Almanac: Pheasant opener had its ups and downs

MONTEVIDEO, MINN. — Minnesota's pheasant season opened with a bang -- and a bust -- last weekend.

Some hunters found plenty of birds -- but warm temperatures, fields full of standing corn and rain hampered many hunters. Based on talks with fellow hunters and anecdotal reports from around the state, I'd rate the opener average or below average.

Where I hunted in western Minnesota, hunters jammed onto public lands. My hunting partner and I shared a spot with three other hunters, but despite the crowd we found action almost immediately.

My buddy dropped a rooster that flushed from cattails shortly after the 9 a.m. legal shooting time. I got my first at 9:20. By 11 a.m., working thick grasslands with three hunting dogs, we had our four birds.

But hunter success varied. Three hunters nearby got just one bird, and moved to another spot. Another foursome we talked to filled their two-bird bag limits.

But others struggled, and many blamed the standing corn. As of last Sunday, only 5 percent of the corn crop had been harvested, compared to 41 percent last year. Normally, about 24 percent would have been harvested.

Sunday, as expected, was tougher hunting. We flushed about a half-dozen birds and bagged one.

Near Fergus Falls, hunters averaged about one bird per hunter. Near Osakis, there were lots of hunters, but harvest was noticeably down. Near Wheaton, few hunters had much success. Hunters near Morris bagged a couple of birds per group. "A few hunters did get a limit of pheasants opening day, but Sunday's rain spoiled most hunters' second-day chances," reported officer Tony Anderson.

Near Montevideo, pheasants were hard to come by, "however, some ambitious hunters did get their limits," reported officer Ed Picht. Near Marshall, the opener was average at best. Hunters did OK near Benson. Small numbers of birds were seen in the bag near Willmar, and at Windom hunters averaged less than one rooster. Hunting also was slow near Mankato, St. Peter and Faribault.

"Very few birds where found in the bag" near Rochester, reported officer Dan McBroom.

Antlerless deer season About 27,000 Minnesota hunters killed 4,866 deer last weekend in the special two-day antlerless deer season.

That's an increase of about 4,000 hunters.

"The weather was terrible," Cornicelli said. It rained in much of northern Minnesota all weekend.

The goal was to reduce deer numbers in high-density areas. Of the 4,866 deer killed, 2,853 were adult does, 1,046 were female fawns and 967 were male fawns.

Grouse numbers up The number of young ruffed grouse encountered by hunters at the Ruffed Grouse Society's annual national hunt near Grand Rapids last week increased from last year but was still low enough to suggest grouse again may have had reproduction problems last spring.

The ratio of immature grouse to adult females was 5.28, much better than the 3.97 recorded last year -- the third-lowest in the event's 27-year history but still below the long-term average of 6.7. In comparison, the ratio was 10.65 in 2006.

What does it mean?

"From a reproductive standpoint, this year was not as successful as we'd like to see it," he said.

Last year's low ratio was a mystery, eventually attributed primarily to rainy, cool weather during nesting season. This year, the weather also might be to blame.

"Temperatures the first two weeks of June were below normal, and we had good rains," Dessecker said. "That may have affected brood survival."

Others have hinted that other factors could be at play, including West Nile Disease and changes to forest habitat.

Still, hunters at the national event found more birds in the woods than last year, Dessecker said.

More DNR fallout A DNR enforcement supervisor was fired last week and Deputy DNR Commissioner Laurie Martinson was suspended for three days without pay as a result of improper spending and fundraising by the DNR for a game warden conference last year.

Commissioner Mark Holsten said he fired Capt. Cathy Hamm, a 33-year DNR employee. Hamm's attorney said she retired before she could be fired. Hamm's husband, Col. Mike Hamm, former chief of DNR enforcement, resigned last month.

The shakeup followed two state investigations into the DNR's role in staging the conference, which provided training and entertainment for several hundred game wardens and their family members from Minnesota and around the country. A legislative audit found the agency had misspent $300,000 in public money and broken a conflict-of-interest law.

The DNR's internal investigation was made public last week.

Did you know? • Former Vikings coach Bud Grant and leaders from state conservation groups will fly around the state Oct. 28-29 to hold rallies in support of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Act. The group will hold rallies and news conferences in St. Paul, Rochester, Mankato, St. Cloud, Duluth, Bemidji, East Grand Forks and Moorhead. With Grant will be leaders of Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association as well as former Star Tribune columnist Ron Schara and former state Sen. Bob Lessard.

• Officer Bob Mlynar of Aitkin reported that the second Saturday of the waterfowl season seemed better than the last several years. Mallards, ring-necks, teal and wood ducks were seen in fairly good numbers.

• A deer hunter near Center City shot himself accidentally after climbing into a poorly constructed deer stand. The hunter didn't unload his firearm, and didn't use a haul line to pull his gun up. Instead, he used a belt looped through the trigger guard. He underwent surgery at a hospital.

• A hunting dog chased a raccoon into the water on Dane Lake near Marshall last week. "The coon and dog struggled for almost a half-hour in the water," reported officer Doug Lage. "The dog was taken under the water by the raccoon several times and things looked dim for the dog, but luckily the dog was assisted by a person who was fishing nearby and the owner's hunting party."