Season Reports
- Thread starter Tbear
- Start date
Got back out after a 2 week layoff due to deer hunting. Lot's of windshield time to get to the public land I was hunting in SW MN but worth it. Hunted for about 45 min and produced these to birds.
My GSP and I were hunting as a perfect team, it was my favorite day out this year.
My GSP and I were hunting as a perfect team, it was my favorite day out this year.
HollowWatcher
Member
Nice picture Nor.
jackrabbit
Active member
I brought my lab with me to the office today and am leaving work a couple hours early to go out in the fresh snow! Won't be in a great area but hopefully the dog gets a little tired from hunting, maybe flushes a hen, and if we're super lucky will bag a rooster!
BRITTMAN
Well-known member
Winter has taken a back seat to late fall across the pheasant range and that is good for the birds making it through the winter in good shape.
Birds have really spread out in the cover they are residing in. Many are back in the grass again.
First MN three bird limit, but only one out of the cattails. Young dog covered a quarter section of grass to pick up the other two. I think we wore them out as they continue to run around us.
Lots of hunters out for a Friday and I mean a lot. I would say I say more on Friday, Dec 5th than I did the second Saturday of October. At least three of the hunters were hunting deer with portable ground blinds or tree stands.
While hunting has been fine, I would say the pheasant population remains a fraction of what is was 7 years ago. I did not see one flock of birds in an AG field or birds along the road (near farmsteads). Used to be in this area I (we) would see lots of birds in areas off limits (to me anyways) to hunting.
Birds have really spread out in the cover they are residing in. Many are back in the grass again.
First MN three bird limit, but only one out of the cattails. Young dog covered a quarter section of grass to pick up the other two. I think we wore them out as they continue to run around us.
Lots of hunters out for a Friday and I mean a lot. I would say I say more on Friday, Dec 5th than I did the second Saturday of October. At least three of the hunters were hunting deer with portable ground blinds or tree stands.
While hunting has been fine, I would say the pheasant population remains a fraction of what is was 7 years ago. I did not see one flock of birds in an AG field or birds along the road (near farmsteads). Used to be in this area I (we) would see lots of birds in areas off limits (to me anyways) to hunting.
Tbear
UPH Master
Clearly I was not in Minnesota but had to share it here. Went down to Missouri this weekend and hunted just south of the Iowa border. This was my first time hunting for wild quail. I ended up shooting 4 birds in 2 days. 2 of them were on a scotch double that ended up being a hen and a cock bob. They will be going on the wall. Flushed 5 healthy coveys. Shot a few roosters. You can't beat mix bag hunting.
Tbear
UPH Master
Got back out after a 2 week layoff due to deer hunting. Lot's of windshield time to get to the public land I was hunting in SW MN but worth it. Hunted for about 45 min and produced these to birds.
My GSP and I were hunting as a perfect team, it was my favorite day out this year.
Nice job on the PF picture.
This past Sunday I drove SW from St. Paul to the Jackson area, where I hadn't hunted before (but I've hunted a bit just south of there in Iowa). I was really happy about the quality and quantity of the public land in the area just south of I-90...and the best part was that I didn't see a single other hunter all day.
My 10-month old pup managed to point a nice rooster within the first 20 min or so of hunting, although when I flushed it he flew low and hard downwind and I couldn't manage to hit it. In the same ~40 acre field my pup got really birdy a couple of other times, but didn't see another bird there.
I drove down the road and visited a really nice WPA ("Holy Trinty" which I think is named for a nearby church) that was located right next to some private, and recently established CRP land. I saw about 8-9 hens and one rooster flush way out ahead of use out of gun range (I guess we weren't quiet enough or they are just really spooky at this point in the season). I only managed to cripple one rooster which fell into some cattails. The pup and I looked for him for a long time and couldn't find any trace of him.
We then went across the street and hunted the "Hunter WPA" which was a nice piece of property (huge!), but we didn't come up with any birds. With a property that big and with it just being me and the dog, it would seem the birds have a lot of room to run and dodge us. In the parking lot, I saw a whole bunch of feathers lying around....so someone or some group probably had some good luck in the not so distant past.
My 10-month old pup managed to point a nice rooster within the first 20 min or so of hunting, although when I flushed it he flew low and hard downwind and I couldn't manage to hit it. In the same ~40 acre field my pup got really birdy a couple of other times, but didn't see another bird there.
I drove down the road and visited a really nice WPA ("Holy Trinty" which I think is named for a nearby church) that was located right next to some private, and recently established CRP land. I saw about 8-9 hens and one rooster flush way out ahead of use out of gun range (I guess we weren't quiet enough or they are just really spooky at this point in the season). I only managed to cripple one rooster which fell into some cattails. The pup and I looked for him for a long time and couldn't find any trace of him.
We then went across the street and hunted the "Hunter WPA" which was a nice piece of property (huge!), but we didn't come up with any birds. With a property that big and with it just being me and the dog, it would seem the birds have a lot of room to run and dodge us. In the parking lot, I saw a whole bunch of feathers lying around....so someone or some group probably had some good luck in the not so distant past.
Another bird on the hood of the Jeep as we got one this past Sunday. It was my GSP's 2nd b-day so I had to get her a birthday bird. Took all damn day and she had to work really hard getting it to flush since it kept running on her before it flew. She would point, know the bird moved, run, point again, bird would move, then finally locked it down with a staunch point, I walked up and it flushed. Of course, I'm the Ray Charles of shooting, and didn't hit it that hard. I knew it was down but was off to the races, running. She spent 20+ min tracking, chasing, and trying to find this crippled bird and then boom, she found it. It was the only rooster we saw and one of the biggest wild MN birds I've ever shot. Definitely a top experience this season.
nice bird
Its nice to see someone got some action, just got back from a 3 day trip to western MN. Sore legs and a beat up dog. Didn't fire a shot. Today hunted all day and never flushed a bird.Got 5 roosters from one wma last year and always seen 8-12 hens. I hunted it twice this year and haven't flushed a bird.Even the places where I got birds this fall were empty.Pheasant hunting I guess. And I fell through the ice in a cattail slough up to my knees. Good times
Its nice to see someone got some action, just got back from a 3 day trip to western MN. Sore legs and a beat up dog. Didn't fire a shot. Today hunted all day and never flushed a bird.Got 5 roosters from one wma last year and always seen 8-12 hens. I hunted it twice this year and haven't flushed a bird.Even the places where I got birds this fall were empty.Pheasant hunting I guess. And I fell through the ice in a cattail slough up to my knees. Good times
birdshooter
Well-known member
Not too hard if you have a Photobucket account (picture hosting site). You basically create an account and then upload pictures from your computer, then you can copy the image code from Photobucket and paste them into your post here.
If you'd rather, you could email them to me and I will post them for ya?
Let me know and I will PM you my email addy.
FCSpringer
Moderator
It got nice this weekend and melted all the snow. 48 and 46 degrees sat and sun. Problem is it created this horrible fog and you couldn't see didly. Plus all the birds were way out in thawed fields. Worst weekend of hunting I have had in many years. I think it is over 20 years since I never at least got 1 bird. Sunday the fog was worse so just stayed home. Hope we get some snow, and when it cools off the fog should be gone at least.
Tbear
UPH Master
Talking with a buddy that shoots birds every-time he goes out consistently and they did not fair very well either. I think you are right on! Headed out this Thursday hopefully I find a few.