2006 Pheasant Opener Best Ever!!!!

[Mayfly]

Let me tell you this.....


Beware Of The Pheasants!!

They are everywhere....

Best Mn Opener I have ever experienced!


Day 1: 4 People, 2 Dogs, 8 Birds by 4:30pm


Day 2: 3 People, 1 Dog, 6 Birds by 10:30am


It was a lot of fun and we saw a ton of birds. Day 2 if we would of hit everything we would of been done earlier but there were some wild flushes and  a couple that caught us off guard. Good Times!

[get the net]

AFter looking at the pictures, I can't wait to get down to my honey holes.  We did very well in Central MN also.  Mostly public lands, around picked bean fields.   So if you would have hit everything that got up, what would it have been a 20 minute hunt?  Thats almost to quick, even for opening weekend.  Hour and half for six birds is pretty fair.   So did you hunt private or public, and how were the crowds? 

[Mayfly]

The first day was a tough day. We worked for those birds...walked and walked and walked. It was a pleasure being done at 4:30 because I was done as well.

The second day was fair. We were tired from the previous day. There were birds everywhere though. They were flying from the grass into the corn so we parked our trucks along the road between the corn and the field and they stopped coming over. One group got up and when they saw us they got back down. They did end up running across though. The night before the amount of birds flying out of the corn and into the grass was unreal! We counted probably 50 or 60....and those were the ones we counted. Besides that we left the area at 5:30....still plenty of time for more birds to come out. It really was unreal, never seen that in Mn.

Opening morning we started at my favorite WMA. Last year I think we managed 2 maybe 3 birds out of there opening day and this year 4 of us walked out with 5 birds....3 to go. We walked some more WMA's and nothing. There were a lot more hunters out this year compared with the last few. Around 2 we decided to knock on a few doors and we were lucky enough to get access on some premium land and that is where we finished.


Some more pics:


Back area of a WMA


My Cousin Rick, Me and Rachel


Ended the day with a grill and some lawn chairs..Noticed all their heads are looking down the road, we were watching bird after bird flying into the grass from the corn 4:45pm.


The Magical Grass!

 

[Birddog]

Had a great time with you, Rachel, and Rick. Wish I could have stayed and hunt today again. I couldn't believe how tired Charlie was by midday.

It only gets better now, lets do it again.

Brian

[Mayfly]

You should of seen the birds this morning! It was unreal. We got to the spot at about 8am and a majority of the birds that were flying across the road into the corn were roosters. They were everywhere!

When we were done at 10:30 they were still flying across the road and a couple were running as well.

Marked that spot...we will be back!

[shakey legs 2]

We had an excellent hunt.  The beans are for the most part all picked and the farmers are just starting on the corn where we hunt.  On Saturday we walked a management area that was surrounded by corn.  My friend picked up two in the grass next to the corn and he flushed another to me that I was lucky enough to put down.  I looked at my watch and it was 9:20 a.m
We went back to the vehicle, relaxed and watched to see if any birds drifted back into the management area.  About 11:00 a.m., we decided to make another swing and picked up our last bird.  We spent the next several hours, cleaning the birds and driving around checking out other management areas.  I have never seen so many hunters, in fact, if we hadn't been in our spot by 7:30 a.m., several others would have as the traffic was unbelievable.

The next day (yesterday) did not start out as easy.  We walked the same area and got up two roosters.  One got knocked down in the corn that we couldn't find (looked like a runner) and the second was a blatant miss.  We then drove around and looked for good road ditches.  My friend walked one that had some cattails and water in it next to standing corn and scratched one bird.  The last place we stopped at was a huge management area that had a lot of hunters in it.  I walked the far edge next to a picked corn field but got nothing up.  My friend was back in the vehicle enjoying a pheasant sandwich when a farmer who picked the corn came through the road with his wagons in the management area.  He stopped to talk to my friend and gave us a tip.  He said when he finished picking, about 20 birds flew into the grass on the west side of the corn (private land).  He gave us permission to hunt and in short order we had our 3 birds to complete the limit.  After cleaning the birds we were on our way home.

Things will only get better once the corn is out.

[shakey legs 2]

I forgot one thing.  My springer has a nasty barbed wire cut on the inside of her back leg.  It's down to the meat.  I poured peroxide over it but now she is walking on three legs.  I think it has stiffened up on her and she doesn't want to aggravate it.  I know from past experiences, the vets don't want to stitch a cut unless it is fresh.  She has been licking on it so I am hoping it will heal on it's own and she will be ready to go this Thursday.

[ATM]

3 of us hunted just outside litchfield saturday. We got 4. Saw alot of birds should of had our 6 but you know how that goes.  I was really happy my pointer is 4 now and  is really getting better with running birds, wish i would have got some pictures of him on point. I will be heading out friday and possibly thursday if anyone would like to get out. Adam

[WoodChuck]

 :-\ supposed to go to brownsvally friday, anyone been there done that, and any good reports or the like for the upper vally?? ???

[ATM]

Woodchuck just North and west of Browns Valley there is a couple of good pieces of public land, one of them is a prairie chicken restoration land that has some good cover. When i get off work and have access to some maps I will get you the co. roads they are on.  Adam

[WoodChuck]

 :) thanks adam !!!!!!!

[ATM]

Woodchuck sorry it took so long to get back to you.  If you go East on Highway 2 out of Browns Valley. You will come to Highway 3 and highway 5. North on 3 is Flood Slough. North on 5 is another public land. I have had good success at both these spots. i however have only hunted this area late season. There is other public spots in the area but these would be 2 good places to start. Good luck Adam 

[Buster]

Anybody know anything about the Montevideo area?
I will be out that way beginning of next week for a few days of hunting. Looks like Hwy 59 corridor has lots of WMA's.

[WoodChuck]

 :) THANKS ATM ! that gives me a starting point as i have not hunted there before . i will be going with my son inlaw and his dog, so nice not to go totaly blind to the area. HUNT ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!