Opener

[Leeland]

I was just wondering where everybody is heading for Minnesota Opener?

I have to work Saturday morning, but will be out late afternoon and Sunday around Evansville near Alexandria. Not sure what to expect, but the beans are pretty much done and farmers are started on Corn. Whatever birds are around, we should be able to find.

[Daisybuck]

Funny story about that. For some reason I got it into my head that I could go this Tuesday (tomorrow) and was making plans for a run out near Litchfield when my Dad said ``doesn't it open next weekend?'' In the words of Homer Simpson ``D'oh!'':eek:

Thank goodness I didn't tromp out there. But I bet competition for good spots would have been light...:o

My Dad just laughed and told me of a time decades ago when he and his brother were hunting along the Iowa/Minnesota border in a driving snowstorm -- they really made a killing on the ``Iowa'' roosters so they headed north to Minnesota. When they didn't find the border they realized they had accidentally crossed into Minnesota during the storm (season had been closed for a few weeks) and been hunting the whole time.

``That explained the strange looks we were getting from the locals driving by,'' he said.

[birdshooter]

Harvest reports as of Oct. 2nd: Corn - 6% harvested. Beans 35% harvested.

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Minnesota/Publications/Crop_Progress_&_Condition/2011/cw100311.txt

I'm going to sit this one out and wait for more corn to come down.

[Daisybuck]

So at what percentage does it become worthwhile, in your opinion? Not trying to be a smarty-pants, just relatively new to the sport and trying to figure it out.

[birdshooter]

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's not worthwhile going on the opener, just that with the low bird numbers and a fields full of corn, your chances of harvesting a bird will increase as the corn comes out. Just too much cover to hide in. On the other hand, for many, it's a family tradition as was the case for me growing up.

Forecast is for some wet weather this week and we need it. This dry weather does mean the crops will most likely come out sooner this year providing we don't experience some October monsoons.

Personally, I just like to wait a couple weeks or so as I hunt mostly public lands and normally on opener the public lands are pretty crowded. With any luck and an on time harvest, by Halloween a good chunk (50% +) of the corn should be harvested and you will see more birds.

[Tbear]

8 of us will be headed to SW MN for opener. Just need to get out if we only shoot a few thats fine still better than sitting on the couch. If you are going to hunt public land get there early. Like Birdshooter said there will still be a lot of corn in. Our group will try and find a pc of public with no crops around it. Worked for us last year and hopefull will this year as well. There are definetly a lot of VERY young birds around with no color. :cheers:

[GustavDaGSP]

Ill be with a bunch of labs and guys walking with guns In sw and my lonely Shorthair Mr juan man army Gus :D Good luck and good and good hunting ROOOOOOOSTER.......... B A N G !!!!
:cheers:

[Tbear]

Ill be with a bunch of labs and guys walking with guns In sw and my lonely Shorthair Mr juan man army Gus :D Good luck and good and good hunting ROOOOOOOSTER.......... B A N G !!!!
:cheers:

Come on now. Its going to be a good time. You can show me all your honey holes.:thumbsup:

[goldeneye]

Funny story about that. For some reason I got it into my head that I could go this Tuesday (tomorrow) and was making plans for a run out near Litchfield when my Dad said ``doesn't it open next weekend?'' In the words of Homer Simpson ``D'oh!''.

If you would have made it out this far I would have invited you over for a drink:cheers: so it would not have been a waste of a trip.


We are headed up north for some grouse hunting then I hope to make it back for a morning duck/goose hunt I think its a little early for me to hunt the phez I like to wait till after deer season cooler temps.

[GustavDaGSP]

Come on now. Its going to be a good time. You can show me all your honey holes.:thumbsup:

Show you my honey holes ahahahaha its gonna cost you a beer or four :cheers: Is it saturday yet :eek:

[FCSpringer]

Headed to IL for a field trial :thumbsup:. But plan to hunt during the week when I get home. Crops are going very fast around here. Way more gone then last year. I think people will have plenty of action out there. A typical MN opener. But at this rate and no more rain, the crops will have a real big dent in being gone. Have fun guys.
:cheers:

[GustavDaGSP]

Is it 9:00 am saturday yet :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Tbear]

Is it 9:00 am saturday yet :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

The next 2 days are going to be some of the longest of my life. Weird how it happens every year. PHEZ:thumbsup:

[GustavDaGSP]

I think if i just drink today durning and after work and repeat tomorrow ill forget about how long these two days are gonna be :D

[BRITTMAN]

When I was in my teens and twenties I was like that too. Now opener is not that big a deal and I rarely worry about getting out there ...

Plenty of season ahead of us.

[Daisybuck]

I am hoping to run north up MN65 and hunt some roosters on the way to the grouse cover around camp in N. Aitkin. Hopefully a crack at a combo.

Now that I know when opener is, that is. :o

Everybody have fun and everybody stay safe out there. I wish y'all good luck (except you fellas sniffin around `my'' spots. :rolleyes:)

[dc240nt]

Definitly going but will stay relitively close to home and hit small public areas. A person is only given so many openers, couldnt imagine passing one up. Thats something you never get back.

[birdshooter]

Good luck for those who are going tomorrow and above all else be safe !!

Post up your opener stories and pics.....:thumbsup:

[Tbear]

Definitly going but will stay relitively close to home and hit small public areas. A person is only given so many openers, couldnt imagine passing one up. Thats something you never get back.

Thats a great way to look at it. Im very suprised how many of you guys are not going to go out and get some ROOSTER!s the first chance you get.

[jeffstally]

I have to sit this opener out. We are on our way home from a 5 day hunt in north dakota. I don't think the wife would be too happymif I peeled out in the morning. I will probably head west for a day mid week.

[Tbear]

I have to sit this opener out. We are on our way home from a 5 day hunt in north dakota. I don't think the wife would be too happymif I peeled out in the morning. I will probably head west for a day mid week.

Well Jeff we dont all have a slacker job like yours were you get to leave when you want to!:) J/K ill let you know how it all when.

[Daisybuck]

Seriously folks, some of us are stuck working. Get those smart phones clicking tomorrow morning so we can at least have a little taste of the action. Remember distinguishing landmarks, water towers, GPS coordinates are also keys to sharing your opening morning glory. ;)

I'll be standing by to give a whoop-whoop to the first to post of the season. I'll buy the virtual beer... :D

Daisybuck

[jeffstally]

Well Jeff we dont all have a slacker job like yours were you get to leave when you want to!:) J/K ill let you know how it all when.

Ha! I usually have a 2 year old and 6 month old home with me during the day. I need a break or two or I would go crazy.

I just got an offer to hunt with a friend of a friend next week in SD. They have 4 guys hunting private leased ground and staying in a lodge. They said I can hunt and stay for free because they are short on dog power.

Time to start buttering up the wife...

[TABLEROCK]

I have been hereing from farmers picking that they are seeing really young birds barely able to even fly. :rolleyes:

[mnjimmer]

I hunted yesterday on familar ground that I have hunted for many years and it was the worst opener I can ever remember. Our group of 4 saw about 10 birds the entire day on land that in the past we would typically see 50 to 100+ birds per day. Very discouraging, I guess we take for granted how good the past 6-7 years have been.

[omsrud]

I hunted the same (public) ground I've hunted on the opener since 2007. Although it started slow (we flushed almost as many deer as pheasants in the first hour or so) I had my limit by 11, my buddy had shot at his by the same time. After lunch, we had his birds by 1:30. One bird was older, 1 indeterminate (I didn't care that much to try any aging technique), and 2 young of the year birds. We flushed several other young roosters. As a bonus, we were serenaded by goose music all morning.

I definitely saw more boards than I did last when two of us failed to bag a bird, and walked many, many miles with few flushes. I believe there were probably as many as 2008 and more than 2009 (the wet, snowy opener when no crops were out). There were not as many birds as 2007. We were surprised by the number of birds. The hen to rooster ratio was concerning. I usually see more hens, but overall, considering the abysmal winters and nesting seasons the past two years and the the dour reports, I was pleased with what we saw. The one unaccounted for variable was hunting pressure. It was very light leaving much public ground unhunted late into the morning and giving us first crack at unhunted birds. Any one who sat the opener out really missed a prime opportunity for solitude on public land.

[Tbear]

Our group did good. Our group of 7 got 12 birds Saturday. Sunday we all split up and me and my buddy got our limit by about 2pm.:D Like some others had said I didnt think the hunting presure was all that bad. Lots of Roosters not as many hens.

[GustavDaGSP]

I like my feild as first pick Tbear and stop pissing on my shoes !:mad:
Im just happy My dog pointed a Rooster for the lady in are group so she was able to bag her first wild bird :D Happy Hunting and Stay off my feilds TBEAR
:cheers:

[Tbear]

Here is a few pics. Wish I would have taken more as always.

[GustavDaGSP]

:coolpics: I was more than happy to be in our group as everbody with the long tail dogs are great bird dogs even if they are mini labs :D

[SwampCollie]

Hunted Public on Saturday.. last year saw 50+ birds, saw 2 this year. Got the one young rooster off of public.

Sunday hunted my place and limited out in the first 20 minutes with two old football birds. Looks like my winter cover helped, but birds are WAY, WAY down. Off to SD this weekend for a week.:)

[Dakotazeb]

Got a report from some friends that hunted SW of Canby. They hunted land that we normally do quite well on for 3 hours on Sunday and saw 1 hen. No one had hunted it on Saturday. The landowner and his neighbors say they are not seeing any birds and haven't seen any all summer. So some areas got hit quite hard apparently.

[jeffstally]

We hunted west central MN today. There were not a ton of birds, but enough to keep us interested. We ended up limiting out (2 guys) by 1:00.

There were for sure less birds than last year in the areas I was familiar with but it is definitely not a total wash out.

[Tbear]

We hunted west central MN today. There were not a ton of birds, but enough to keep us interested. We ended up limiting out (2 guys) by 1:00.

There were for sure less birds than last year in the areas I was familiar with but it is definitely not a total wash out.

Nice job:D

[goldeneye]

Here is a few pics. Wish I would have taken more as always.

TBear
Did you get a new CZ SxS?

[Tbear]

Yes I did. New to me. Bought it used figured I would not feel so bad if I put a couple scatches in it. I like it a lot and shot prety well with it last weekend.

[FCSpringer]

Went out yesterday for about a 15 minute walk and put up 2 roosters and wiffed both of them.:D It was so dang windy I could not hear them flush. And both times I was not watching what was going on for just the right couple seconds. Roosters 2 Me 0.

[kansasbrittany]

Went out yesterday for about a 15 minute walk and put up 2 roosters and wiffed both of them.:D It was so dang windy I could not hear them flush. And both times I was not watching what was going on for just the right couple seconds. Roosters 2 Me 0.

Thanks for the report and your honesty:D

I'm looking forward to getting out and wiffing a couple myself:cheers:

[FCSpringer]

Thanks for the report and your honesty:D

I'm looking forward to getting out and wiffing a couple myself:cheers:

It was just one of those days.:rolleyes: I did not have time to go longer. I did see 4 other birds driving past them as well. So there is some life out there.

[kansasbrittany]

I'm interviewing for my MN job over the next couple days. The thought of leaving the state I've come to know and love so much puts my stomach in knots. However, Minnesota sounds like a great place for a family like mine (everything outdoors), at least until those MN winters come around. Not sure how the wife is going to adjust to ice-fishing/snowmobiling, but with a good heater I'm sure she'll enjoy the solitude. Well, I guess I should rest easy for now b/c I don't have the job yet:rolleyes:

[GustavDaGSP]

I'm interviewing for my MN job over the next couple days. The thought of leaving the state I've come to know and love so much puts my stomach in knots. However, Minnesota sounds like a great place for a family like mine (everything outdoors), at least until those MN winters come around. Not sure how the wife is going to adjust to ice-fishing/snowmobiling, but with a good heater I'm sure she'll enjoy the solitude. Well, I guess I should rest easy for now b/c I don't have the job yet:rolleyes:

Never been to kansas I hear that the bird hunting is unreal but growing up in Mn it is pretty good place besides the winters! We have more Pheasants than people think you may have to drive farther/hunt altitle harder but they are out there are Ruff grouse hunting is second to none fishing sucks here no walleys at all :laugh: other than that good luck on the job:thumbsup:
They dont call us minnesota Nice for nothing :cheers:

[goldeneye]

Kansasbrit

good luck on the Job. keep us informed.
Were in the state are you looking for work?

[kansasbrittany]

Kansasbrit

good luck on the Job. keep us informed.
Were in the state are you looking for work?

West Central, Sir.

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes. I shouldn't have high-jacked the thread:rolleyes:

I'm hoping to find good athletics in/around the Willmar area (will work in Willmar, willing to commute up to 20 minutes).

Both of my boys play soccer, baseball, and wrestle. We can settle for rec league baseball and wrestling is what you make of it (convenience of individual sports!), but I'm worried about finding premier league soccer in the area. We don't mind driving an hour 1-way for soccer practice. I'm thinking St. Cloud is probably big enough I can find an acceptable soccer program.

[GustavDaGSP]

West Central, Sir.

I'm hoping to find good athletics in/around the Willmar area. Both of my boys play soccer, baseball, and wrestle. We can settle for rec league baseball and wrestling is what you make of it (convenience of indivual sports!), but I'm worried about finding premier league soccer in the area. We don't mind driving 1hr or less 1-way for soccer practice. We drive to Topeka 2 nights/wk now, plus games on w/e's in Topeka and KC.

Out of most of the guys on here & not to sound cocky but im sure i know more than most when it comes to soccer ive played premier level soccer across the country growing up no premier level soccer out that way ! you will have to stay closer to the twin cities if u have any questions about soccer Pm me i could maybe help u out with a club for your boys !

[Tbear]

I'm interviewing for my MN job over the next couple days. The thought of leaving the state I've come to know and love so much puts my stomach in knots. However, Minnesota sounds like a great place for a family like mine (everything outdoors), at least until those MN winters come around. Not sure how the wife is going to adjust to ice-fishing/snowmobiling, but with a good heater I'm sure she'll enjoy the solitude. Well, I guess I should rest easy for now b/c I don't have the job yet:rolleyes:

Were would you be moving to in minnesota if u get your new job? What ever way it works out I'm sure it will work out for the best. :thumbsup: The question is will you chang your name for the uph site. Minnesota is a great state and the winters are not as bad as people make it out to be. Plus you have some great rought grouse hunting. Pheasant are good to eat but rought grouse are the best. Minnesotabrittany has a nive ring to it:cheers: