SW MN last week

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MNTonester
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Location: Duluth, MN

SW MN last week

Post by MNTonester » Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:41 am

Met my oldest and youngest brother for the first of our two yearly phez/grouse hunts. Hunted half a day last Wednesday (11th) under horrendous conditions - 40 MPH winds gusting higher, light rain mixed with sleet. The next day was 30 MPH winds but at least it was sunny. I had an appointment with the vet in Tyler for my old Lab and had just enough time to work a small WMA. Old Chaz put up a number of birds but conditions and distance made shooting difficult. My oldest brother and I were on one side of the road and my youngest on the opposite. Chaz put up a rooster which I shot at and thought I missed. I mentioned to my oldest brother that it was just as well I missed considering the very wet cattails it would have dropped into and the difficult scenting conditions. Got back to the car and my youngest asked "who shot?" I told him I did and he said "you got a bird." One of those where the bird cruised a couple hundred yard and then dropped dead right near him. Took Chaz to the vet who determined he had arthritis and I now had to make the decision to limit his time in the field. We ended the day with five birds; me 2 (plus one lost where the dogs could not catch the scent in the windy conditions), youngest brother 2, oldest brother 1. Friday was sunny and warmer but still windy. Three birds that day; none for me. Saturday was beautiful; light winds 63 deg. The first WIA we wanted to hit was already occupied so we tried another and each dropped a bird in it - with my youngest brother's lab making a fantastic retrieve on a runner I had hit. Youngest brother got one more bird and that was it for the first hunt. Lots of work to get the birds, but great exercise and time spent with family.
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first bird. Oscar, the 8 mo poodle had no idea what he was doing out there, but was enthusiastic about fetching the bird and gentle about it.
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the Saturday morning bird - Abbie the lab did great on all three birds - old Chaz sat out this field
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3 brothers
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Oscar getting a bit of practice on the real thing

chrisss
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SW MN last week

Post by chrisss » Wed Nov 18, 2015 11:57 am

Nice job!!! I was out there last weekend also and had a hard time finding roosters but a lot of hens. Went home with 1 shy of a 2 day limit.

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MNTonester
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Location: Duluth, MN

Re: SW MN last week

Post by MNTonester » Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:49 pm

lot of hens
same thing. an amazing number of hens, which I hope bodes well if the winter is relatively mild

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natel24
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Re: SW MN last week

Post by natel24 » Wed Nov 18, 2015 5:06 pm

Looks like you had some success. I was considering a trip to sw mn week after thanksgiving, is it worth my eight hour trip? My other option was going to northern wi looking for some grouse which is a little shorter trip for me. It would be my first trip to mn hunting birds. Thanks.
natel24
"My dogs not perfect, but i'm not a perfect shot either."
"I'd rather go hunting without a gun than without my dog."

dan janssen
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Location: SW MINN.

Re: SW MN last week

Post by dan janssen » Fri Nov 20, 2015 7:22 pm

all that wind is normal. that's why we have all the wind towers. but the bird pop is great this year

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MNTonester
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Re: SW MN last week

Post by MNTonester » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:13 pm

natel,
I will give MN a lot of credit for the amount of public hunting land available in SW MN. Make sure you get the WIA endorsement as it opens up more possibilities. it seems to be getting more difficult to find private land to hunt but even if you knock on five or six doors and score once, you're a bit more ahead. I'm a bit dismayed at all the private land that has gone to the plow, but what can you do. If you decide to chase SW MN phez, best of luck to you

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