Tough hunting conditions vexed a heavy turnout of pheasant hunters

Pheasant hunters in parts of southern and southwestern Minnesota dealt with crowding, unwelcomed warmth and lots of standing crops during the first weekend of rooster shooting. It was an opener that ended with mixed results.

That's the picture that emerged Tuesday from a cross-section of observations penned by conservation officers for the state Department of Natural Resources. With the 2016 hunt lasting until Jan. 1 and with bird population estimates sharply up from a year ago, hunters are looking forward to what is expected to be an increased harvest of ring-necked pheasants.

Among conservation officers reports:

• Andrew Dirks (Redwood Falls): Overall, hunters reported limited success. There is still a lot of corn in the field, which did not help.

• Matt Loftness (Marshall): Prairie grasslands and sloughs were full of duck hunters and pheasant hunters. Pheasant hunters struggled to find birds with a lot of the crops still in. Walk-in access usage was up from last year.

• Craig Miska (Ortonville): Pheasant hunters had moderate success.

• Jim Robinson (Slayton): Season opened with a good number of hunters afield. Most groups bagged fewer than one rooster per hunter.

• Eric Schettler (Fairmont): Both waterfowl hunters and pheasant hunters had the same comments: "Where are the birds?'' Pheasant hunters were out in full force.

• Jen Mueller (Hutchinson-West): Pheasant hunters were reporting little success.

• Brett Oberg (Hutchinson-East): Plenty of birds seen while patrolling but very few in the bag.

• Jamie VanThuyne (Mankato): "A few pheasant hunters had some luck finding some roosters this weekend.''

• Mitch Boyum (Rushford): No birds were seen in the bags of about a dozen hunters checked. However, most hunters stated they flushed birds; either hens or out-of-range roosters

• Tony Anderson (Morris): Pheasant hunting success was better than expected.