have a bigger concern with drought-like conditions that could cripple the hatch so we are keeping our fingers crossed for timely rains. For now, the dogs will continue to enjoy their workouts and wonder why we aren't carrying shotguns.

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Hey ND, are you anywhere near the lake in North Central ND? I think you probably know the lake I refer too haha but I'm planning a return trip this fall, haven't been up to ND in over 5 years. So happy to hear y'all had a easy winter.
 
I am north of the lake about 40 minutes. I fish it a lot in the summer and hear plenty of roosters crowing but I have not needed to venture quite that far. Message me if you have any specific questions. Also revisited that Explorer ARCGIS App to refresh my memory. There is a layer that specifically marks out PLOTS land and other public hunting land.
 
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