Southwest Minnesota kicked up pheasants for hunters on opening weekend

Parts of southwestern Minnesota were golden for hunters in pursuit of ring-necked pheasants, one of the state's most highly sought game birds, when the season opened last weekend. Elsewhere, in the pheasant's range, reports were mixed.

Here are some takeaways:

West by southwest had promise ...

Pheasants Forever communications director Jared Wiklund said observations from his colleagues and friends measured up with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' hunting prospects map, particularly an area stretching from Lac qui Parle County south to the state border.

"Southwest Minnesota was excellent, with most achieving their limit or, at least, getting a chance to," he said, adding that one group of seven had their limit, or two roosters per hunter, by midday.

The map is based on the agency's August roadside counts in farmland regions of Minnesota. The surveys have occurred annually since 1955. Despite last year's harsh winter, pheasants increased from 2022 in the southwest and west-central parts of the state but declined elsewhere, the agency said. Overall, pheasants were up 10% to more than 53 birds per 100 miles.

Minnesota conservation officers (COs) had a firsthand view of the action while on patrol. Derek Daniels, in Lake Benton, Minn., and Matt Loftness, in Marshall, said many hunters who found success were shooting younger roosters.

... while it was mixed elsewhere

Farther north and following the I-94 corridor west toward Fergus Falls, fewer birds were encountered. "There were a lot of hens, but not a lot of roosters seen," Wiklund said. CO Ryan Brown, who works the Elbow Lake area, also reported a slow pheasant opener. CO Felicia Znadja in Osakis was surprised at the few gamebirds harvested given the hunting numbers she encountered.

In southern Minnesota, the reports were mixed, too. CO Jesse Drown saw a lot of hunters in Jackson County and reported "a high success rate." In the New Ulm area, it was a different story. Success was lower than expected, reported CO Thor Nelson, even though a few people managed to fill their daily bag limits. CO Nicholas Klehr said results were mixed in the Litchfield area.

Wiklund stuck close to home and did well on the northeast edge of the metro. He arrived at his hunting spot Saturday morning, draped in morning dew, to find roosters standing on the road — a good sign.

Celebrating Steele County

Gov. Tim Walz and other state officials, including DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen, marked the Governor's Pheasant Opener with a two-day event in Owatonna that included local officials and hunters.

On Friday, a ceremony celebrated a 40-acre addition to Somerset Wildlife Management Area. The WMA, which is bisected by the Straight River, has grown to more than 400 acres, according to a DNR news release, a product of long-running collaborative works by hunting and conservation groups. The management area was created in 1957 under the state's "Save the Wetlands" program.

On Saturday, 16 roosters were harvested by Walz and all the hunting parties, according to Explore Minnesota, the state's tourism agency and one of the event organizers.

"As a lifelong hunter and Pheasants Forever member, the pheasant opener is one of my favorite times of year," said Walz in a news release.

Next year's Governor's Opener is Oct. 11-12 in Sleepy Eye and Brown County.

Fewer hunters but similar to 2022

According to the DNR, participation in this year's opener was about the same as it was in 2022. Based on pheasant stamp sales data through Sunday, 55,108 hunters bought stamps, down about 1,300 stamps from last year through the first two days of the season.

Outdoors reporter Tony Kennedy contributed to this story.