Share Your Pheasant Adventures!

[Mayfly]

not much of an adventure today. I ran up to the Chisago area. There is a few birds around and I had permission to hunt some land. It was a short run and no birds. Nice to get out. Wanted to hunt more so I drove around a bit and found some public stuff but nothing really enticed me.

Have to run down to Red Wing tomorrow. Was thinking about bringing the dog along and taking a look through Goodhue Cty.

We'll see......

[Spinach]

If your heading to Red Wing, you should head over to Elko/New Market, take the exit off of 35E and head west for about 5 miles, there are a lot of WMA's and a lot of birds in that area.

Call me for exact directions to one of my favorite spots. We'll probably try this area this weekend if I decide to go hunting with BFG.

More than likely we'll be hunting my private land in Mahtomedi too.

[get the net]

got out for a quick later afternoon hunt tonight. ?Started at 4:30 back to the truck about 5:45. ?Duey flushed 3 roosters and 5 hens. ?We worked one rooster for about 5-6 minutes at the end of the hunt, finally pinned him down for a flush in range of the 16 with a load of #2 steel. ?One in the bag. ? Hunting by myself, so no pictures. ?Picture from last year similar size bird, just no snow right now, although it felt like it could snow at any time today.

[Mayfly]

If your heading to Red Wing, you should head over to Elko/New Market, take the exit off of 35E and head west for about 5 miles, there are a lot of WMA's and a lot of birds in that area.

Call me for exact directions to one of my favorite spots. We'll probably try this area this weekend if I decide to go hunting with BFG.

More than likely we'll be hunting my private land in Mahtomedi too.

I think you sent me to this spot once before.......

[Spinach]

I do remember telling you about this spot last year. It's definitely not a hot spot like Marshall or out west, but it's only a half hour from home and has some birds in the area.

It's the type of spot that if you get a shot at a Rooster, you better not miss, because you might not see many more. I go here because its so close to home.

I'll let you know if we decide to hunt my Mahtomedi spot this weekend, this spot has a ton of birds and only 15 minutes from home.

[Benny]

Just got back from 7 days of hunting South Dakota, man are there birds out there.

We started hunting Pheasants Saturday at noon, were done by sunset with a 4 person limit .

We hunted the grass lands first but found the cattails were the ticket to get the roosters.

Sunday was a tough go, got checked by the CO and was told to hunt the thickest cover we could find or wait till the last two hours of daylight and road hunt.

We hunted the fence rows with thick grass and trees till 4 PM then started road hunting.

We limited out with in one hour of road hunting, just see a bird peeking out of the cover then go hunt them down.


Monday was warmer and the sun came out so we hunted the grass again, got our limit by 3pm.

We limited out on Ducks by Friday morning, saw tons of ducks, some Canada's,Snows,SandHills,Tundra's, even saw two flocks of trumpeters who swooped in on our decoys Thursday morning.

Man those birds are huge!!!

Benny

[Buster]

Just got back from a few days of hunting between Marshall and Ivanhoe on public land. 3 guys, only 2 dogs-1 was my new pup.
Didn't see many roosters, got the 2 that flushed in gun range Monday late. No roosters seen on Tuesday. Thought was hunting pretty good land-grass edges near corn fields still standing and recently harvested.  Will be heading back there after deer season in that zone. Puppy needs more work on nose.

[get the net]

Got invited to hunt a private proeprty yesterday afternoon, sounded to good to pass up so cleared the desk and out of the office at 2:30.? Load the dogs and gear, meet our very excited "guide" at the local gas station.? Off we go and eventually arrive at the "spot"? If you could paint a picture of a perfect looking spot, this was it.? Recently harvested corn field with a cattail, willow slough near the center of it, about 10 acres.? Nearby was a chisle plowed bean field.? The word was, when the corn was combined it was black with birds flying into the slough.? With great anticipation we carefully positioned ourselves on the downwind side and strategized.? Only a few steps in and a hen broke out.? 1 hour later, with cattail fuzz in my mouth, nose, eyes and ears, another hen broke out the end.? To add insult to injury as we walked back to the trucks, a rooster for no apparent reason other than to tease us, flushed out near the middle of the cats, only to flutter down 20 feet on the other side of the fence, private property we didn't have permission to hunt.? Thats why they call it hunting and not shooting.? Our guide was very apologetic, and we assured that we were not disappointed, what he heck, good company, we got out of work early, had a rooster outsmart us and saw a nice fat doe later in the afternoon.? ?Great afternoon if you ask me.?
Side note, still oceans of corn out there and we saw alot of other guys that must have been playing hooky from work on a wednesday afternoon.? Will be hitting SW MN next for a three day hunt before the quest for the turty pointer.? Looking forward to that.

[get the net]

Made it out again yesterday and today.  Bagged one yesterday after a long walk on a WPA.  Fairly recently harvested corn field, they were baling corn stalks on it as I pulled in.  Saw one hen fly in as the tractor went by.  Started at about 4:30.  Had to walk with the wind initially, kicked up two hens on the way out walking the outside edge near the corn field.  Walked the thicker stuff on the way back around.  First 50 feet from the edge was nice and smooth, very few bumps, dips or surprises.  Little clumps of willows here and there.  The next 100 feet to the cattails and water was the thickest, nastiest, cow hump infested crap I have walked in this year.  Grass was so thick in places you had to fight your way through it, could not have shot, if triples were getting up in front of me, spent a lot time pickng myself up after falling down in between cow humps.. Sweat is now pouring, t-shirt is clinging, underwear sticking, now we're having fun!   Finally got back into a little more forgiving area that thinned out some on a little rise that made a corner near the cats.  Duey got birdy and 1st jumped a hen, then a tight holding rooster jumped only to fall to a load of # 2 steel.  Pay off.  Moved back out to a little thinner stuff for the rest of the walk back.  Today was just exercise for me and the dog, jumped a few hens on a WMA, dog was chasing little more than I like today, getting to far out especially in the thinner stuff.  He was chasing a hen who at first led me to believe it was a rooster after such a long chase.  I hate running after the dog like that, hyper-extended a knee about ten years ago doing that, found a hole.  Thought of a rooster overrides my common sense once in while yet.  Checked him a little tighter with the e-collar after that.  Lots of road hunters tonight, at least 6 trucks drove by the WMA I was on between 4 and 5:00.  Matter of fact the pressure so far this year has been as heavy as I have ever seen it. 

[perch destroyer]

 I took my 2 youngest sons out on Sat. age 12 and 15, we hit a WMA not to far away. we`re walking in some grass only about knee high and the dog (Moses) all of a sudden stops and looks straight ahead and then kinda turns its head to one side and then the other. After about 30 seconds of this off we go hot on the trail of what I hoped was a rooster, tail wagging and nose snorting we were in pursuit. He`s hot on the trail and I tell my 15 yr. old on my right to stay with him. My 12 yr. old and I were trying to keep up when all of a sudden the bird flushes after about a 70 yard chase. The one boy with the dog didn`t even get a shot as I think he was still cleaning out his britches when it flushed , and me and my other son each shot but were to far away.
 I reassured him that he`ll get more chances this year. 
 Most of the corn is out now so the hunting should only get better.

[ATM]

Went out to the Dawson arear yesterday, found a nice WMA that had some corn in the WMA.  Also had some nice cattails and wind rows. Went through the whole thing with just me and my pointer and saw nothing. Decided to head down to a wpa down the road but there was already hunters, so back to the 1st wma i went to. This time I focused on the thin stuff along the edge of the corn and wow was there birds. ended seeing about 20-30 hens and about 10 roosters. I got one bird missed 3 shots but they would get in the 30 mph wind and were gone. Would have been nice to have a few more guys there was just to much good cover for me and my pointer to hit. Had a blast. Adam

[shakey legs 2]

Heading out to North Dakota Thursday.  Hopefully I will have a good report when I get back.

[Gopher]

I've took the new puppy out a few times this year and have managed to shoot a few birds over him.  Lots a birds around. I think he is actually starting to figure this hunting stuff out.

[get the net]

Was out for 4 days of Rooster hunting last thursday through sunday.  All I can say is the last month of the season should be awesome in the cats if thats where you like to hunt.  We hunted CRP and small sloughs near recently harvested corn fields each day, mainly private property but some WMA's.  The key was later in the afternoon when they came back to roost or long drives through the CRP and semi funnel them to a corner.   Then they started to pop out a few a time.  Great dog work, good shooting, and T-shirt weather on saturday and  Sunday.  Sunday afternoon I found a WMA with a corn field that had been harvested right next to it the day before. I was by myself  with Duey and left the truck at 2:44 and was back in the truck at 3:17 with my two birds.  Duey flushed 5 more birds before we got back to the truck, 3 suzies and two more roodies.  Still lots of pressure on thursday and friday, but slacked way off because of deer hunting on the weekend  Couple of pictures from the weekend


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[get the net]

Well, I have been out twice since the 4 day trip.  Yesterday, I went out with coulda, shoulda and woulda, and between all of us we couldn't come up with the rooster that should have been a chip shot.  If coulda got the safety off a little smoother, shoulda could of swung the barrel a little smoother, woulda said we certainly had a bird in the bag after all Duey's hard work. 
Today, was just a walk in the park, flushed one suzie along some cats on a WMA, could hear the dog actually splashing through the water before he jumped her.  Sounded deep. 
Not many rooster hunters out either day, mainly blaze orange spots sitting in the trees, patiently waiting.  Did see a nice ten tonight on an alfalfa field.  Just out of sight of a hunter on stand.  I eyeballed him with the binocs and then he bounced over the hill towards the hunter.  I expected to hear shots, he should have been well within range.  But nothing, maybe was not looking the right way at the right time.
 Would expect the pressure to ramp back up after this weekend again.  Hear lots of guys talking about all the roosters they have been jumping on the drives for deer.
Anybody else been out ?   Mayfly,  where have you been? 

[shakey legs 2]

I just got back from Mott ND.  There were 5 of us hunting with 4 dogs (3 springers and one vizzala - sp?).  The weather was great, mostly in the 20's and low 30's, slightly overcast and the best part was no wind.  We hunted private property that had a combination of shelter belts, groves and grass.  It has been extremely dry out there and the grass is very short and skimpy in most places.  We limited out for the group and were treated to some good dog work.  I got lucky and shot a double on two roosters in a fence line.  We stayed at the Mott Motel and they have very nice cleaning facilities plus the dogs get to stay in your room.  We had a nice big room for 3 of us and they only charge $50 a night for a room.   I will be going out for my second trip the end of November, first part of December.

[Mayfly]

You guys are making me jealous! This has been a horrible year for me. I was planning on making it out more than any other year but that has not been the case. I have just had too many things going on lately. I'm hoping for a strong finish in November and through December. A lot left of the season...right?!

 

[get the net]

Your back!  Thought you were lost in a huge section of CRP or gigantic cattail slough.  Lots of season left, and it will only get better as it gets colder. I absolutely cannot wait for the 1st decent snow fall we get, couple inches or more, fill in some of the CRP areas and push them into the cats where the big blockheaded labs rule.  Sad to say but the season is just about half over. 

[Mayfly]

I hope to hit it hard in December with one trip in me the last weekend of November. I was going to try and sneak out next weekend but I just have to much stuff to get done. Most importantly I just want a day with nothing to do. I don't think I have spent a whole day at home since I moved. Seems like I am never there!

Frozen cattail sloughs.....Sounds good to me

[GRIZ]

Well things have been good around here. Lots of birds and surprisingly not as many hunters as I'd have thought.

My step dad has been out everyday this week and has limited out until today with 2 friends. They only got four in 2 hrs. hunting but blamed it on poor shootin. :o Claimed between the 3 of them on 4 missed birds they spent 27 shells. ??? I have a hard time believing that as I've also hunted with these guys since we were in high school and have seen on of them miss once. Thats not an exaggeration these guys are truly crack shots.

Now for me I've only been out a few times but usually manage a limit.

The best part is on Wed. I brought this neighbor lady w/asthma to the dentist. She doesn't have a drivers lic and has a hard time getting around. Well on the way there I asked if I could pheasant hunt there on her place. She said yes but not deer as her family hunts them. So when we got back she told me to drive around the property to show me where the hundred and ninety acres lay. :o I thought she only had 60 acres. Now this gets even better. As we pulled up to her place Tally her dog excitedly greets her and I mentioned that I bet that dog could make a good hunter. She said "Why's that" then I reminded her of the time I had to find her dog for her when she broke the leash and got tangled in some brush. I said the dog was hunting and could tell it had a good nose. Then she excitedly asked me "oh would you take tally with, she'd really like that." Well who could refuse an offer like that? I said first I'd like to see if she was afraid of gun fire so when I get the chance I'm going over theere and find out.

[jigglestick]

we hunted for three days this past weekend down in jackson county.
I would have to say that over the past ten years, this area has been beat to death.
amazing what a little publicity will do.
we started hunting down there eleven years ago and it was great. we had public areas to hunt and there were birds (lots of them) in all the areas.
then the word got out in the papers and magazines a couple years afterward and the end result is what we have now. hunt all day with four guys and hope to jump a rooster in range.

if it wasnt for the private properties, we would have had only two birds.
I think I will be hunting different areas.

I have alot of memories there, but I am getting to old to be killing myself to push the wise roosters out of a quarter mile stretch of cat tails.

I will be searching for the stupid young birds that still think they are safe in the short grass

the upside is, I brought my new english setter Maggie, out for her first taste of pheasant feathers.

hoping she would show signs of being instinctively intact, she was very interested in the first two brids she was introduced to. they were a couple of gamefarm raised roosters. we planted them in the grass and them brought her down wind of them. it took a couple of passes, but she was eager to chase them down.
we hunted the rest of the day, jumping wild birds near enough for her to see, to know that she indeed had an instinctive interest in birds.
it wasnt until the second day, when we accidentaly stumbled upon a motherload of birds, which included about fifty percent roosters!
we went about fifty feet along the MN/IA border fencline, when she suddenly became paralized. I was as surprised as her. I asked her if she had found a bird and there was no reaction. she was rock solid. realizing that this might be exactly what I had only hoped for, I called my son over to get into position.
that is when the giant rooster busted out of the weeds and into the air, turning it's head searching for it's escape route. there wasnt such a thing, as the twelve guage roared, the dog lunged towards the falling bird, pinning it in place until I got to it.
can you say  GAME ON!!
she was on fire, knowing now, why she had been born.
ten minutes passed before her next point. it was a hen and after it flushed, she made about ten bounds following only to stop when I yelled "NO-HEN"
I called her again and she returned to me to recieve much praise.
I was so damned proud, I could hardly contain myself.

the next day produced about a dozen more points, all false points. I believe the management area that we were on had just been hit prior to us hunting it.
she has a lot to learn. among the things she will learn,
she will learn to distinguish between a real live bird and one that was there but is not any longer. she will learn that there is a difference between hens and roosters. if she is as good as Dixie was, she will learn the difference between them when she points.

this is her first rooster..


there is nothing like hunting over a pointing dog. it looks like I will be blessed again.
I will add pictures tomorrow when I unpack my camera.

[shakey legs 2]

I know what you mean Jigglestick about the plubicity.  I have hunted SW Minnesota and NW Iowa for a number of years and every year there seems to be more hunters.  What is interesting is that there doesn't seem to be as many "young guys" out there.  I think the survey that the DNR did about the age of hunters (published by the Star Tribune) might be right on.  I haven't hunted in Minnesota since the second weekend so I am sure the birds are getting pretty wild, especially on the public areas.  We need some cold weather with some snow to get them back in the heavy cover and hopefully they will hold better.


I got back Sunday from a few days around Clark SD.  We hunted road ditches and management areas.  We managed to get a few birds but did not limit out.  It was very nice weather-wise on Friday and Saturday and the birds were scattered and holding in light cover.  We would walk ditches where there were cattails, willows and heavy grass with little or no luck and then walk a ditch with extremely light cover and all hell would break loose.

I am leaving Wednesday morning for Mott ND where we will be hunting private land through Sunday.  This area has a ton of birds - more than I have seen on my trips to SD or Iowa so I am hoping to get into them.  The dog has been holding up well and so have my old bones so that is all I can ask for. 

[jigglestick]

pics added

[shakey legs 2]

Got back from my Mott trip yesterday.  The weather on Thursday was cold.  4 below zero in the morning warming up to single digits in the after noon with a 10-15 mph wind.  Friday was warmer in the high teens and low 20's but windy with gusts up to 25 mph.  Saturday was cold again with temps in the single digits and windy.

If you have not been to SW ND it is worth a trip even if you don't hunt to see the birds.  We usually hunted for about 4 hours in the morning (8 of us) cleaned birds and then took a nature drive just to see the sights.  If you have not seen 500 - 1000 (no exaggeration) outside of a farmer's grove it is a sight to behold. 

The dogs came through the hunt without any injuries and performed well.  The posters had some tough shots with the wind-driven birds and it made for some tough shooting but fun.  Now I will shift gears and hunt management areas in SW Minnesota for this month and look for the elusive trophies that are left.  Good hunting everyone.

[ATM]

Just got back from our 3 day trip to edgely ND. It was cold and windy. Sat the wind was around 25-30 and the high temp was 5. With the tough hunting conditions we did not shoot as many birds as last year but it was still a great time. The birds were very flighty. We ended up with 30 birds for 6 guys. We had a lab with for her second trip and she made great progress compared to last year she works close and made some great retrieves.  She was fun to watch this year. My pointer struggled this trip. He tends to range a bit and with the birds  flushing way out in front it was a struggle to keep him close enough. I think the amount of bird scent and the number of birds he could see flushing out in front of us caused some problems. Now back to Minnesota hunting I can hardly wait to hit some wmas out west. As a side note while coming home from ND I saw several portables on the noth side of lake Minnewauska. Adam

[get the net]

This thread has been way to quiet lately.  Has anyone been out?  Everybody afraid to maybe give up a hot spot? I know the pressure has not eased up much here in Central MN.  Even on a lot of weekdays see a few people out and about.  Weekends still very busy.  Mayfly, what happened ?  I have been getting out for short trips but not as often as I would like.  Picking up one here and one there.  The last ones being over a week ago.  Me and a buddy each got a rooster  and I got a bonus hungarian.  Hope to hit some prime areas next weekend over Christmas weekend when visiting the SouthWest part of the state.  Although friends tell me that has been getting hit hard yet also.
Know there are still lots of birds around, but all the big flocks I have seen have been on private property, posted up tight.  Knocked on a door and was turned down, owner and relatives hunt.  Looking forward to snow in the forecast, maybe push them into the cats for good.  Last birds were still in the grass.  Not really very jumpy compared to some other birds I have hunted lately.  So come on, lets hear about your last outing, good or bad, successful or not.  Only a couple of weeks left.

[Mayfly]

Well It is the same old story....busy busy and busy. My weeks are long and once the weekend comes I would rather spend the time with my daughter and or relax. I will tell you this though. I talked to a couple of my pheasant hunting buddies today and it got my blood pumping. Too bad it is so late! If things go well this week I may sneak out either Fri or Sat am. There is a farm close to the metro that has birds and I may have permission. I am also planning on ending the year with a bang. I would like to finish string and hunt for 3 days straight. We will see how that goes. Once the season ends I will take Luci to a preserve until the birds are gone. I have to try and get her out.....she is getting fat again.

So hopefully you'll see a report from me soon! Because this is killing me!

[shakey legs 2]

Two of us went to SW Mn. on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day to be out and any birds we got were a bonus.  We saw quite a few hunters for this time of the year.  I think the unseasonable weather had a lot to do with it.  We saw a few birds and were fortunate enough to scratch 4 of them from two different management areas.  This was my first trip out in Mn. since the second weekend and although we didn't see as many birds as we did in previous trips, I suspect the nice weather had them scattered about.  The 4 birds we did get held pretty tight with 3 of them coming from the edge of cattails and one on a fenceline next to some pine trees.  Three of the four birds were last years roosters or older.

[get the net]

what a difference a little weather and snow can make!   Skipped out of work a little early this afternoon, grabbed the 16, Duey and off we went.  Days like this are my absolute favorite, 1st snow, a 10-15 mph wind, it just chases the birds into the cats.  the birds hold better, it just does not get any better.
First WPA dog started working a bird within the first 50 yards, typical around in circles they go, dog over runs the scent, doubles back picks it up again, you can see the cattails moving, hear the tail slapping back and forth, faster and faster, finally pins him down, a flash point, then Duey dives in head first and up comes the rooster.  Did my part, one in the bag.  Nothing but suzies after that, pushed them all to one little corner, thought my head was going to fall off, flush to my left, then right, behind me, back and forth, no cackles, no white rings, Duey had some fun with them though.
Had tme for on last walk, Hoped no had beat me to the spot.  Came over the hill, parking lot was empty, no tracks in the snow.  Parked, unloaded, walked straight to a small depression with cats and  a few scattered willows, the short ones, easy to see and shoot over.  Duey is going crazy, back and forth, nose down, tail beating so fast it looked like a blur.  Quickly found out why, First rooster jumped to the left of the dog, my aim was true, bird down, Duey came running, I could see the bird on an open space laying on the snow.  Two steps two more roosters break cover, third one over my shoulder.  Duey retrieves the bird, see four more birds flush a short distance away, one was a rooster. 
Now the hard question, I can't get out in the morning, should I tell my buddy or hold out on him.  I already called him, he owes me one.
 Tomorrow afternoon will be down in some prime country.  Hope to hook up with some friends for a pre-Christmas hunt on friday and saturday.

[Mayfly]

Next weekend i'm finding a way out there!