Saturday was pheasant opener. Drove down to SW MN and got two roosters by 11am. Nice day to be out. Typical opening day crowds, so busy but found places to try. Nice weather for hunting. I tried Sunday evening just south of the metro 30 miles. Flushed a hen and rooster. Unfortunately I dropped the rooster but must have not centered the pattern. Even with a good dog he got away in some thick canary grass.
This is my favorite time of year.
Good report, I started a 2023 pheasant report thread but it won’t let me link it now for some reason.
nice work crawdaddy. were you hunting solo?
Sounds like a great opener! Couldn’t ask for better weather. Too many projects going now, but will be out later in the season.
Sounds awesome. Cant wait for Iowa opener.
We were out west the first day and SW the second day. Way too much corn up obviously but there were definitely birds around. Hopefully it dries out fast and the corn starts coming down.
We went west. We got seven birds over the weekend between the three of us. Lots of hunters. Had to be at the hunting spot three hours early and Saturday we finely got a spot after three tries.
Also bagged a rudy on opener in southern Mn. Got to my spot 1.5 hours early and guys still showed up after 9 and parked right next to me so what was the point… Lot of hunters out. Harvested a 2nd on Sunday with a buddy. Plenty of corn still up.
We went west. We got seven birds over the weekend between the three of us. Lots of hunters. Had to be at the hunting spot three hours early and Saturday we finely got a spot after three tries.
This is why I reluctantly quit pheasant hunting in mn. Not enough public land for much quality weekend hunting.
This is why I reluctantly quit pheasant hunting in mn. Not enough public land for much quality weekend hunting.
Much better after the first two weekends, good if you can hunt weekdays. Might be worth another shot.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
This is why I reluctantly quit pheasant hunting in mn. Not enough public land for much quality weekend hunting.
Much better after the first two weekends, good if you can hunt weekdays. Might be worth another shot.
I believe you but now I have every weekend in Nov tied up in Iowa and the rest of the free ones I use for Grouse up north. Taking time off work is not easy for me right now. The one thing I dont miss about Minn hunting is the stickers. We just dont see them like that in Iowa.
hey suzuki, I believe you also hunt a golden. This stuff works really well on their coat for repelling and removing stickers, burrs and all that stuff. I buy mine on amazon
https://cowboymagic.com/products/cowboy-magic-super-bodyshine/
This is why I reluctantly quit pheasant hunting in mn. Not enough public land for much quality weekend hunting.
There is tons of public land in western/southwestern minnesota trouble is it takes so long to get there. Also the WIA program has really grown. Its easy to find them on the OnX Hunt app. Its not to where other states are, but its really improving for sure. I generally hunt central MN because its within an hour of where I live. I love hunting the Montevideo area, but thats like a 3 hour drive for me now.
Does this make their coat greasy? I also have a golden who seems to go out of her way to find burrs.
I hear you KP. I swear goldens are magnets for those things. To answer your question, no its not really greasy. More of a shine. Definitely helps cut down on burrs along with using a skid plate.
I have a jacket she wears but yesterday I was training with her I swear her tail and ears just got covered. I’m going to order some of this and thanks for sharing it!
it helps to have a mane comb or something similar to work it into their coat. you can get them at fleet farm for like $2
the spray worked into their coat won’t eliminate all of the burrs, but it certainly makes getting them out a lot easier.
I have ran Goldens for years. To an extent I consider there extra fur expendable armor. I comb out what I can but scissor out the really bad stuff. Sure they look like hell by the end of the season BUT they earned it and they dont care. I’m proud of my Golden’s rat tail in Dec! It grows out quickly after season.
Of course I use a vest to cut down on the carnage.
Have you guys ever considered shaving the chest, back of the legs and any other area susceptible to these burrs? I once had a springer and we did that at the beginning of the season and never really had an issue with stickers.
I give my goldens a good trim before hunting season, and again right before trips to south dakota. Not shave, but a good trim.
Sure, the snarls can be badges of honor but I know for a fact they don’t feel good for the dog. Anything I can do to help my girls out, I’m all for.
Wisconsin opener tomorrow – 9:00 am, 1 rooster limit!! Very much looking forward to getting back out in the field, and so is Piper 
Good luck to everyone.
Good Luck Nice Fella! Cant be too many pheasant hunters in Wisconsin. Salute!!
I used to go over there and hit public land just over the border. Shot two roosters total.
Have you guys ever considered shaving the chest, back of the legs and any other area susceptible to these burrs? I once had a springer and we did that at the beginning of the season and never really had an issue with stickers.
As Gitchi alluded to, wouldn’t recommend a shave. That fur is there to protect them. I agree trimming things down is fine. With my setter his belly hair is so fine and sparse i actually leave that longer than anything else. The rest gets a good trimming.
Good Luck Nice Fella! Cant be too many pheasant hunters in Wisconsin. Salute!!
I used to go over there and hit public land just over the border. Shot two roosters total.
Oh, there’ll be plenty of orange vests out there in morning, for sure. But I agree with you that it’s hardly worthwhile from a harvest standpoint. I’m no biologist, but I really don’t understand why there aren’t more birds around here. We have lots of what I think is great habitat, and decent public access – not to the scale of some other states of course, but numbers seem like they should be better than they are. It seems like we also have good and active Pheasants Forever Chapters as well, of which I’m a member.
I’m no biologist, but I really don’t understand why there aren’t more birds around here.
Too many feral cats, if you can believe that.
That’s what a wildlife biologist told me once about 10 years ago. Wisconsin has more feral/stray cats than any other state, apparently. At one point they actually considered opening a season on them, with a bounty for each one but the PETA and tree huggers lobbied against it.
Sure does have good deer and turkey hunting though. Take what you can get.
Nice Fella:
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters that the state’s 2023 pheasant season opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 and will run through Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
I’m no biologist, but I really don’t understand why there aren’t more birds around here.
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Don’t they allow the harvesting of hens too? Not sure if thats statewide or not. That might play into it. My understanding is the population is low so the WDNR releases birds and allows you to take either sex. Without it, there wouldn’t be a season. I’m open to being educated on that.
Don’t they allow the harvesting of hens too? Not sure if thats statewide or not. That might play into it. My understanding is the population is low so the WDNR releases birds and allows you to take either sex. Without it, there wouldn’t be a season. I’m open to being educated on that.
No hens. One rooster daily opening weekend, 2 daily the remainder of the season. Page 18 of the Wisconsin hunting regs.
I don’t know about releasing birds.
You piqued my curiosity Gim. Looks like there are either sex areas listed on pg 18 and thats roughly the area my buddy hunts so that’s where I was confused. It’s not statewide. If they also release birds in those areas (unconfirmed) its probably more of a symptom of low population vs a cause.
Nice Fella:
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds hunters that the state’s 2023 pheasant season opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 and will run through Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
I’m an idiot – thank you for correcting my post. I was out of the country the past week and a half so my head is not screwed back on completely tight yet.
That said, any reports?
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