Western Minnesota Roosters

FINALLY the 2007 pheasant season is underway and this year our group broke from tradition and headed west for the opener. Normally we shy away from the chaos of the opener but as luck would have it work commitments had us headed to the Ortonville area

We arrived a day early at the Karn ranch(my inlaws)just east of Ortonville Mn., to cut wood as a show of appreciation for Dave and Paulette(father and mother in-law) letting us invade their home for 3 days of hunting and putting up with our B.S. We also used some of this time to do a bit of scouting to find out which fields have been picked and what areas have been flooded with all of the recent rain.

Saturday morning came early and we were on the road headed to our spot at 7:30am trying to make sure to beat the crowd, and we were able to enjoy an amazing sunrise because of it. After what seemed like forever the clock struck 9 and we were off. We could hear shooting in every direction and were sure it would only be a matter of time before it was our turn but unfortunatly the roosters out smarted us and made it to the corn befor we could get pressure on them and push em airborn. Undiscuraged we headed to our next spot this time starting in the grass right next to the standing corn and BINGO!!! no less than 10 birds got up all at one time and we were only 100 yards into the field. A true double peeled off my direction and I cleanly dropped the first bird with one shot, and hoping to be able to brag and say I limited with a double I drew a bead on the second rooster…….ONLY TO BLOW IT!!!! with a terrible miss. We continued on popping up quite a few birds thru the field, and not long later my lab Madison got birdy and pushed a rooster into the air. I connected and was treated to a very nice retrieve.The shear number of hunters was truly amazing, its a wonder we have ANY pheasants in Minnesota at all. We didnt hunt one single spot without seeing other hunters.And unfortunatly our shot gunning was not in mid-season form and we all missed some quite easy shots. I know we had our limit of rosters flush with-in range but our group of 6 hunters ended up with 9 birds for the first day. Not to bad considering the crops and other hunters we battled.

Sundays hunt was wet in the evening, we did manage a few more birds during the day but the rain definatly took the wind out of our sails for the evening hunt. I am so blessed to hunt with such a quality group of hunters. My wife Jenn, Best friend Rod and his Girl friend Jen, long time buddy Ron, and Paul the super freek are 5 of the greatest people on earth and it is truly a privledge to spend time in the field and on the water with them every year. Of course everyone who ownes a experianced hunting dog thinks his or her dog is the best around but our group is also very lucky to have our 3 labs Madison, Hanna, and Zoie, and 1 german shorthair, Trigger aka "The Machine". these dogs are amazing to watch in the field.

Monday was a total wash out and we packed it up and headed home a day early. All in all hunting was tough but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.