2023 pheasant reports

Post your plans, conditions, success, and failures right here for the upcoming season!

North Dakota – already open Oct 7
Minnesota – opens Oct 14
South Dakota – opens Oct 21
Iowa – opens Oct 28

I probably wont be going out this weekend, but perhaps next weekend since we wont be doing the youth firearms deer hunt.

CaptainMusky wrote:

but perhaps next weekend since we wont be doing the youth firearms deer hunt.

Just remember that there are additional blaze orange requirements during any open deer firearms season, including the youth/anterless season. Just a reminder. I have been known to forget that myself.

Oh I know but its always worthy of a reminder. I have a full blaze orange game bag along with my kids so that wont be an issue.

I’ll be in South Dakota 10/27 – 10/31 and again 12/6-12/10. I can’t wait for the December trip. Late season pheasant hunting is simply the best. Hardly any other pressure/traffic, cool weather which helps the dogs, the crops are out and the birds are grouped up. All the young and dumb birds are already dead so the ones you do hunt are smart and hard to get close to, which makes it that much more rewarding.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Late season pheasant hunting is simply the best. Hardly any other pressure/traffic, cool weather which helps the dogs, the crops are out and the birds are grouped up. All the young and dumb birds are already dead so the ones you do hunt are smart and hard to get close to, which makes it that much more rewarding.

Yes, absolutely all of this! I have had days where I have seen hundreds of birds flush within minutes and not gotten one shot off, but it was amazing to see. This was in MN no less. The dogs were so dang confused they didnt know what to do! All of this was hunting public land but the birds ran onto bordering private and flushed like crazy. I couldnt call the dogs back, but once they were done they came back. I didnt set foot on the private land I just watched in awe.

I’ll be heading down in Iowa to hunt around Spirit Lake the second week of November. Its the 2nd year with my pup and I’m excited to see how she does. Last year she wasnt even a year old during the season.

I totally agree late season pheasant hunting is something special!

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Late season pheasant hunting is simply the best.

Put me in this crowd too. I don’t even usually start pheasant hunting until mid November. I wish the MN season went longer into January like Iowa and SD.

Cooler temps, less crops, less hunters, longer tail feathers, fresh snow. What’s not to like about it.

Lot of hard work!

dhpricco wrote:

Lot of hard work!

That is a great pic that perfectly sums up late season rooty hunting. The ice/snow chunks on the dog are classic. Great pic – pretty birds and a great looking dog.

That is a beautiful picture of your dog and birds! That had to be a great satisfying day!

Thanks guys. Its one of those public land spots that you really can’t hunt till everything is frozen into December, but has not seen the pressure all season. Pup is going to be 11 in January so not sure how many more late season hunts he has left in him. Good luck everyone that makes it out this weekend.

dhpricco wrote:

Thanks guys. Its one of those public land spots that you really can’t hunt till everything is frozen into December, but has not seen the pressure all season.

those are the absolute best spots! usually they are first huntable around the first week in December which is when I typically have my late season trip. Those cattail areas hold piles and piles of birds but they will make you question your life decisions when you’re walking them.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Those cattail areas hold piles and piles of birds but they will make you question your life decisions when you’re walking them.

A few years ago at a cattail marsh, I knew there was an inlet nearby. I was walking the cattails and had my eyes peeled, but there wasn’t much of a visible channel. Now this wasn’t a swift creek by any means, more of just a small culvert that went under the road. You guessed it, I took a step and my leg went through all the way up to my butt, and I never touched bottom. Luckily it was only one let, and I don’t remember exactly how, but I was out of the water and backed up in a flash. I called the dog and waited but nothing. I set my gun down and creeped forward and here she was with her butt in the water and her front paws on the ice in front of her. She looked really calm. I called and she didn’t make any effort to come out. So I belly crawled over to her, grabbed her paws and pulled her out. 30 degree temps, but she wanted to keep hunting so we did! I do carry ice picks late season, but make a good effort to avoid sketchy areas at all cost.

A few years ago on what was almost certainly the coldest weather pheasant season saw that year, I trapped myself on a peninsula in northern Iowa. I could either back track or cross a small steam. The stream bottom was mud/sand/rock with mud banks but I convinced myself I could jump it, even without a running start. I cleared the water and proudly hit the other side but sunk to the tops of my boots while angling backwards. I slowly fell backward into the creek holding my gun in the air. Total immersion in water and muck. I crawled out and the banks were home of the thickest stick tights I ever seen. Those small 2-pronged ba$tards but in the millions along with another tiny variety to spice it up. Pretty sure it was around 12 degrees with a heavy Iowa wind. I made it back to the truck and changed clothes outside. My dog was savaged by those stickers. I had my gun and wallet torn apart in the motel room while I worked on the dog. I had pics of those hunting pants standing up on their own frozen but cant find them.

crawdaddy – carrying ice picks is a really good idea. I might have to throw some in my vest for the late season hunts. Similar to your story, one of my buddies busted thru the ice in the cattails a few years back and went in up to his chest. The ice around cattails is incredibly inconsistent and hard to read.

Oh, I have had that happen too falling through thin ice. Man, scared the crap out of me. I had two dogs at the time and 1 I couldnt find so I went into the cattails to find him. It was probably -15 at the time, but I took 2 steps in, see my dog clinging to the edge of the ice and wide open running water. I reached for his collar and fell through and my one leg never hit buttom but somehow I fell backwards onto ice and then the dog magically got himself out and proceeded to lick me in the face while I tried to get myself out. So, once I was out it was so cold that the water on my dog instantly froze, but that didnt stop him from hunting, but we cut the hunt short a little bit after.

Guess a lot of us have had it happen. My dog fell through the ice on a very cold day and I also had to do that belly crawl. I whipped my clothes off as quick as I could because it was a 45 min walk back to the truck and if I was in wet clothes I wouldn’t have made it. I broke through just a bit but was able to get him out. Had to keep screaming at the other dog to stay back the whole time.

For opener I’ll be parking at public early in SW MN and making breakfast and coffee. Then I’ll pheasant hunt every weekend other than slug season (might still sneak in some bird hunts though).

I’ve stepped in to my di** several times before. Not cool. Ruins the day. I wait until there’s a hard freeze now before I venture on to those cattail swamps, and I avoid walking near the clumps that don’t seem to freeze as well.

Was out hunting on Saturday around the Willmar area and it was a tough go for us. Me and my buddy with our 2 dogs flushed 5 roosters but all of them were too far to get a shot. The birds sure took advantage of how windy it was. Lots of hunters out so we had to keep moving from spot to spot. Dogs were getting warm with how hot it was so we didnt hunt the whole day but still fun to get out.

The pup sure enjoyed being out.

I talked to a guy who went out to Milan and flushed 2 birds with 1 being a rooster that was so young he could hardly tell it was a rooster. He said the dogs really couldnt find any scent so there were very few birds in the area. He did arrive early at 1 spot and said he heard cackling, but opted to not hunt it because it was so dang thick and he has an old dog.

KP wrote:

The pup sure enjoyed being out.

That vest has good coverage. What brand?

suzuki wrote:

That vest has good coverage. What brand?

https://www.cugavest.com/product-page/copy-of-cuga-waterfowler-protective-dog-vest

I’ve been very happy with this vest and sure helps keeps the burrs off of her.

Ive heard great things about that vest. I think that is the one that PF endorses too!

Iowa opener was good to us. The precipitation held off except for some flurries and the cold temps gave the dogs limitless energy. We did well. A few birds short of limit but only a few. We did a lot of shooting and everyone brought home several meals. The bird numbers where we were in NW were similar to last year. I didnt get the impression there were more but will reserve judgement until all the corn is out. Quite a bit still in he fields.
Here’s what our opening field looked like. After that we split up into small groups and ditch hunted the rest of the day. Buddy got 1 Hun.

1 shot 2 birds on Sunday. Ended up finding someone else’s cripple. Only 2 birds I saw but a buddy went out this morning and saw more so seems like numbers in SE MN are about same as last year. Guided a youth Hunt on Saturday so dog saw plenty of action. He’s 8 and is starting to show his age. His brother passed about a month ago so its time to start looking for a new pup to add to the rotation next year.

Suzuki that is a dang good haul! Kudos. I havent been out yet, but perhaps this weekend but with deer opener I am not a fan of doing that. We wont be going deer hunting opening weekend for sure if at all.