Where Minnesota’s best pheasant hunting is this year, and 5 other things to know ahead of the 2024 opener

If the firearms deer hunting season opener in November is an unofficial Minnesota holiday, the pursuit of pheasants is its own Thanksgiving.

The ringneck season begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and runs through Jan. 1, 2025. It appears hunters in some regions will have plenty of targets this year, roadside surveys from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources show.

Here are several things to know ahead of the opener:

Pheasant numbers in August’s roadside surveys — taken by sight over 167 25-mile routes — were similar to 2023: 19% above the 10-year average. Ringneck numbers increased the most in the east-central region (70%). While southwestern Minnesota saw the biggest regional decline (29%), it still has the most birds at 82 per 100 miles. Overall, there were 52 birds per 100 miles.

In a news release, the DNR said the mild winter and overly wet spring and summer had positive and negative effects. Winter conditions likely decreased bird mortality, but spring and summer rains killed chicks and decreased the number of hens establishing broods.

“Our milder winter meant more hens were available for nesting this year, which likely offset chick losses that occurred due to wet conditions during the breeding season,” DNR biologist Steven Woodley said.

Based on the August surveys, the best hunting regions should be:

Southwest: 81.8 birds per 100 miles

West-central: 65.9 birds per 100 miles

South-central: 58.6 birds per 100 miles

The prospects are good in Brown County, the site of this year’s Governor’s Pheasant Opener.

The National Weather Service forecast for Sleepy Eye, Minn., the site of the Governor’s Pheasant Opener in the southwest, calls for a chilly overnight (43 degrees), with an unseasonably warm high of 67 and mostly sunny skies. Hunters are encouraged to stay cool and hydrated, and the same care applies to their canine companions. Pheasants Forever suggests giving dogs small amounts of water every 15 to 20 minutes and recommends using a squirt bottle to best deliver it.

While the number of hunters afield in 2023 (50,600) was below the state’s 10-year average, pheasant stamp sales (79,037) increased more than 2% from 2022, the DNR reported. About 208,800 roosters were harvested. The average the last 10 years is 197,000.

Minnesota has a Walk-in Access (WIA) program where the public can hunt on designated private land. Similar to the last four years, there are more than 29,000 acres in the program this year, WIA Coordinator Amber Knutson said. Most are in the south-central, southwest and west-central regions. The sites are open from Sept. 1 to May 31. Hunters must buy a WIA validation for $3. Some sites are open to non-hunting pursuits like birdwatching and nature photography. Blaze clothing is advised during hunting seasons. Find hunting rules, GPS and interactive maps, sites open to additional use, and validation purchase details at bit.ly/mnwia.

Twenty years ago, the opener was, well, a letdown for Star Tribune columnist Dennis Anderson, his friends and their dogs. Wrote Anderson of his time Oct. 16, 2004, in west-central Minnesota:

“A delayed corn harvest does many things for farmers, among them, in some instances, cost them money. This fall, cost-conscious crop growers are particularly nervous, as one estimate last week suggested that more than 90 percent of Minnesota’s corn is still in the field, a far greater proportion than is typical in mid-October.

Yet whatever frustration farmers might feel over the delay, pheasant hunters on Saturday, opening day of the state’s 2004 ringneck season, shared their pain. Day long, roosters and hens alike were difficult to come by, hiding, as they were, in the vast acreages of standing corn that remain in this part of the state.”