This blogger, right, and fellow PF employee and Club Outdoors contributor Andrew Vavra at a Kansas walk-in area in November. Minnesota is expected to have a pilot walk-in program next fall. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Three's a Crowded Vest and Other MN Pheasant Tidbits
How many late season pheasant hunters are left? If you're out there, this news is for you.
By madant
December 8, 2010 at 4:24PM
This marks the third December (through the remainder of the pheasant season, this year it's January 2nd) that hunters can add a rooster to their daily limit - a grand total of 3 birds daily. I haven't personally accomplished a 3-bird Land 'O Lakes longspur limit, but it's on my "Bucket List."
Since most upland guns are already collecting their first cobwebs, and upland biologists insist the increased limit has virtually no impact on overall pheasant harvest and future pheasant populations ("excess roosters" is the correct, if unkind, terminology), the rule boils down to incentivizing the remaining hardy hunting souls. While you're using your frozen fingers to count your birds, are you thumbs up or thumbs down on the late season bag increase?
- Minnesota awarded $3.6 million in 35 grants through the new Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program. Five Pheasants Forever projects in five different counties – Dakota, McLeod, Ottertail, LeSueur and Freeborn - made the cut. To see project descriptions and funding summaries, click here.
- I'll pheasant hunt around my hometown of Madison, Minnesota, a few more times this year, and will have Sam Cook to thank for all the extra late season hunting pressure from Duluth. Okay, I'm (sort of) kidding, but if you're not familiar with my native land, check out Cook's story – he's the outdoor scribe for the Duluth News Tribune - Frigid December hunt for pheasants.
- McLeod County is home to a new Wildlife Management Area, as reported here by the Hutchinson Leader. As the article states, the new tract was initially purchased with the help of the McLeod County Pheasants Forever chapter, a group that has raised and spent more than $4 million to help pheasant and wildlife habitat in that area. Now that's a thumbs up!
- No state sends more nonresident hunters to South Dakota than Minnesota, and here's your late season tip. Typically, if you buy your license after December 15th, you can use the second of your two 5-day hunting periods the following year. That allows you to hunt five days this year and five days next year for the price of one $110 license. Check with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks for more information.
- Not that I'm ready for this hunting season to end, but one offseason initiative I'm very anxious to follow, especially after hunting walk-in lands in five states west of MN the past two years, is the formation of a pilot walk-in hunting program for southwest Minnesota. In this humble blogger's opinion, this state is long overdue. We'll keep you posted on this un-posting issue.
- As I reported in my blog entry Common SD Pheasant Hunting Violations, most pheasant hunting violations in that state stem from road hunting. While I don't have any data to point to, my educated guess is there are some similarities in Minnesota. With snow cover making pheasants easier to see near roadsides, and a relatively new gun case law that has, as stated in some state conservation officer reports, led to an increase in road hunting, don't be afraid to report any riffraff.
Happy hunting and happy holidays!
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madant
None of the boat’s occupants, two adults and two juveniles, were wearing life jackets, officials said.
