For the 2014 season! I called two months in advance to book a room in our usual hole in the wall motel for MN opener. They were full! Damn duck hunters. Quick check across the border in SD and their rooms were full too. Damn duck hunters. Turns out we'll be hunting Marshall. Our SD hunt is planned for mid November and we're hitting Sand Pines preserve 9/13. Anyone else want to share their plans?
Starting to get excited
- Thread starter Byrdoglvr
- Start date
small munsterlander owner
Banned
bout time a new mn thread started up!!!
ive been excited for about a month so far locked up our nd and sd 1st trip lodgeing 2-3 wks ago was worried about lodgeing out of state not as worried about mn lodgeing after a little looking around there is still alot to choose from in my area going to try a new motel and town this yr my old town was dead last yr so looking for a little more livly pheasant opener sat nite ...
last yr had to travel 20+ miles to get into a hunter filled bar and grill ???? found some nice new options late season so cant wait to get out there fri oct. 10 ... was plenty of birds and public to hunt plus motel and a couple bar/grills that all we need...
used to do the marshall area hunt u should not have trouble locating birds bars grills or public land only thing is the opening wk end pressure can be crazy with everybody all clustered together in that area but thats opener...
isnt 9/13 mn small game opener??? ill be hunting sharptails and ruffed grouse some wear in mn 1st chance to get wild game birds for the dog i can not wait ...
ive been excited for about a month so far locked up our nd and sd 1st trip lodgeing 2-3 wks ago was worried about lodgeing out of state not as worried about mn lodgeing after a little looking around there is still alot to choose from in my area going to try a new motel and town this yr my old town was dead last yr so looking for a little more livly pheasant opener sat nite ...
last yr had to travel 20+ miles to get into a hunter filled bar and grill ???? found some nice new options late season so cant wait to get out there fri oct. 10 ... was plenty of birds and public to hunt plus motel and a couple bar/grills that all we need...
used to do the marshall area hunt u should not have trouble locating birds bars grills or public land only thing is the opening wk end pressure can be crazy with everybody all clustered together in that area but thats opener...
isnt 9/13 mn small game opener??? ill be hunting sharptails and ruffed grouse some wear in mn 1st chance to get wild game birds for the dog i can not wait ...
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season
I'm also chopping at the bit here. have money at the Game Farm again this year so I'm hoping to get out this week in the morning to get the dogs going.
Have my 1st hunt booked in SD on Sept 20th to shoot them chickens! Pretty fired up about that one... then again in Nov. twice! Hope to do an early Dec hunt also... cause we will be in Mexico for the holidays so that puts a damper on the late season!
MN sounds good this year also, so I hope to sneak out and get some S. MN hunting in.
Put my 16 year old down last week.... that was a tough one! But have my next dog lined up for the pick of the litter come spring. :thumbsup:
I'm also chopping at the bit here. have money at the Game Farm again this year so I'm hoping to get out this week in the morning to get the dogs going.
Have my 1st hunt booked in SD on Sept 20th to shoot them chickens! Pretty fired up about that one... then again in Nov. twice! Hope to do an early Dec hunt also... cause we will be in Mexico for the holidays so that puts a damper on the late season!
MN sounds good this year also, so I hope to sneak out and get some S. MN hunting in.
Put my 16 year old down last week.... that was a tough one! But have my next dog lined up for the pick of the litter come spring. :thumbsup:
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small munsterlander owner
Banned
sorry about the dog man i can not imagine!!! way to think ahead and have ur next pup lined up there will be no replacment for ur loss but a new pup is a good place to start...
you going just for chickens? or prairie grouse in general sharptails and chickens both???
im thinking on heading to mt try for a sage grouse b4 they close the season major meetings lined up for 2015 i want to go b4 they make the mt season like wy highly regulated 5 day a yr season with everybody all gunning for same birds at same time... my brothers going but with the family im going to hunt sage and sharptail grouse & huns... sept 1 or so mt open so thst be fun opening to my season? ??
if not mt then ill hit up sd or mn for prairie grouse ill hit mn prairie grouse and ruffed grouse on the mn small game opener...
we will be in nd oct. 24 - oct. 31 pheasant sharptail and hun hunting ... then off to sd nov.3-nov.7 maybe into nov.14 if hunting is good??? back to nd around dec.1 or so??? then comes nebraska if all goes as planned my turkey hunting buddy wants to get a few quail and pheasants come late season jan. when our mn nd sd season closes... cant wait...
looks like we got our hands full this upcoming season always a good thing
you going just for chickens? or prairie grouse in general sharptails and chickens both???
im thinking on heading to mt try for a sage grouse b4 they close the season major meetings lined up for 2015 i want to go b4 they make the mt season like wy highly regulated 5 day a yr season with everybody all gunning for same birds at same time... my brothers going but with the family im going to hunt sage and sharptail grouse & huns... sept 1 or so mt open so thst be fun opening to my season? ??
if not mt then ill hit up sd or mn for prairie grouse ill hit mn prairie grouse and ruffed grouse on the mn small game opener...
we will be in nd oct. 24 - oct. 31 pheasant sharptail and hun hunting ... then off to sd nov.3-nov.7 maybe into nov.14 if hunting is good??? back to nd around dec.1 or so??? then comes nebraska if all goes as planned my turkey hunting buddy wants to get a few quail and pheasants come late season jan. when our mn nd sd season closes... cant wait...
looks like we got our hands full this upcoming season always a good thing
FCSpringer
Moderator
Good luck and have fun. Trials for me for the first month, then just sliding the patio door open and going or a hike.:thumbsup: Might be in Iowa some late season.
small munsterlander owner
Banned
you should like it i love prairie grouse hunting the terrain u will be hunting is so much easier to walk then pheasant habitat... they do not live in same habitat most places but pheasants and prairie grouse will share food sources and loafing grass but prairie grouse live in the prairie grass you will not get grouse hubting cattail sloughs...
id rather hunt prairie grouse to be honest they are harder to hit then people give em credit for and be ready if u flush 1 wild get to that spot asap and be ready for more to flush very rarely di grouse hang solo and they rely on a cluster flush like huns 1 or 2 flush then the hole flock flush its common and has been wrote about b4...
chickens like flat prairie sharptails will be found there as well but more in ruff more hilly breaky shruby terrain sharptail tend to flush more wild due to useing more barren country... both prairie grouse species use there eyes for protection that has alot to do with wild far flushes in my opinion... chickens tend to hold better for me...
dont listen to anybody saying there not good to eat if u care for the meat and bird aka dress and put in cooler asap after harvest u should love it its just like dark meat chicken but not as dark i shake n bake em they were very good herd fajitas are good also with prairie grouse
meat young grouse were tendor and great table fair...
you should have a blast i wish you the best of luck i may give it a try this yr but sds grouse season opens so late i may just stick to mn??? late sept is close to oct so that mite throw a wrench in things???
id rather hunt prairie grouse to be honest they are harder to hit then people give em credit for and be ready if u flush 1 wild get to that spot asap and be ready for more to flush very rarely di grouse hang solo and they rely on a cluster flush like huns 1 or 2 flush then the hole flock flush its common and has been wrote about b4...
chickens like flat prairie sharptails will be found there as well but more in ruff more hilly breaky shruby terrain sharptail tend to flush more wild due to useing more barren country... both prairie grouse species use there eyes for protection that has alot to do with wild far flushes in my opinion... chickens tend to hold better for me...
dont listen to anybody saying there not good to eat if u care for the meat and bird aka dress and put in cooler asap after harvest u should love it its just like dark meat chicken but not as dark i shake n bake em they were very good herd fajitas are good also with prairie grouse
meat young grouse were tendor and great table fair...
you should have a blast i wish you the best of luck i may give it a try this yr but sds grouse season opens so late i may just stick to mn??? late sept is close to oct so that mite throw a wrench in things???
mnmthunting
Banned
I would go with this info, This IS good stuff. :thumbsup:
LoneRooster
New member
hello hello! felt like fall this morning..good to be back. I am sick of the heat and ready to start chasing ducks and pheasants!
Tbear
UPH Master
I'm confused?????????
Tbear
UPH Master
True. Are we going to get out and shoot some birds this year? We did not last year and I was a little sad about it. Your in-laws sold the house right?
mnmthunting
Banned
I'm in Ruff Grouse country.
Why I don't know? Must have been a heck of a hatch, I'm seeing lots of young. :cheers:
Why I don't know? Must have been a heck of a hatch, I'm seeing lots of young. :cheers:
I was able to sneak into a motel closer to the Appleton/Ortonville area where we prefer to hunt. So we'll have to hit Marshall another time. I also contacted the conservation officer and he confirmed one can hunt in the Big Stone Wildlife area (except waterfowl). I was a little iffy on it so I called. I attempted on a Sunday only to find out it was a land line. He must have been checking his work voice mails because he called back within an hour. Going to head up early opening weekend and scout it a bit. It's 11,000 acres I hear. Might be a good one on a busy opener. Also excited we so far have extended our SD trip a day. Now hunting Tues-Sat. I'm hoping to convince my buddies to talk their wives into Sat-Sat. I've got the okay from work/wife and money's in the sock drawer. Starting to get the truck into tip top shape too. I did a full brake job yesterday including calipers. Sand Pines opens today. Less then two weeks until we'll be there. Started my yearly ritual of accumulating shells by buying one box at a time every time I stop at Fleet Farm. Spread out the cost a bit. Sitting at 9 boxes now. I'm also very happy with the shape all four of my dogs are in.
I forgot to add I'm excited the SD roadside counts were good. I know they are way below the 10 year average and last year the counts were horrible but I'm still happy with this years increase. My guess is Minnesota's won't be good. Mid SD didn't get near the early season rain we did. Of course I hope I'm wrong.