SW MN WMA Report

I like this one pictured on IDO Hunting

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I like this one pictured on IDO Hunting

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How to make a deer stand.

Saturday, I took advantage of an offer to pheasant with Fish Any Time (aka Francis) on some public land in SW Minnesota. I met Francis, his son Tyler, and their lab, Sadie, in the morning and started walking at 9:00.

The day started off overcast and breezy, but the temps were pretty warm. We focused our efforts on cattails. By noon, I think we had only moved one hen. Pretty dismal. As we headed back to the vehicles to take a little break and peel off a layer or two, it started to lightly sprinkle. Thankfully, it didn’t last long.

Next, we headed out to another part of the WMA. Since the cattails weren’t producing, we worked some field edges. We kicked up a couple more hens. We finally saw a rooster, but it was far, far away. It looked to land is some thick cattails, so we worked over that way. By this time, the sun had come out and we were dealing with temps in the low 50s. The sweat was pouring as we pushed through the cattails. We started seeing a few more birds, but nothing that presented us with a shot. As we neared the edge of the cattails, a roosted erupted near us, catching us all by surprise. Francis unleashed a few shots towards it, but the bird lived to see another day.

Most of the birds that we did see headed towards the fields, so we worked our way back towards our vehicles pushing the field edges. We saw a few more hens, a far-off rooster or two, and a likely rooster that flushed right in the falling sun.

We got back to our vehicles about 4:00; Sadie was exhausted by this point, and I think all three of us were, too. It was a challenging day, but I learned a lot and had a great time. I returned home tired and sore! Thanks again, Francis. We’ll have to do it again.

Good report!

To bad you guys didn’t connect! There is lots of time yet in the season though!

from 10 until 4 I focus most of my hunting to thickets, fencelines, or shelter belts. The roosters seem to like those areas.

better luck next time.

I’ll be out there this weekend for my final hunt.

What’s the deal with sw mn??? Is it lack of nesting areas? We walked MILES of beautiful public land around pipestone 1 day over Thanksgiving, and we SAW 4 hens, and 1 rooster…the whole day with 3 guys. It was brutal. The public land was gorgeous with corn food plots, trees, slough, grasses…..and no birds. Usually go to ipswich/aberdeen SD twice a year for a few days, but family was just too busy for that this year. Some family members had this great idea to go scout western mn birds rather than drive a couple hours deeper into sodak for our 1 day of pheasant hunting. I told them exactly what we would see, and unfortunately I was right. Didn’t even get to pull the trigger. I’m sure there are a few local guys and gals with great dogs that grind out their birds here or there but I was shocked at how beautiful the public land was in comparison to the absolute lack of birds. Disclaimer: windy, dog not available, late season, but we absolutely worked our buts off zigzagging and have birdhunted for years. On a positive note, everyone we ran into or talked to was incredibly friendly and kind in the pipestone area.

Nice report, sounds like a good time!

I don’t really agree with the last poster. I hunt a lot west & s/w MN and have found the hunting to be pretty good. I don’t think you can really hunt an area one week a year and get a feel for how good the hunting is. You need to pound out the state land and find what is good and what is not worth hunting. I have put in the time and know the spots well. We have shot limits nearly everytime out and have yet to be skunked. Last year we mainly saw roosters and it was tough hunting, but this year we have seen a ton of hens and plenty of roosters. I think if the mild weather continues next year will be pretty good. I guess my point is that you need to put in the time and weed out the bad areas before saying all is lost.

Is it as good as it was 4 years ago, no! But plenty of birds to make it fun!

However, I don’t mind the lack of bird hunters out

First and foremost I apologize if I hijacked the original post, I just went there as I was seeing that others also struggled a bit.

I do agree with you that you shouldn’t judge an area by a days hunt, and I am not a professional birder. It’s probably alot like the mississippi river with eyes. Do ALOT of homework, and you can really get into them consistently. Didn’t want it to sound like I was slamming the area you hunt, I just felt that for the quality of land, even 3 tools like ourselves should have been able to kick more birds up for the ground we covered.

I appreciate both of your views. As a new hunter, the lack of birds can get frustrating, so it is encouraging for me to know that other, experienced hunters get blanked, too. On the flip side, it’s great to know that there are birds to be found!

The only decent hunting we have ever had in SW Minn was after knocking on doors and getting access to private. We’d get one here or there on the WMA’s but they are so urine pounded the whole season you cannot expect much. Of course there are exceptions but I think more luck than anything. Very frustrating to drive from one WMA to another and see a hundred birds in between that you cannot hunt.

We had about the exact same hunt yesterday. Walked, walked, and walked. Flushed a few here and there, but only saw a couple roosters and neither were within range. We found 2 roosters that looked to be killed by a predator and 3 piles of feathers, so I’m assuming a dog that chewed on the bird some. From the looks of it, that spot got hunted this weekend and it probably pushed some birds out and the others got harvested.

I think there are more birds out there than we think. Conditions for scenting have been very poor the last few times I have been out. Yesterday we had 5 dogs that we rotated and 3 of them are very good. They would get birdie, hunt hard, but no birds would flush. I think they are finding the areas where the birds were milling around, but when they take off running the dogs can’t follow a good scent trail. We need some moisture on the ground and in the air. The high winds I’ve hunted in the last few trips aren’t helping either.

The Marshall area has been getting more pressure this year than in years past. I talked to a friend of mine that works at Borch’s in Marshall. He said they have had more people from out of town come into the store this year than he can ever remember. The roadside counts said the population was up this year, but with added pressure many of them have been harvested or have already become much smarter. I’m hoping for the later, so we can get some good breeding stock for next year.

p4walleye:

In response to your opinion, which is your entitlement to do so.

There were more birds around you then you think. Birds this time of year are smart, they wont fly, they will run around you no matter how much you zig zag. Specifically the area you hunted has a lot of acreage, and for three guys to hunt efficiently with out a hound dog is not possible.

Even with 1 dog these birds will still get by you. I only say this from experience, and seeing it first hand.

By me saying experiencing it and seeing it first hand, is exactly what it means. I have excellent hearing and I can catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I have seen birds and dogs run circles around each other to the point where the bird is actually doubled back and following the dog as its on its scent. twas pretty comical. I have seen birds running through the grass or cattails, and have that movement stop completely, and then you go over there and no bird what so ever until you see the weeds moving behind you all the sudden. These birds are sneaky.

Although you may have only seen a few birds and 1 that you can shoot. I can tell you there is more then just that.

All I can say is after living, breathing pheasant hunting, and doing it for over 25 years I have learned this….

“Smart ones run, dumb birds fly.”

Supposed to snow out there starting Fri. First snow…..

Clicker:

I know exactly what you are saying. I listen for them too, and also watch for movements in grass, and have seen some birds do some pretty incredible things. It’s comical when you have a section completely covered with guys, and 3 world class bird dogs “not mine” and roosters start getting up behind the line!!! Alot of times with a small group, if I know they are sitting tight in a spot, the only way they will get up is if you step on them, or if you stop and hold completely motionless. Sometimes that seems to spook them for some reason. I suppose they learn that movement is good as long as it continues they can just stay put or keep moving away from sound. They are pretty classy at finding the opening, on ground, and in the air! What a great sport, and what a beautiful species of bird!

I once winged a bird that ran accross the gravel road twice away/and ahead of the dog tracking it, back into the field that it came from along the dogs first tracking trail and then back to a flooded sloughy ditch and completely buried itself in thicket. It was recoved there, we all couldn’t believe what we had witnessed.

Fife: We also found 5 or 6 predator pheasant kill sites.

This year in South Dakota I called the dog over to where I was standing waiting for some people to catch up. All the sudden the dog (lab) looked down, and was on what I call a point. He stares at the ground ears tilted head. Just stares and stares. Finally I said get em. sure enough a rooster gets up literally a half foot away from me.

That bird sat next to me for 2 minutes before the dog came over and pointed him out.

These birds are one of a kind!

Bummer, Ryan – but thanks for the report!

We were north last Saturday and all of our birds came from the cat-tails