WESTER MN PHEASANTS

well i just came back from my pheasant scouting trip in western mn getting ready for the opener. the birds in most areas are a bit spotty we have a bit of private land to hunt but will be spending the majority of our time in the public stuff that is why it is so important to get out there and see whats up. beans are about 50% out right now so that means we will have a LOT of corn standing again for the opener. with the major rain they had about 2 weeks ago the farmer are having trouble getting around in the fields. lots and lots of mud. but i still think this year will be a good one based on the numbers of birds we saw this weekend. hopefully the homework pays off

Thanks for the update. We will be hunting in Lac Qui Parle county and I am hearing about the same thing. Will report back after the weekend.

Thanks for the update. We will be hunting in Lac Qui Parle county and I am hearing about the same thing. Will report back after the weekend.

About how many hours is it to western Minnesota pheasant area where there substantial public lands? Is there enough land to stumble into or would it be best to get PRIM maps from the DNR? Thanks.

About how many hours is it to western Minnesota pheasant area where there substantial public lands? Is there enough land to stumble into or would it be best to get PRIM maps from the DNR? Thanks.

Putz, I drove from Marshall to Detroit lakes this weekend. The most pheasants I saw on the whole trip were in Lac Que Parle county. Good luck, I will be just northeast of there in Swift County. I am predicting a ten man limit by 1:00.

Putz, I drove from Marshall to Detroit lakes this weekend. The most pheasants I saw on the whole trip were in Lac Que Parle county. Good luck, I will be just northeast of there in Swift County. I am predicting a ten man limit by 1:00.

Suzuki, I can make it out there in about 3.5 hours from CG. There are a lot of public hunting grounds in the area and a map would be of great help. There is one by our place that is 1 mile long by about 1/4 mile wide. I would suggest going during the week as they are lined up along there on weekends, especially opener.
Shhh, Bigfife, we don’t have pheasants in LQP county.

Suzuki, I can make it out there in about 3.5 hours from CG. There are a lot of public hunting grounds in the area and a map would be of great help. There is one by our place that is 1 mile long by about 1/4 mile wide. I would suggest going during the week as they are lined up along there on weekends, especially opener.
Shhh, Bigfife, we don’t have pheasants in LQP county.

I will be hunting NW of willmar about 30 miles, near Clontarf. Bird reports i’m hearing are “good”. I may hunt near my “old” home of Willmar on Sunday. The area 10 miles west of Willmar and NW of Willmar 10-20 miles are pretty good as well. There are a lot of WPA’s to hunt. My dad who farms has told me he has seen more birds this summer than in many many years. That is mainly in a line from Willmar to Benson. Can’t wait! I’ll give a report Monday. Good Luck everybody.

I will be hunting NW of willmar about 30 miles, near Clontarf. Bird reports i’m hearing are “good”. I may hunt near my “old” home of Willmar on Sunday. The area 10 miles west of Willmar and NW of Willmar 10-20 miles are pretty good as well. There are a lot of WPA’s to hunt. My dad who farms has told me he has seen more birds this summer than in many many years. That is mainly in a line from Willmar to Benson. Can’t wait! I’ll give a report Monday. Good Luck everybody.

you would have trouble not finding public land in swift, lacquiparle,or big stone co. all of my scouting was in big stone and LPQ. i honestly drove by every WPA and WMA in the county of big stone to see what kinds of crops were around the public property. the numbers were down from last year for sure but i did see pockets of good bird numbers. we came over one hill and there were eight of the biggest long tail roosters i have ever seen flying into one of my “go to” spots. if any one needs any maps of big stone,swift, of LPQ counties pm me and i will try to get them to you. also if ant of you guys are going to be around ortonville let me know “i’ll buy the first round” after the sun goes down. hope you all have a great time on the opener. im going for the whole week!!!!! so i cant wait

you would have trouble not finding public land in swift, lacquiparle,or big stone co. all of my scouting was in big stone and LPQ. i honestly drove by every WPA and WMA in the county of big stone to see what kinds of crops were around the public property. the numbers were down from last year for sure but i did see pockets of good bird numbers. we came over one hill and there were eight of the biggest long tail roosters i have ever seen flying into one of my “go to” spots. if any one needs any maps of big stone,swift, of LPQ counties pm me and i will try to get them to you. also if ant of you guys are going to be around ortonville let me know “i’ll buy the first round” after the sun goes down. hope you all have a great time on the opener. im going for the whole week!!!!! so i cant wait

Good luck, Wallerbass1. Hope you have enough shells for a week. Probably won’t make to Ortonville this weekend but thanks for the invite. May be at Club 775 this Thursday though.

Good luck, Wallerbass1. Hope you have enough shells for a week. Probably won’t make to Ortonville this weekend but thanks for the invite. May be at Club 775 this Thursday though.

club 775 is our hang out but we wont be there till friday. maby next time. good luck this season
wallerbass1

club 775 is our hang out but we wont be there till friday. maby next time. good luck this season
wallerbass1

I was out in the Morris area last weekend duck hunting and i’ll tell ya what. In all my years of hunting out there I have NEVER see this many birds. The paper on Wednesday said that the population was down 47%, that a bunch of B.S. There’s lots of birds, but the sad things is theres way to much corn standing, which will make this weekend hard.
P.S. Suzuki, Have you been out to the DNR in Washington county. Have been running the dog up there, and have kicked up lots of birds lately.

I was out in the Morris area last weekend duck hunting and i’ll tell ya what. In all my years of hunting out there I have NEVER see this many birds. The paper on Wednesday said that the population was down 47%, that a bunch of B.S. There’s lots of birds, but the sad things is theres way to much corn standing, which will make this weekend hard.
P.S. Suzuki, Have you been out to the DNR in Washington county. Have been running the dog up there, and have kicked up lots of birds lately.

Has. I pm’d you about that location

Has. I pm’d you about that location

We had a rough weekend shooting birds. Saw around 50 on Saturday and managed 2. They were flushing WAY ahead of us. Even getting up as we drove down the field roads to where we hunt. Sunday we hunted till noon and got zero. “Should have had 3-4 more if we could shoot straight!”. My personal theory is this…..all the roosters I saw were big, colorful older birds. I don’t think I saw a young rooster. So they were/are smart already. My other “excuse” is all the corn left. The birds were there, but elusive. We hunted around Clontarf.

We had a rough weekend shooting birds. Saw around 50 on Saturday and managed 2. They were flushing WAY ahead of us. Even getting up as we drove down the field roads to where we hunt. Sunday we hunted till noon and got zero. “Should have had 3-4 more if we could shoot straight!”. My personal theory is this…..all the roosters I saw were big, colorful older birds. I don’t think I saw a young rooster. So they were/are smart already. My other “excuse” is all the corn left. The birds were there, but elusive. We hunted around Clontarf.

Steve, same thing is SD. Most of the birds we shot were “old” birds and were very smart. They seemed to be very educated this year compared to years past. I am guessing reproduction was pretty poor in most areas and the result is we are left with what we had from last year.

I also noticed very few “turners” or young birds without full color and lots of hens. Both are very typical of years with poor reproduction.

Steve, same thing is SD. Most of the birds we shot were “old” birds and were very smart. They seemed to be very educated this year compared to years past. I am guessing reproduction was pretty poor in most areas and the result is we are left with what we had from last year.

I also noticed very few “turners” or young birds without full color and lots of hens. Both are very typical of years with poor reproduction.

Saturday was a great day for us in western mn. The first DNR property we hit on saturday yeilded 7 roosters in 50 minutes. From there the day slowed but we still managed to bag 7 more for a grand total of 14, which is terrific considering how much corn is still standing.
Nothings better than spending a great day of hunting with family and friends. I should have pictures to come in the next couple of days.
Also, we did see a large number of immature birds, and by immature i mean babies. These birds could hardly fly, and the majority of them held so tight that my LAB was pointing them.
Good luck to all, in the next coming weeks.
HAS

Saturday was a great day for us in western mn. The first DNR property we hit on saturday yeilded 7 roosters in 50 minutes. From there the day slowed but we still managed to bag 7 more for a grand total of 14, which is terrific considering how much corn is still standing.
Nothings better than spending a great day of hunting with family and friends. I should have pictures to come in the next couple of days.
Also, we did see a large number of immature birds, and by immature i mean babies. These birds could hardly fly, and the majority of them held so tight that my LAB was pointing them.
Good luck to all, in the next coming weeks.
HAS

we did pretty well in western mn also saturday was tough on public land but our private land was above average for sure ill try to figure out a way to put on some pic ” i hate computers”

we did pretty well in western mn also saturday was tough on public land but our private land was above average for sure ill try to figure out a way to put on some pic ” i hate computers”

Do you still have pheasants for sale?
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