Minnesota’s ’24 pheasant opener below average for many

Sleepy Eye, Minn. — Sleepy Eye was wide awake with activity while hosting the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener on Friday, Oct. 11 and Saturday, Oct. 12. Unlike last year’s opener in Owatonna, rainy weather held off in south-central Minnesota, with dry conditions persisting as hunters flocked to Brown County’s huntable lands.

While many took to the fields, there was minimal success across the state, even in prime pheasant range in the south-central region where the opener event was held.

The general buzz early Friday morning regarding the opener was that conditions could be favorable in coming weeks due to a lack of rain leading to an early crop harvest by farmers.

Crop harvest can vary from county to county, but if crops are out in the area you’re hunting, you’ll be more likely to bag a bird outside of the morning or dusk hours.

“It always enhances your hunting if there isn’t crops in. … If the crops are all out, you can basically hunt all day long,” said Joe Stangel, acting DNR southern region wildlife manager.

Despite the ahead-of-schedule crop harvest in some areas, the amount of corn still in fields negatively affected hunters in some areas, with DNR conservation officers reporting a moderate to poor harvest on opening weekend.

Spring Valley CO Meng Moua worked the opener and reported mixed success despite the busy opener.

“Many hunters described watching roosters cross the road into the standing cornfields while they were waiting for legal shooting hours,” Moua said in the weekly CO report.

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That was a common theme among CO reports ranging from the Fergus Falls area to Marshall and Mankato, with many hunters taking to the field, but few seeing success.

“Pheasant-hunting success was generally low except for one hunter who shot two birds in 10 minutes while hunting alone,” New Ulm CO Thor Nelson wrote in his weekly report.

The few spots COs saw hunter success were around Faribault, Waseca, in the Mankato area, and near Marshall.

“Dry conditions created an added challenge, but plenty of success was seen. Hunters reported seeing a bunch of young birds,” Marshall CO Matt Loftness wrote in his report.

Birds were spotted around Fergus Falls, but success was still limited for orange-clad hunters.

In Paynesville, CO Todd VanderWeyst reported that farmers who were harvesting crops saw an uptick of birds compared to previous years, which offers promise for later-season hunters.

While the dry conditions were favorable for an early harvest, they may have added to poor conditions for hunting in widespread locations.

“Pheasant-hunting success was low, with extremely dry conditions making it difficult for dogs to pick up scent,” St. Peter CO Chris Howe wrote in his report.

Land donation

At the 12th Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener event, some of the planned activities such as DNR officials engaging with local students and local entities on Friday took place, followed by the annual hunt on Saturday to mark the opening of the season.

A highlight of the weekend’s events was on Friday, when the Brown County Pheasants Forever chapter donated 140 acres to the DNR for the Rosenau-Lambrecht Wildlife Management Area. A land dedication ceremony was held that day.

According to a Pheasants Forever press release, “The new parcel will add 140 acres to the existing Rosenau-Lambrecht Wildlife Management Area, bringing the tract’s total size to over 550 acres. The new 140 acres of additions are split into two portions, each of which adds value to the extensive habitat corridor in Brown County. The smaller, 40-acre portion sits on the eastern edge of the complex and is open and ready for public access for hunting this season. A larger, 100-acre section farther to the west will undergo habitat restoration in the coming months.”

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever President and CEO Marilyn Vetter attended the dedication ceremony, along with DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

The newly dedicated land will offer area residents and others the opportunity to hunt deer, pheasants, and other small-game species.

Stangel said he sees the value these public lands bring when he’s out hunting in the area and talking with hunters he meets in the field.

“A lot of times, if it’s opener, a lot of the people hunting in Brown County are from the Twin Cities. So, people are making the travel, there’s good habitat,” Stangel said.

Walz takes part

Gov. Tim Walz made a surprise stop in Sleepy Eye while on the campaign trail (as the Democrat’s vice-presidential candidate) to hunt on Saturday morning after attending an event in Mankato on Friday night. 

“Thanks to the conservation work of Minnesota Pheasants Forever members, we’re ensuring this sport will be passed on to new generations. I’m wishing all Minnesotans a safe and successful hunting season,” Walz said in a press release.

About the area

The Rosenau-Lambrecht WMA is located along U.S. Hwy 14 between New Ulm and Sleepy Eye. In the 25-mile radius around Sleepy Eye, the Rosenau-Lambrecht WMA is one of the larger public land swaths with Swan Lake WMA and Lamberton WMAs offering almost 3,000 acres of accessible hunting land.

“We have everybody doing Adopt a WMA, but Brown County has been really exceptional in the work they’ve done. In 2023, they (Pheasants Forever) put in 200 hours of volunteer time,” Stangel said.

It has been informative to the program to have local chapter input on work that can be done to improve access or use of public lands around the county.

“These guys, these local guys, they know what patterns become and they might come to us and say, ‘Hey we’d like to put in an extra parking lot because we see a lot of people parking down the road,’” Stangel said.

Tim Kraskey, Brown County Pheasants Forever chapter president, said he’s proud of the work they’ve done in the community to support pheasant habitat growth and maintenance of hunting locations in the area. He sees their success in the roadside counts – where the DNR’s color-coding system shows most of Brown County as a “brown” area where there are more than 49 birds per square mile.

“We’re fortunate. …  We’re always brown,” Kraskey said.

Based on August roadside counts, the DNR’s pheasant-hunting prospect map projects that the majority of Brown County and neighboring Cottonwood and Watonwan counties to have good conditions with more than 49 birds per square mile. Yellow Medicine County and adjacent counties also reported good conditions for pheasants.