2022 Pheasant Hunting

How do you guys think pheasant hunting will go this year? To me it sounds like things will be going in a positive direction. I’ve seen a good number of birds in my scouting in SC MN this summer. And NW MN too. I realize over historic counts numbers are probably down, but lets be honest, if we’re comparing things to 1942 they always will be. But compared to the bird counts in the last few years I think things are looking really good. Yeah, I could wait to hunt until after deer season, but the dogs are ready to go, and I’m not that lazy. Crops might still be in, but life is short, and pheasant season is even shorter. I plan on getting the dogs on as many birds as possible. Good luck to everyone.

I think it will be slightly better than last season, and I still did pretty well last season. I won’t be going until after deer season, as most of my spots are hunted for deer so I prefer not to march around the area and disturb it. The time period right after corn comes down is often the best for me, especially if we get a light snowfall.

I will admit that I am worried about how dry it is out there though. We are in dire need of some rain. At least right now it doesn’t look overly hot. Nothing worse than pheasant hunting when it’s 75 degrees out.

gim wrote:

Nothing worse than pheasant hunting when it’s 75 degrees out.

Don’t remember what year it was when it was in the 90s on opener, that was worse! Looks like temps will be good this weekend though.

Reef W wrote:

Don’t remember what year it was when it was in the 90s on opener

I can recall a temp like that on the SD opener years ago. Several hunting dogs actually died from heat exhaustion.

Here is yesterday’s Oct 11 USDA Crop harvest report for MN. 63% of soybeans harvested and 14% of corn. They made a significant dent in soybeans over the past week. Corn, not so much.

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Minnesota/Publications/Crop_Progress_&_Condition/2022/MN-Crop-Progress-10-11-22.pdf

Drove through SW MN last week. Very dry conditions. Some swamps and creeks were dry. Most of the beans were harvested and about 1/2 the corn. There were more crops in the field as you got closer to Albert Lea.

Has anyone else noticed poor scenting conditions for the dogs?

I hunted western MN yesterday. Nice day but a little too warm. My dog overheats easily over 60 degrees. Very dry and dusty, seemed like the dogs had a very hard time picking up scent. About half the corn down, but still plenty standing. Me and a buddy shot 3 roosters but expected a lot better for how much work we put in.

Scenting conditions are terrible. It is so fricken dusty down here in the Worthington area I have to take a wet soapy towel and wipe the dog down after hunting just to get her back to being black instead of gray. We did get a four man limit this morning but lost two I think they would have found under normal conditions. Probably 80% of the corn out in our area maybe more. Sounds like we have a chance for a shot of rain Sunday night and maybe Thursday. I hope so as we have had .33” of rain so far for the month of October.

When we stop for lunch on an approach, and a vehicle comes by we run for the truck cab for fear of choking to death on dust. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so dry. Too warm for the dogs this weekend. Had to rake leaves😥.

When we stop for lunch on an approach, and a vehicle comes by we run for the truck cab for fear of choking to death on dust. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so dry. Too warm for the dogs this weekend. Had to rake leaves😥.

dirk-w. wrote:

Had to rake leaves

My leaves are like dust. They crumble into pieces when I rake or bag them. I’m just going to mulch them from here on out. If its as dry in bird country as it is is here at my house, I would imagine its very difficult for the dog to find bird scent out there.

We had to cut our hunting trip short because it being so dry. MY dogs nose and eyes were so cut up. The weeds and the grasses are so sharp they are cutting everything.

gim wrote:

My leaves are like dust. They crumble into pieces when I rake or bag them. I’m just going to mulch them from here on out. If its as dry in bird country as it is is here at my house, I would imagine its very difficult for the dog to find bird scent out there.

I have a mulching attachment for my Simplicity and it works fantastic. THe neighbor across the street has a bunch of sugar maples and his yard was completely covered. He was on his weekend IPA run so I figured I would mulch them up so they didnt end up in my yard. He got home in the dark and didnt notice until the next morning, but he text me “I looked out the window and my leaves are gone did you bag it?” He couldnt believe it when I told him I mulched them because it looked better than when he bags it with his tractor.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I have a mulching attachment for my Simplicity and it works fantastic.

I usually mulch about half of mine. When the leaves cover and area really thick, I rake and bag them. The rest of the leaves get mulched. There is a free compost site about 5 miles from me so its not that inconvenient for me to haul some leaves there a couple times. This fall the leaves are so freaking dry that raking and bagging them is actually hard to do. They just fall apart into pieces.

Iowa opener roll call! Hope they get some rain this week.
Ill be hunting there the next 3 weekends.

Looks like most of Iowa is getting good rain today. Western MN not getting any of it. I had not seen that poor of scenting conditions in a long time, it was frustrating.

Can’t wait for IA this weekend!

Gerty wrote:

Can’t wait for IA this weekend!

I wish Minnesota would adjust its pheasant season so that it was similar to Iowa’s season. Starting in late October and then ending in mid January would be so much better. I’d much rather hunt in January when its 20 degrees out than in October when its 75 and there’s still standing corn. This hot, dry pheasant hunting early in the season isn’t for me, or the dog.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Gerty wrote:</div>
Can’t wait for IA this weekend!

I wish Minnesota would adjust its pheasant season so that it was similar to Iowa’s season. Starting in late October and then ending in mid January would be so much better. I’d much rather hunt in January when its 20 degrees out than in October when its 75 and there’s still standing corn. This hot, dry pheasant hunting early in the season isn’t for me, or the dog.

I like Iowa because there’s more opportunity. You can find more and bigger public areas that dont have revolving hunters all day like the WMA’s here. Also and probably even bigger is ditches are public which opens up an enormous amount of opportunity EVERYWHERE. Another interesting item is I dont see burs and stickers very often. They seemed to be crazy in Mn along with sand burs.
Iowa is shockingly clean unless you seek them out.

gim wrote:

I’d much rather hunt in January

Dont the pheasants have enough to worry about that time of year. Like eating and not freezing to death.

JEREMY wrote:

Dont the pheasants have enough to worry about that time of year. Like eating and not freezing to death.

You could say the same thing about them in December when the season is open too. South Dakota is open all the way through January now. Minnesota needs to update its season to properly align with a warming climate and delayed crop harvest.

suzuki wrote:

I like Iowa because there’s more opportunity.

The season going 10 days into January would be a big selling point for me if I hunted there.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
I like Iowa because there’s more opportunity.

The season going 10 days into January would be a big selling point for me if I hunted there.

Well you have private property to hunt and that usually trumps all.
The little private we get to hunt in Iowa is like hunting in a zoo.

suzuki wrote:

Well you have private property to hunt and that usually trumps all.
The little private we get to hunt in Iowa is like hunting in a zoo.

That is true. But I can’t imagine there’s many hunters still at it in January in Iowa is there?

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
Well you have private property to hunt and that usually trumps all.
The little private we get to hunt in Iowa is like hunting in a zoo.

That is true. But I can’t imagine there’s many hunters still at it in January in Iowa is there?

Cant be. We hardly see anyone on Thanksgiving weekend. I get sick of the drive and rarely go in Dec anymore. Im good transitioning to ice fishing then and maybe a Grouse hunt.

I’m heading to SD hunting this Thursday. My farmer just finished up all of his corn and says the bird #’s look better than they have been in quite a few years. We shall see in a couple of days!

Jason wrote:

I’m heading to SD hunting this Thursday. My farmer just finished up all of his corn and says the bird #’s look better than they have been in quite a few years. We shall see in a couple of days!

Good luck. I’ve heard mixed reports from there but the bad news always seems to be related to dryness. Hopefully with a little rain this week it will be better for you.

SD hunting has been good so far with easy limits everyday. Been coming out on two trips every year since 2003 and this year the birds are simular to what they where 10 years ago in the area we hunt.

We did well in nw Iowa. Our crew was just a few birds from filling out for the weekend. I was fortunate to bring home 6. Some fun shooting and great dog work along with the best company made it go by way too fast.

We had our chances and ended up with a few in IA. Lots of hunters in our area this year. Was targeting to get to my opening spot by 6am on Saturday (opens at 8), miscalculated and we were getting there around 5:30. Pulling down the gravel road to the WMA and someone pulls in 1 minute before us. Said they had already missed out on their first option. I have never been down there that early and never not got my spot by 6am. Can’t wait until the weather gets cold and crappy so most of them go away.

BTW, really need some wet and colder weather for the dogs.