A picture-perfect pheasant hunting opener

WORTHINGTON, MINN. – "Rooster, rooster!" came the cry Saturday just five minutes into the 2014 ­pheasant season.

Hiking through tall, tawny prairie grass under a cobalt sky, Cal Brink shouldered his shotgun and fired. So did hunting companion Steve Nelson.

The ringneck folded.

"That was picture perfect," said Brink, of Marshall. Added Nelson, of Worthington: "It doesn't get any better than this."

That summed up the fourth annual Governor's Pheasant Opener, held on a crisp, sunny autumn day — the kind hunters dream of — at Worthington in southwestern Minnesota.

Whether hunters bagged birds or not, all praised the weather and most saw encouraging numbers of ringnecks. The 43 hunters, accompanied by 41 non-hunting volunteer guides, averaged about a bird apiece, hunting mostly private land in the morning hunt. Officials wanted to leave the public lands for regular hunters.

They, too, apparently found some action.

One takeaway: Some hunters in the governor's group saw many young birds, indicating a late hatch, likely caused by heavy June rains that washed out nests.

"We flushed 18 birds, but many were very young, with hardly any color," said Ken Varland, DNR regional ­wildlife manger, who hunted with two others. "They probably hatched during or after our August roadside counts." His group bagged three birds.

Greg Knopff, a Minnesota Senate analyst, said his group of three flushed more than 20 birds, many that were young. "Most you couldn't tell if they were hens or roosters," he said. The group bagged two birds.

Brink and Nelson were joined by Bob and Ginny Riege, freelance writers and photojournalists from Austin. Ginny Riege took photos of the three hunters and their three volunteer guides, Arlen Foss, 80, a retired Lutheran minister, Ray Busch, 70, of Fulda, and Mark VerSteeg, 54, of Worthington.

But the quick bird that Brink and Nelson bagged shortly after 9 a.m. was the only one the group shot. Hunting 320 beautiful acres bordered by some standing cornfields, they flushed three other roosters and four hens.

Said Busch: "I'm frankly really surprised we didn't see more, but that's hunting. It will get much better."

Gov. Mark Dayton, who launched the first event four years ago, didn't hunt. In February, he had surgery at the Mayo Clinic to repair his hip and wasn't ready to hike over rugged ­terrain.

"I'm on wounded reserve; I'm a walking poster board for the Affordable Care Act," he quipped to 430 people at a banquet Friday night. The Governor's Opener, held previously in Montevideo, Marshall and Madelia, have become community celebrations and opportunities for the host areas to showcase themselves.

"Worthington is more than a great place to pheasant hunt," said Chad Cummings, chair of the event.

Volunteers and sponsors are critical. At Friday night's banquet, local high school band students bused tables for tips to help pay for a trip to Florida.

Whether he or his family shot birds, he said, "The main thing was we were together, and that's what hunting does. It brings generations together. It's a fabulous part of the spirit of Minnesota."

Dayton announced the state's first-ever Pheasant Summit will be Dec. 13 in Marshall. The governor said last month that he would call a summit to focus on strategies to increase the state's pheasant population, improve pheasant habitat, and help ensure future generations have the opportunity to enjoy one of the state's most popular and iconic game birds.

Dayton told the crowd in Worthington that he hopes recommendations can be brought to the next legislative session so that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy pheasant hunting.

"That's what this is all about," he said.

Dayton also announced that Mankato will be the site of the 2015 Governor's Pheasant Opener. Dayton is up for re-election next month, so it's uncertain if he will be in Mankato for the fifth annual event, which has been viewed as a big hit by communities, tourism officials and pheasant supporters.

Twitter: @dougsmithstrib