Two weeks until opener

Decided last minute to head a long way from home and hunt Mn birds...woke up in a motel room saturday am early...got to my favorite WIA and parked by about 7 am...watched about 25 birds, maybe more, head to the corn...I was watching one of about 10 edges where they had the chance to do this...anyway, I killed my first bird at 9:05 on a corn edge...that was the only rooster I flushed in about an hour of walking...but they clearly are there, just in the corn in this case. Hunted another WIA about 90 minutes away...flushed a hen and a rooster...the latter was a long shot that I missed. Lots of corn up. I was meeting a friend later in the day to hunt more, but the rain ended those plans. I learned that it is wet where I was...good for dogs!!! I learned that my favorite WIA has some additional acreage that I didn't know about, and it is sweet!!! I saw LOTS of kickass public land (that I already knew about, been driving by it for 20 years +) and except for my first spot, I saw exactly ZERO hunters afield...really....not kidding...WPA, WMA, WIA...within a block of a major state highway...visible from said major state highway...opening day...wasn't hot or raining...hmmm....good for me, IMO...
 
benelli-banger said:
Decided last minute to head a long way from home and hunt Mn birds...woke up in a motel room saturday am early...got to my favorite WIA and parked by about 7 am...watched about 25 birds, maybe more, head to the corn...I was watching one of about 10 edges where they had the chance to do this...anyway, I killed my first bird at 9:05 on a corn edge...that was the only rooster I flushed in about an hour of walking...but they clearly are there, just in the corn in this case. Hunted another WIA about 90 minutes away...flushed a hen and a rooster...the latter was a long shot that I missed. Lots of corn up. I was meeting a friend later in the day to hunt more, but the rain ended those plans. I learned that it is wet where I was...good for dogs!!! I learned that my favorite WIA has some additional acreage that I didn't know about, and it is sweet!!! I saw LOTS of kickass public land (that I already knew about, been driving by it for 20 years +) and except for my first spot, I saw exactly ZERO hunters afield...really....not kidding...WPA, WMA, WIA...within a block of a major state highway...visible from said major state highway...opening day...wasn't hot or raining...hmmm....good for me, IMO...
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Where hunting - SW? W? Can you help us a bit?

Thanks
 
I will share with you a tool that I have found helpful...google "current climate summary maps", and use the archive function to look at rainfall and temps during important months, like June...look for areas that had lesser amounts of rain, or, warmer temps, for example...may give an indication where chicks may have had less mortality...of course, you need to be in decent pheasant range all the while...bottom line, I would rarely want to be E of hwy 169 or HWY 60...or, North of HWY 12...so, the SW quadrant of the state is where I start my search...it is just about putting miles on your rig and your boots...use the dnr interactive map...look at all the public land!!! wow!!!! Madison, Marshall, Windom, Pipestone, Ortonville, Granite Falls, Willmar , Benson, Lake Benton, Luverne, Slayton, Montivideo....to name just a few towns...I don't hunt Mn much...at this time...I have a few favorite spots I hit coming or going when hunting SD...like Friday this week..I may...or may not...LOTS of water...lots of corn...maybe I will wait...
 
Thanks for the summary - good info.

On one of the other sites we discussed South Dakota CRP/Public=birds; not necessarily so. If you review the CRP for SD, most of the counties that have CRP, are not the high bird count counties. So, it gets confusing as to where to look for pheasants. In your example/message you suggest Ortonville; according to a report from Dakotazeb, there are few birds,if any, in that area of the state.

I don't plan to hunt Minnesota, but will try your formula and narrow the search for the elusive cock!
 
I just drove over 750 miles...spent $80 at a motel...spent $100 on gas...ate out a few times...and gathered some good intel on Mn pheasant hunting...no offense, I don't know you, or owe you anything. Again, don't take that the wrong way. I am not here to give it away! Read what the DNR said in its report on pheasants...I think they put out some tips on where to go. I don't know if it has changed, but Ortonville used to have many public areas...if there is habitat, there are some birds...
 
..."don't owe me anything". I'm not sure I asked you for anything, nor am I offended by youir remarks. On this site, we freely share information and are glad to do it - to help other hunters, give direction, hints. We don't ask you to give it away; your honey holes, favorite spots. You responded and gave a list of southwest counties you felt were worthwhile investigating. Thanks for the information. Nuff said!

Have a successful season.
 
jonnyB said:
..."don't owe me anything". I'm not sure I asked you for anything, nor am I offended by youir remarks. On this site, we freely share information and are glad to do it - to help other hunters, give direction, hints. We don't ask you to give it away; your honey holes, favorite spots. You responded and gave a list of southwest counties you felt were worthwhile investigating. Thanks for the information. Nuff said!

Have a successful season.
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At this point I would hone in on where the corn is being harvested first...the best areas, if wet, will be hard to do well in...until corn comes out...yes, SW to me makes the most sense.
 
jonnyB said:
Where hunting - SW? W? Can you help us a bit?

Thanks
Click to expand...
no big deal, you asked where I was hunting and if I could help out a bit...again, I know it is a big area, but you get the point...again, I would prefer below average areas that had corn out at this point...unless you want to wait for the last 30 minutes of the day...
 
Or better yet.. I always hit areas with NO corn nearby early in the season..most beans are out and good cover near cut beans means birds in the bag. And I often opt for large wild cover areas with no crops around at all- and regularly kill roosters feeding on hoppers, weed seeds, wild berries, etc. This is going to be a great season!! My lab and I limited in 7 minutes Saturday and in 20 minutes today. Flushed lots of birds-mostly young ones - with no corn in sight..😊
 
our group of 8 ran two labs for about 4 hours Saturday before the rain started. We flushed probably 10-12 birds total and put 5 in the bag. got a bit of a late start however as a cousin dropped a nice 8 point buck with the bow right after sun up so we helped him get that thing cleaned up and hung before starting to push birds.
 
I saw three other groups of hunters in the area I was at. I wasn't hunting the pheasant hot bed. I was actually surprised to see that many. I stuck to hunting around the family farm because I knew with the number of hunters out for opener and the amount of crops still standing it probably wasn't worth my time driving 3 hours to fight for spots. Hunted a mix of public and private. Saw 4 roosters, 6 hens in about 5 hours of walking. Rain forced me to call the day short. Got one rooster. It was a young bird. I know there were more but with the crops to hide and run into it was tough going. My dog really wanted to go out into the beans but those birds were on the move and with one guy I had no shot. I did see one rooster that got up about 70 yards out. It was a really nice bird. Definitely not a first year bird. I guess there is a reason he is still around. Overall I think this is going to be at least as good as last year if not better.

B-B Not sure about JonnyB's true motives but I took his asking more as a feeler on where there was a density of hunters out and about. Just seems odd that in some areas there are a plethora of hunters and in another virtually none. I will be getting out to the SW portion later this fall but I am waiting until the crops are out.

Great start to the season.
 
Smokyhillsguide said:
Or better yet.. I always hit areas with NO corn nearby early in the season..most beans are out and good cover near cut beans means birds in the bag. And I often opt for large wild cover areas with no crops around at all- and regularly kill roosters feeding on hoppers, weed seeds, wild berries, etc. This is going to be a great season!! My lab and I limited in 7 minutes Saturday and in 20 minutes today. Flushed lots of birds-mostly young ones - with no corn in sight..��
Click to expand...

Congratulations! Good suggestion re hunting No Corn areas...
 
Rude One said:
I saw three other groups of hunters in the area I was at. I wasn't hunting the pheasant hot bed. I was actually surprised to see that many. I stuck to hunting around the family farm because I knew with the number of hunters out for opener and the amount of crops still standing it probably wasn't worth my time driving 3 hours to fight for spots. Hunted a mix of public and private. Saw 4 roosters, 6 hens in about 5 hours of walking. Rain forced me to call the day short. Got one rooster. It was a young bird. I know there were more but with the crops to hide and run into it was tough going. My dog really wanted to go out into the beans but those birds were on the move and with one guy I had no shot. I did see one rooster that got up about 70 yards out. It was a really nice bird. Definitely not a first year bird. I guess there is a reason he is still around. Overall I think this is going to be at least as good as last year if not better.

B-B Not sure about JonnyB's true motives but I took his asking more as a feeler on where there was a density of hunters out and about. Just seems odd that in some areas there are a plethora of hunters and in another virtually none. I will be getting out to the SW portion later this fall but I am waiting until the crops are out.

Great start to the season.
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you are probably correct...my apologies...i spend a lot of time on Upland Journal.com, and "hot spotting" is a major sensitivity...no epiphany, I realize, but the farther you get from decent sized towns, the better...there were other hunters staying at the motel where I was, but not too many...maybe 7-8 groups, according to the owner of the motel...I did chat with a few of the guys...
 
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