how far do you have to travel from the cities to find birds?

[shanee]

I have only lived here for two years. I have resorted to getting a membership at a gun club to get some good hunting in. I have a younger dog and I hate taking him somewhere, hunting all day and finding a hen or two. I am living just south of the cities and other than hunting the gun club I have traveled to SW MN with a guy from work and had a blast hunting all the birds. We put birds up everywere we stepped. The only problem is it was such a long drive its heard to get anyone to go that far to hunt with me. Is there good hunting around the cities or any place to hunt around the cities that is worth going to? I am at a loss, and gun clubs are too expensive.

[Mayfly]

Private land not far....Public land? Hours...... Unless you have a honey hole that is not well known.

[beeker]

the problem with public land close to the city is that it is infested with hunters... you go bow hunting, squirrel hunters come through shooting up the place... you go duck hunting someone sets up ten feet from ya, and even now with hunting clubs buying hunting rights to private lands and private owners not letting people out on their stuff. it's tough..good luck in your search

[thunderpout]

Yeah, the public land near the cities gets pounded by people like you and I and for the most part are void of game... the land owners just outside the metro area dont want the hassles with liability and are so fed up with tresspassers and people that dont bother to ask permission, that they just dont bother letting every one on their land.  So it boils down to either working the landowners, that is offering to help them with chores, sending letters, maybe a gift or a card around the holidays or just keeping in contact with them from time to time.... the other option is to drive to our public lands throughout our state, which we have more of than alot of other states, and is more diverse than most.... but the main issue really is that the Twin cities, Mpls/StPaul, doesnt just end at their outer limits, the Metro area really goes from Lakeville up to Elk River and from Eden Prarie over to Wisconsin, its one big sprawling mass, and doesnt have thirty minutes of driving time between the cities anymore like it once did... to put that into perspective, my dad used to hunt Pheasents in Bloomington, and it wasnt that long ago... hell, even my dog training areas are dissapearing year by year to development, let alone hunting areas that actually hold birds.  There are areas on the fringes, mostly to the North, South & West that have good bird hunting, but month by month, year to year, houses pop up on my "close to home honey holes"  And I find myself driving farther, and chasing birds around less because of it.  For me, Ive been hunting those closer areas less frequently and hit the out of town areas more to try to get more bang for the buck.... Its the sign of the times, Get to be friends with people that own good hunting land or invest in it ourselves, or be prepared to drive, drive, drive...

[HD]

Thanks Thunder! Now I feel REALLY old!
I used to hunt pheasants where Blainebrook bowl is......a LONG time ago... 
(Course, I was just a kid then, and maybe shouldn'ta been hunting there) 

  

Hunter

[thunderpout]

Naw, it wasnt that long ago, my buddies bowhunted where the new Blaine cop-shop is and I used to run my dogs where the National Sport Center is.. (did they really need ALL those soccerfields? ) Used to be TONS of pheasnts there.... Hey, we aint old, the land is just changing faster than we do right?

[ATM]

You can still get them close to the metro but have to be creative.  until i get further west i dont even bother hunting anything marked as public land. I find a small lake lined with cattails and a public access and i go hunting.  I get some funny looks from some of the guys in ice houses, but there is a lot of untouched birds close to the metro if you think outside the box.  Adam

[Moving2thecountry]

I drive pretty far.  You need to get off the beaten train.  I know of one good nearby spot that is not so far, and kept it secret, but it was more heavily hit this year than last year.  Based on my experience, find a small swamp with some cattails at the bottom of a hill near corn or soy fields.  I am not sure how this will work with heavy snow, though.

[cva54]

  i live here in the $hity to Iam all over this state yes it is hard getting away from pepole lucky I have a friend in virgina MN but dont go north go west

[ericzink]

check out www.mccrearyplace.com .   Eastern North Dakota. Very friendly folks & lots of good hunting. We were very pleased with our hunt.