Struggling

[SDJIM]

Best advise I can think of is to SLOW DOWN, most hunters go to fast and walk right over the tight sitting rooster---sure birds are going to flush wild but they are almost impossible to get close to anyway. Also don't walk in a straight line as boy do pheasants love you when you do that. I mean change direction often and in a radical move and does not hurt to just stop once and awhile--and always make a complete change of direction coming off the stop. Try to keep your dog within shooting range--don't run after it, train it to stay close to you. Hunt smart and let the dog do the work

 

[Goosemaster]

You don't have to go out early,stay away from public ground that gets hammered every day. Those birds are smart. Get off the beaten path, and scout, knock on doors, think outside the box. Keep lots of beer, give it away to the farmers who let you on. I gave a guy a set of tires one time, they didn't cost me anything, and I've gotten 50 roosters off that guys place. Don't drive a nice truck, don't pull a dog trailer, don't wear nice clothes, don't look like a hunter at all. Hang out in the bars, but don't approach farmers, but listen to them. They like to bullshit with people from out of town, at least some of them do.Avoid the cow types, because they don't let people hunt, and are not into hunting.Im a mechanic, so I fixed a guys tractor one time, and he always lets me hunt.You have to play the game, and you will find some good spots.

 

[matto]

Also, I see a lot of people out wandering aimlessly through vast oceans of grass, needle-in-a-haystack hunting. You have to hunt structure. Pheasants are a lot like walleyes. When they’re not roosting, they’ll relate to changes in habitat - a boundary between cover & food, the edge of a slough, a tree line, the downwind side of a shelterbelt on a windy day, a pocket of another type of grass within the main field, etc.

Couple points and one quick story. First, the above is absolutely true. Look for those subtle, or even not so subtle, changes in the vegetation or terrain. In Kansas it's plum thickets, smartweed, sunflowers, the "wet" side of an old terrace in a CRP field, old fences drifted in with tumbleweeds, etc. This is much easier to do when you're hunting by yourself or with a small group of like-minded people.

Second, SDJIM is also spot-on with his comments about not walking in a straight line at a steady pace. Zig-zag a little, stop once in a while, slower in general. It's nice that following the advice in the paragraph above will generally lead to following this advice too. This happens a lot, especially in a larger group: you stop for a while for one purpose or another, and then your first step once you start again flushes a bird. The stop might be because somewhere down the line they're looking for a downed bird, making a clothing adjustment, tying a boot lace, working a gun malfunction, coordinating tactics, etc.

The story: my best hunt last year was with one friend and my older son. It was such a good day that we decided to hunt "one last field" to try to finish our limit. We broke both of the above rules. I was on auto-pilot just mindlessly walking a semi-straight line, basically following a deer trail through a CRP field. My dog was tired and was voluntarily on heel. All of a sudden I noticed she wasn't there anymore. I turned around and she was on point 20 steps behind me, standing on the deer trail. I walked back and there was the rooster, not 2 feet from her nose and presumably not 2 feet from my footsteps. I didn't think to alert my friend or my son, both of whom could have positioned themselves for a shot. Of course I missed twice. That would have finished my limit for the day.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

The story: my best hunt last year was with one friend and my older son. It was such a good day that we decided to hunt "one last field" to try to finish our limit. We broke both of the above rules. I was on auto-pilot just mindlessly walking a semi-straight line, basically following a deer trail through a CRP field. My dog was tired and was voluntarily on heel. All of a sudden I noticed she wasn't there anymore. I turned around and she was on point 20 steps behind me, standing on the deer trail. I walked back and there was the rooster, not 2 feet from her nose and presumably not 2 feet from my footsteps. I didn't think to alert my friend or my son, both of whom could have positioned themselves for a shot. Of course I missed twice. That would have finished my limit for the day.

That's the aggravating beauty of pheasant hunting. We think we know a lot of stuff about hunting them, but we never fail to break cardinal rules every once in awhile. We're not as perfect as our dogs. Among others, I think it's the most important one that gets me at least a couple times each year. "Always trust the dog." And I'm a springer guy, so there's never a chance of him holding a point while I realize he really did know what he was talking about. %$&*#@!

 

[Logical]

Josh, lots of good advice above.

In a nutshell, in my order of importance:

1) Identify an area known for birds. According to the MN DNR map, most of your birds are west of you (see forecast map). You will need to drive. I get up about 3:30 a.m. to hunt pheasant in eastern Colorado. Get used to it.
2) Knock on doors, don't rely on all the WIA land. Many landowners will faint when you ask, as they are accustomed to idiots just entering their land without asking. If you call them before every season, you will get to hunt every season. Before the season, now, I call each landowner, and get permission to hunt all season without another phone call. One wants a text when I know which day I will be there, so he can run-off the non-asking trespassers. I try to see each landowner every year, but most are not readily available. So, the phone call keeps my name in their minds.
3) SILENCE! Approach your parking area slowly. Close doors silently. Don't say a word outside of your car/truck. No whistles or shouts to a dog.
4) If alone, or in cover less than chest-high, don't wear orange on your front. See another active thread regarding this.
5) Forget walking stalks or stubble with a dog, as the dog is seen by birds as they cross the rows. Stay in grass or heavier if hunting with a dog.
6) As said above: Don't race; zig-zag; don't just hunt the fenceline, but zig into the field 50-75 feet, also; I said BE QUIET!;

You have to hunt where there are birds. Find an area, get private permission, then work on more permissions in the same area. I've hunted the same 10 mi x 6 mi area for 12 seasons, and try to add a field or two each year. I have about 14 sections of permission. Not all fields are good every year, and you want enough so you don't hunt the same fields every weekend, or twice in a weekend if camping there. WIA can be productive, but private land is worth the knocking. Ask the landowner if they know anyone else you may approach, and you may quickly line-up 5 or 6 sections of permissions.

Good luck! Pheasant hunting is great, once you have the area to hunt.