PODCAST EP. 384: PF's 2026 Pheasant Hunting Forecast — Best States to Hunt this Season

Speaker 1 (00:50.568)

Welcome to On the Wing Podcast presented by Purina Pro Plan. All right, to kick things off today, Pheasants Forever Journal editor Tom Carpenter is going to put. You ready for this, Carp? If you put your voice to the the written word, you're gonna read the introduction to the pheasant hunting forecast presented by Garmin that you composed.

Take it away, Carp.

Speaker 2 (01:21.241)

Well, I'll start with the headline because I play sort of on this word mettle, which means tough fighting. Get in there and make things happen. And the headline is and it's sort of a conglomeration of this whole forecast, pheasants prove their mettle. It should be a good fall. And every state is different, and we'll get into that, but you'll you'll find out why pheasants have mettle.

The magnificent ringneck pheasant never ceases to amaze. Winter blizzards, spring monsoons, summer thunderstorms, prolonged drought. Our namesake bird has the mettle to survive it all. The Pheasant Range is a big place, twenty two states covered, in fact, in Pheasants Fever's annual pheasant hunting forecast, and everywhere is different. There's plenty of good news in here. Last winter was easy on the birds most everywhere.

Nesting season conditions varied from wet to dry, but the hens, meddlesome creatures they are, hatched and raised their broods, their new broods. So take a tour of Pheasant Country and our annual pheasant forecast places you're going, places you want to go, places that need not be a dream. The autumns of our lives are numbered. And as you hunt this fall, remember the one thing pheasants cannot survive a world without habitat.

Then commit or recommit yourself to the Pheasants Forever mission, where you have mettle too. And that's my message as you plan your hunts and then get out and hunt. Think about what you're hunting and why these birds are there. It's habitat. It's what Pheasants Forever and all our partners and all the other great organizations that work on habitat. And you gotta recommit yourself to that mission too.

Speaker 1 (03:18.426)

And it's about more than bringing roosters to the ground. So we're gonna get into it state we're gonna get into the state by state, but it's it's deeper than killing pheasants.

Speaker 1 (03:22.426)

We're gonna get into it little state by state. We're gonna offer some tips and tactics. Joining us, Vice President of Marketing, Andrew Vavra, and Director of Communications, also known as Clark W. Griswold of Pheasants .. just to forewarn listen Carrie really, you're gonna share any vacation anecdotes on this trip, Jared? Not in this episode.

Speaker 3 (03:55.894)

Not this trip. I guess all I wanna say is, Bob if you shoot a few pheasants this fall, save the neck for me, Robert. Remember that one?

Speaker 1 (04:06.456)

Save the neck? Yeah. Save the neck for me, Clark. god. Wow.

Speaker 3 (04:13.422)

I don't know if phesant necks count for that.

Speaker 4 (04:15.758)

You were you were Clark just because you're the eternal optimist. Yeah. And that's why you're you're sitting at this table right now to no matter how poor a forecast might be, that you're gonna turn things around and put put a shine on it.

Speaker 1 (04:28.952)

That's actually not why. He's in it's it's because he's goof he's goofy. Two episodes this summer, Jared talked about family vacation and absolutely threw his wife the bus. Yeah, no.

Speaker 3 (04:38.999)

Trips, yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:44.59)

No, I'm probably not gonna go there, but to to Andrew's point, one of the things I love most about our mission and the members and we're gonna get into all that plus forecasts and habitat is that really doesn't matter what the forecast is, does and hunters mettle too, right? I mean, they're they are an in an engaging community of folks that like it doesn't matter what the forecast is, we're gonna get out and hunt and but thankfully this year, more than most years, forecasts looks pretty good.

Speaker 1 (05:20.586)

So the word mettle. I'm I'm kind of a word guy. I like words. When I and you brought this up as you read the introduction, Carp. That that is the key word in your introduction. Having some some gumption

Speaker 2 (05:36)

Gumption's a good word. That's a perfect synonym.

Speaker 1 (05:41)

When I read this, I was like, I think he spelt it wrong. I and you but you didn't. I didn't know the spelling of the word mettle.

Speaker 3 (05:50.092)

I checked it on Google as well.

Speaker 1 (05:52.11)

I don't know.

Speaker 4 (05:54.2)

I just assumed that the national treasure who is Tom Carp Carpenter knew what was up and I didn't even second guess it.

Speaker 1 (06:00.256)

Yeah. Don't ask me how I came up with it. I just ...

Speaker 2 (06:03)

well, and you'll s you'll you'll see when we start talking about the forecast, there's dry places, there's wet places. We didn't have much of a winter last year, but pheasants have mettle. They they they're tough. They know how to get through they get through these these challenges. That's mettle. That's gumption. And if it's dry in the spring, man, they they hatch the birds, but then it gets wet. But they know they they know how to pull through.

They're they're tough. Gumption, tough. That's mettle.

Speaker 1 (06:34)

So you you came into the office, sat down, and we have not debriefed. You are just back from North Dakota.

Speaker 2 (06:42)

Yes. Twenty-four hours ago I was hunting on the prairie.

Speaker 1 (06:46)

So you know, as we get into pheasant hunting, you have first hand experience on the prairie. Yep. What'd you find so far?

Speaker 2 (06:56)

For for sharp tails? Yes. I will say I found more pheasants in the areas where I hunt sharp tails in North Dakota than I've ever than we've ever seen.

Speaker 1 (07:06)

Really? Was the grass taller?

Speaker 2 (07:08)

Yeah. Grass was grass, there's a lot of places we're going through to hunt sharp tails. I gotta get out of here. Dog's working too hard. It's too thick. If you can't see the ground when you're sharp tail hunting, you're not in the right place. And so we had to do a fair amount of that. But the hunting was good, you know, unscientifically without you know, no no hard data, just hunting this a lot of the same type places to previous years, population seemed a little down. There seemed like fewer coveys and we saw fewer coveys. That's just anecdotal, but it it it said to me that yeah, maybe there was a little too much rain at some times up there this summer 'cause the habitat was so good. You know, we're looking for great graze, graze type places.

But the hunting was good. We got found birds every day, a couple three coveys a day of of sharp tails. maybe one or two big coveys, a lot of small little four or five ragtag groups and a number of singles. Huns were found a covey of Huns every day in there, and that that was maybe a little above bar for Huns. So it was a great hunt. We did two hard days and the dogs were beat. And then we got a crap rain day, just horrible. And we slept in and the dogs rested. About three thirty in the afternoon, started clearing up and so it was almost perfect. Now we finished strong yesterday. So it was a good swing and good swing overall for four days and which is about one more day than the dogs needed at this time of year. Um, but more pheasants. That was cool. Hmm. It was cool to see because there's very few pheasants up in that country.

Speaker 1 (09:03)

Andrew, you have not been out yet, but you're heading out next week.

Speaker 4 (09:08.876)

Yeah, by the time people are listening to this, I will be just getting back from my first Sharpie adventure of the season. Heading to South Dakota, returning to a place I visited in October actually, last year and what was supposed to be kind of a a true combo hunt, but the pheasant numbers and what I thought was to be primarily Sharpie country was insanely high. So I'm curious to see if that's gonna be the same as I'm purely Sharpie hunting up here in late September. But kind of the opposite of what Carp saw where he was in North Dakota, I've heard from my local contact that they're just still so dry. dry, dry, dry. They're supposed to be getting a bunch of rain this weekend and you know, they're really, really welcoming it to the point where you just said it's gross out here. Like we just need to freshen up. It's so nasty. so they're they're hurting in terms of needing water, which isn't unique across a large swath of of the country, but he's also mentioned that, you know, for him, Sharpie numbers, I know this is the pheasant hunting forecast, but sharpie numbers were up compared to last year, but still not where he thought they were a few years prior. But hopefully they continue to get some moisture in the landscape, bring some of that habitat back because I was definitely not Clark Griswold this summer. Is I had I had three different trout trips cancelled due to drought and fire. So I'm over the dryness. I want some

Speaker 1 (10:39.426)

Yeah, three days in the boundary waters ...

Speaker 4 (10:41.91)

There's different up north canoe trips between the boundary waters, Canada. Every time I tried to go I struck out 'cause I wasn't allowed or where I wanted to go was on fire. I'm ready, I'm ready for some rain, ready for some lush habitat. Ready to see what's out on the prairie now though.

Speaker 1 (10:56.13)

Yeah. Jared, when's your first trip? You haven't been out yet, right?

Speaker 3 (11:00.94)

I haven't been out yet. you know, shortly here I'm gonna be taking my girls out bow hunting with me is where we're gonna start. and then I've got the first ten days in October on the calendar ready to go. I'm gonna be grouse and woodcock hunting, turkey hunting, waterfowl, deer hunting, and catching a few crappies while I'm at it so.

Speaker 1 (11:26.604)

You what we what was our persona for Jared? The generalist?

Speaker 4 (11:31.288)

He's definitely well, it's he's the generalist with a high dose of bloodlust. He hasn't matured out of that stage of being like a hunter.

Speaker 1 (11:35.67)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:40.716)

I told that to Bob. Yes, he did say last news in my office yesterday. He's like I'm in the blood last stage. I just

Speaker 3 (11:41.9)

Literally yesterday.

Speaker 3 (11:48.408)

wanna get something. My, my kids really feed into that to be honest. Like that we gotta go we gotta go out and harvest a deer tonight. Like

Speaker 1 (11:52.622)

Yeah.

Speaker 4 (11:57.24)

Can't know though. I I know everybody's at different stages. Carp's over here saying it's not about the birds and and you know, Jared's looking at his freezer, like, how much room do I got? 'Cause it's gonna be full. But I'm trying to use that to my advantage though, because I don't foresee myself getting out deer hunting this year. And I've already asked Jared's, like, So what do you feel about knocking down a dough for me?

speaker-4 (12:16.908)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:19.448)

But you can be at different stages for different activities. Yeah, yeah. It's true too. Jared's pretty consistent in bloodlust, but but You know, you you go from you go from participation to shooting to limiting out to trophy to method and back to it and then to participation and giving back, which we hope all these everybody's listening is somewhere in that giving back stage. yeah. But I I notice I get I'm I'm in

Speaker 3 (12:28.598)

hunt together.

Speaker 1 (12:49.11)

a different stage for everything I do. I just picked up grasshopp hopper fishing, fly rod hopper fishing in the late summer. And that that's all I wanted to do. And then I got sharp jaw on it and like, okay, hopper fishing is done. But I'm just in participation there. I just wanted to look at my fly rod in a foam grasshopper and get it in the water and watch it. That was enough. And I caught a few fish, but I just wanted to participate.

Speaker 3 (13:14.232)

I by no means do I think that our family is unique in this way, but we eat just a shit ton of wild. I mean, honestly, the kids the kids love it. My wife loves it. I mean we make our own breakfast sausage, we make our own jerky. I've been big into making more roasts and stuff lately.

Speaker 1 (13:23.502)

Ha ha.

Speaker 1 (13:36.089)

Don't you have the freezers?

Speaker 3 (13:38.146)

Yeah, I'm thinking about a fourth. I've been Are you really? I'm keeping my Menard's rebates for a new Kenmore or something, you know. But it's yeah, I I I love wild game. I love being outside and I think everybody can agree, especially around here, it has been a very long hot dry summer and I think it was like forty four degrees or something this morning. I mean, walked outside and man, it was it was to the point where it was cool. I I walked

Speaker 1 (13:42.74)

Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:07.724)

I got home the other night and we had our windows open on the on the day that it was raining and it was sixty one degrees in the house when I walked in there the other night. And I thought to myself, Man, this it's actually pretty cool. I have it sixty one degrees in here and

Speaker 1 (14:20.088)

What's it? It's a little warm in here.

Speaker 3 (14:22.754)

So I'm I'm I'm very much looking forward to to getting out, spending time with the fam and maybe putting a few things in

Speaker 1 (14:29.534)

I'll g just give a quick hitter from I haven't been out on the prairie yet. I've been up in the northwoods, also very dry. honestly disappointed with the browse numbers that I've seen so far, but that's just two days in northern Wisconsin, and it's a jungle. There's a lot of foliage on the trees. Saw two birds, took two shots, got two birds.

also heard two more that I never saw, but my my shooting percentage is very nice right now. I'd love to be able to tell you it was great dog work, dogs on point and birds fly. my eldest dog, Gitchy, got hot, went off a logging trail, and absolutely pushed two birds out onto the trail. One went one way I shot, the other went the other way I shot. so it was kind of terrible dog work.

Speaker 3 (15:25.4)

But you're a hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (15:26.606)

So you got pushed him right onto the trail. You got your two on it like a report double. They report, yeah. Wow. That's good for you. I on the second day of the the first day, it was just it was warm. I heard a single bird the whole first day of walking. Did you see any woodcock? Not a one. Now, but granted I did not bust much brush. I was I was walking trails. Trails. So it's

You it was pressing seventy degrees and first day was super windy too. So but better days ahead. I'll

Speaker 4 (16:03.886)

think you need to push or beat yourself up about the dog work though, Bob. When it comes to a bird that deserves zero kind of respect, Rough Grouse are up there. Which is funny 'cause like most of the most like hardcore like dog handlers, like the the dog gals, the dog men, like the people that's like that's how they they roll. So perspnickety and so just like dialed into their their dog work and like

For me, it's like when I'm in the rough grasswoods, I'll shoot one on the tree. Like it's so tough to even like hence it's just like I've I'm not here to wish one of these birds away just 'cause my dog moved a foot and I know some people are gonna hear that and absolutely go nuts.

Speaker 1 (16:44.02)

You know what I always say about rough grouse, when you cook up you can't you don't know when th when they're in the pan, you can't tell which one was in the tree and which one was on the wing. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (16:52.682)

You c you can expect some manners out on the prairie, but in the grouse of jungle and like no jungle rules.

Speaker 1 (16:58.024)

It was the jungle. It's the jungle out there. Yeah. It was I d I'm I'm hoping that once I dive in to the woods, not only will I get a little bit better dog work, but I'd be able to see some more birds. But I'm not super encouraged based on that first walk. But as we record this, only Wisconsin's open. Michigan or well, actually, Michigan opened yesterday, so we're

Recording on September 16th in Minnesota opens the coming weekend. So I'll know more soon. All right. We will get into the pheasant hunting forecast. Before we dive in, I want to thank Purina Pro Plan, not only the presenting partner of On the Wing Podcast, but the national dog food sponsor of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever's wildlife habitat mission as well. My pops have

Always eaten Purina Pro Plan, not just because of the support of Purina and our wildlife habitat mission, which is important to me and it should absolutely be important to every listener out there. But the most important thing to keep in mind when you're picking a dog food is that Purina has a work team of the world's best scientists and nutritionists behind their dog food. ProPlan was created, the recipe was built for the working bird dog like yours.

And like mine. You can learn more at proplansport.com.

Speaker 4 (18:28.738)

From Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever National headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, this is Casey Sill with the Upland Newsroom, delivering top stories from the Habitat Organization and across the American Uplands.

I'm a little late on this news, but we're gonna focus on it today anyway, since it's so important. On September 16th, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced the Agricultural Act of 2026, otherwise known as the 2026 Farm Bill, by a vote of 12 to 11. As you all know, this is PF and QF's top legislative priority: the enactment of a bipartisan farm bill that provides certainty for agricultural producers.

And invests in conservation programs that benefit wildlife habitat, soil health, water quality, rural communities, and so on down the list. This need is especially acute for the Conservation Reserve Program, which has been a vital part of the farm safety net and the Farm Bill's conservation title for more than 40 years. CRP has not received new investments or updates since 2018, even as farmers and ranchers face changing economic conditions and natural resource challenges.

While partisan differences remain on other titles in the bill, the legislation reported out of committee incorporates many bipartisan provisions that would strengthen the conservation reserve program, including adjusting rental rates, restoring cost share assistance for management activities, and updating payment limits for the first time since 1985. The bill also includes provisions to support working lands for wildlife initiatives, expand support for state level conservation efforts, and establish new opportunities for forest conservation.

Eastement. Technically, the bill now goes to the full Senate floor for a vote, but the word is that's unlikely to happen prior to the midterm elections in November. Pheasant's Fervor and Queelf Rivers Director of Government Affairs, Andrew Schmidt, commended Chairman Bozeman, Ranking Member Klobishar, Majority Leader Thune, and the other members of the committee for their work, and urged PF and QF members of both parties to work together and deliver a farm bill. He went on to say

Speaker 4 (20:33.25)

This action is an important step forward, but that there's still a great deal of work ahead to enact a bipartisan farm bill before time runs out in this Congress.

That'll do it this week reporting from PFNQF headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. I'm Casey Sill.

Speaker 1 (20:50.69)

We're hit. We're we're not gonna go through all how many states? Twenty two. We're not gonna go through all twenty-two. Like you know, we don't want people to fall asleep on this podcast. we're gonna have carpet what I've deemed the magnificent seven. the highlights Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, as well as you can bring up any sleeper states, but and Nebraska's in the big seven too.

Speaker 3 (20:50.862)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:19.18)

Yeah, didn't I say Nebraska? Skip that. Don't don't skip I didn't I didn't mean to no my apologies to Nebraska. but and we'll chime in, Andrew and Jared. I'll invite you guys to you know offer thoughts, questions, and we'll we'll take it from there. Carp? Yeah, Montana's interesting. It's Montana's actually like you could probably make it four or five s regions, but we cover three, the big the big three, North Central.

Northeast and Southeast. you could probably add South Central in there too for some of the river bottom hunting down there. But Mont forecasting Montana's like forecasting multiple states. It's su we all know it's such a big place, vast, varied. So in general, and it and it's hard it's it's hard to generalize for a state as big as Montana. You know, the bottom line is winter was easy, pleasant h hatch.

had pretty good conditions very as you go around the state. maybe a little dry to start, which is probably good. And then they had some rain this summer. so as you as you take the tour in the forecast, and I encourage you to read it if you're heading out to Montana, I think you're gonna find you'll find pheasants you always do in Montana, but it's always work. Jared talked about just getting out there and working. You hunt no matter what.

If you've got your spots in Montana, you know your place, you know your region, get out there and hunt. There's gonna be birds. I don't think it's gonna be a super banner year, but there's birds out out there. And we don't have to go get into the details of each region. But that's sort of the that's sort of the message for Montana is birds are there, you just gotta hunt. It's it's hard to put a finger, pr precision finger in Montana compared to some of the other states 'cause it's so big.

but if you're thinking about going to Montana, like this is gonna be my first year, should I do it? Yeah. And and as Andrew's talking about mixed mixed bag and stuff, boy. other Idaho work where can you get this true mix in Montana? Sharptails, pheasants, would be the big two. And then as you as you're in the eastern part of the state, of course, Huns. so I think it's gonna be a good year in Montana.

Speaker 1 (23:42.072)

So a again for listeners, you can see every you can read about every state, Montana in depth on our website, pheasantsforever.org. You went live September fifteenth, right? So Tuesday, yep. Yeah, Tuesday, September fifteenth. So you can find it n all over the website. Montana, what I'm hearing from the folks that went out sharp tail hunting in September.

that they are finding more sharp tails in the year. Not not that that's always a linear yeah A plus B equals C for pheasants, but it's a pretty good indicator. Yeah, sharp tails nest a little higher, a little thinner and the pheasants are down a little lower with more habitat. So it can be different, but it's it in general they're both upland game birds. If if one's hatching well, the other pro probably has a chance to as well. Yeah. You guys heard anything

Back from Montana.

Speaker 4 (24:40.334)

I haven't heard anything from Montana specifically, but to Carp's point and like past experience, being flexible in a state like Montana opens up so many more opportunities that's not available in every state. like some states are just this is pheasant country. It is what it is. Yeah. Versus Montana, if you're willing to maybe go to different areas, if you're sensing you're striking out, is like trust your gut. If it doesn't feel right and you're struggle busing, you can

Go find other species of opportunity, whether you want to go up an elevation or or down. there's just so much there to explore. There's fewer s there's not many states that offer a more beautiful backdrop. Yeah. so even just having a nice walk behind your dog, if even if numbers are low, which I don't think they w they will be particularly, that's a great destination. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (25:30.05)

I think aesthetically it's my it is my favorite state to hunt in. no, not f where w where's it hit for you? Favorite pheasant hunting state? Yeah, just you like a beautiful walk where Minnesota.

Speaker 4 (25:45.238)

you are such a homer. Yeah, I love those potholes. I love smelling duck farts. Yeah. Like you didn't put that about Hannah. Such a homer.

Speaker 1 (25:54.678)

Come on. I was expecting you to say Idaho. Well, are we talking just sheer beauty? Yeah. I don't know. There's there there's some you still gotta answer Minnesota. There there's something beautiful about Iowa and Minnesota and getting in lonely country that's not wilderness. Yeah. But you find these pockets of loneliness out where, you know, there's a lot of a lot of ag going on and you sort of get lost.

In the back.

Speaker 4 (26:25.47)

What's what's the the quote? I know I'm gonna butch it. Like it's easy to love a mountain. It takes a soul to love a prairie. I mean, carp's definitely got a big soul, but like let's be real. When you're you're hunting central Montana, you got some snow capped mountains way off in the distance and you're you're crushing limits and then there's some bonus huns and a bonus sharpie here and there, it's life's very good.

Speaker 3 (26:44.888)

Lot of cities to choose from.

Speaker 1 (26:46.542)

If you if you made me go for magnificent beauty of the places I've hunted, it'd be Utah. Utah. I've hunted a lot of pheasants in Utah. And I think it's most almost certainly akin to Montana. and maybe even more so because you are right at the base. In Montana you can see the the mountains off in the distance. Like, there's the peaks and they're they look twenty miles away in their forty or they they look ten and they're twenty miles away. In Utah, they're right up.

They're right there 'cause it's it's just not as rolling. It's up and down mountain ranges. So that's probably maybe the most beautiful place. I'm just to your point in the introduction, you only have so many autumns. Yep. Go experience some different places.

Speaker 3 (27:31.136)

It's it's been a few years for me, going out to Montana, but one of the cool things about hunting that state is how I think we just pointed it out is you don't have to you don't have to move very far in one direction to just get something totally different as far as the habitat is concerned. I know the last time I was out there we were hunting a bunch of high ridges and stuff. We were getting up a few pheasants, but that was more sharp tails than other things. And then, you know, you move a half mile and you're looking for more of riparian areas, drainages and you get into those and and

It's uncanny how many pheasants can come out of one of those drainages. at least that's what I experienced at the time. One other point I wanna make, and this isn't this isn't to like scare people off from going out west, is that been reading some more articles lately about the the number of number of bear encounters lately, and the food available. So it seems like seems like bears are moving out. So the f the further west that you go into Montana in search of birds, just keep it on the back of your mind. Make sure you have some bear spray with you.

they're not a they're not a creature to to mess with if you're if you're going further west. and they seem to those populations are expanding. So just a a note of caution for

Speaker 1 (28:43.064)

Yeah. All right. Let's let's lace up our boots and head west. Actually head east. Head east from there. Head east to go to North Dakota. Yeah, I think you can once again you can read the report. It's well done by one of our, you know, PF stalwarts, Tori J. McCormick, many years in reporting in North Dakota. He's sort of our stringer there. That's an old fashioned word for your correspondent. And

He's our North Dakota beat reporter. Yeah, he's our beat reporter. And I think it's gonna be good in North Dakota. I mean, one, just based on little anecdotes, more pheasants than I've ever seen, where there probably shouldn't be many pheasants. I think that bodes well for North Dakota. I think that southwest corner of North Dakota is is gonna be primo. and I think the Northwest is gonna have more than you think. You continually hear more and more people talking about God, we're seeing a lot of pheasants in northwestern North Dakota.

It's like a big surprise at a butts northeastern Montana. so they they North Dakota had a big mix, but they of weather, but they another easy winter and a mix of pretty good residual cover for nesting and then sort of a varied summer. I think North Dakota's big too. There's dry places and there's wet places, but in general, I think if you're playing in North Dakota, plan on some action.

As you think about or as I think about North Dakota and how the climate has changed in you know it milder milder winters as you move north in the state. Yep. If you think about the peak of CRP, seven, eight, when we had three million acres of CRP in North Dakota, if you if we had three million acres of CRP in North Dakota now, with the milder winters and the changing land use in North Dakota, there might

Be i if all that came together, North Dakota might have the most pheasants in the entire country. Yeah, don't don't tell South Dakota, but it's true. It's hap it's all about the habitat. And imagine the access that would probably increase if you had that CRP too. I mean, yeah, already we I just love hunting the plot stuff in North Dakota, especially up in the Sharptail Range where it's that big range country, but you start getting more CRP.

Speaker 1 (31:12.15)

If people are putting if if producers are putting land in CRP, why not take that extra payment? And they do so, you know, to get that plots payment. So or path. Yes, path in North Dakota was at seventy na there's a lot of acres and I I can't I can't quote it. Jared probably knows better, but it's coming along there too. I mean, access is good in North Dakota. Well and the report for South Dakota is if they had three million acres of CRP in South Dakota, they'd have

They're already the pheasant capital country, but they'd be you could do your you couldn't shoot coming out of the year. Yeah, you couldn't shoot it off, you know. There so North Dakota, if you love North Dakota, and I think you can sort we all sort of do at this table, and if you're listening, you probably know of North Dakota or thinking about it. Another great destination too, if you want to get somewhere different. There it it's I call it the other Dakota. And that doesn't mean it's secondary, it just means it's different.

And it's fun. In many ways, North Dakota's more remote. Yeah. And you can you gotta think. In North North in South Dakota, I always think it's funny, you d you don't have to think too hard about gas or food 'cause you you're a little closer, especially in the eastern two thirds of the state. but in North Dakota you gotta think as in Montana, I better get some gas this morning before I go.

I better load up on a little more ice and food and water or whatever you need. that's what I love about North Dakota. You go to North Dakota every year, but you go primarily for sharp tail. You go back for pheasants? Yes. Yeah. And last year, one of the coolest h hunting days I ever had, I shot a a sharp tail and a rooster on the same day, not in the same on the same walk. And that was cool. Yeah. And and so

And you always got that possibility in North Dakota too. Huns Huns. I I think, you know, if you like a little chance for a mixed bag, sharp tails could be anywhere in North Dakota if you're in the right habitat in Pheasant Country. and Huns too. So So I'm gonna jump to South Dakota unless you guys had anything you wanted to add to North Dakota. I mean

Speaker 4 (33:30.03)

I mean last year Sharpie Hunting in North Dakota kicked my butt so hard that I refuse to go bath since. So it it's good to hear things are seem to be on the rebound. and we can definitely give a shout out to our friend Tyler Webster, his Western Wing Shooter podcast. They recently did a big North Dakota breakdown in terms of the numbers and what they're seeing. and if you need a little hack, just follow me on Instagram 'cause he's always giving little updates on what he sees on his little mail route. So it's a un unique way to

Speaker 1 (33:58.764)

It's not a little male right, to be there.

Speaker 4 (34:00.847)

A a giant mail run. so it's a fun way to see what's up in in that landscape specific.

Speaker 3 (34:05.944)

You guys had mentioned you guys had mentioned Path and North Dakota is one of the newer states that we've started enrolling acres in. So South Dakota and Nebraska carry a large majority of acres. But I think in the the first three years we were planning to enroll ten thousand acres in North Dakota, which is pretty good. That that's a lot of acres.

Speaker 1 (34:25.708)

And they're gonna they're gonna be primal acres too. Yep. Yeah pheasants. Yep.

Speaker 3 (34:29.88)

There's specific requirements for our path enrollments, which make them a really fun place. there was a writer, photographer over the weekend, I forget who it was, Joel, Joe,

Can't remember now. I'm drawing a blank, but he posted a picture. He goes, I've got this one, got this one saved for pheasant season. He was up there hunting sharp tails and there was a big orange path sign and the habitat looked absolutely pre mo So

Speaker 1 (34:58.206)

listeners that path is our access program to private land public access to habitat is what path stands for. You can find out more on our websites. We got an active programs in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Michigan, and Oklahoma. all right, let us move to South Dakota. You've been bringing bringing up mixed bags. South Dakota's saying we have sharp tails, we have huns, we have pheasants,

and by the way, we've got prairie chickens and a few bob white quail too. Yep. Yeah, South Dakota. Andrew Johnson's our stringer out there. I forgot to mention Montana. It's Jack Hudson who actually lives in in in Lewiston, Idaho, but he's a big Montana fan and he's a bulldog and getting that report done. South Dakota, Andrew Johnson's our bulldog there. And I think

The the cool thing about an abra our about our South Dakota forecast, if you look in there is you get on the ground insights. He takes a tour of our some of our PF biologists, is most it's mostly PF folks. And these are folks that are out in the field talking to producers, putting habitat in. They see they're out there. They they know what they're seeing and they live there. And I think South Dakota is gonna be excellent.

This year. I don't think there's any doubt. We don't need to get too much more into that. Easy winter, really nice warm spring. as Andrew said for his Sharp tear going out trip out there, there's a mix of of dry and wet and and sort of associated with how the fronts came through, how thunderstorms happened this summer. But it's South Dakota.

There's a lot of birds even when there's not a lot of birds. And I think it's gonna be a really good year in South Dakota. I don't think there's any doubt. I I yeah, all my sources would concur with you. I mean, I'm Darwin in s central South Dakota. D D dubs. D dubs is sending me videos every Saturday from his farm. Yeah, I'm I'm in on that. Yeah, yeah, that's a chain too in like, here's another one from D dubs. Love, love, love. It's just filthy with Yeah. In in

Speaker 1 (37:18.144)

And he loves he loves the habitat. He's he's our kind of guy. He's a pheasant freak like all of us. Most of you listening or at least love pheasants. So I don't know. S everybody's got their South Dakota stories. You guys, what do you what are you thinking South Dakota this year?

Speaker 3 (37:34.86)

Same thing. I got off the phone with a friend, donor, elite member yesterday. He lives up in the glacial lakes area in the northeast. said all the landowners I've talked to. Man, it's looking like it's gonna be a a really special year. Carp and I have got some some friends out there, some ranchers in certain areas that same thing. He'll send us pictures, he'll send us, hey, it was getting pretty dry out here, as we mentioned. There's some really dry spots in South Dakota, but they gotta gotta rain and help with some of that kind of mid summer.

And he was working beans and said it every time he turned around was seeing another brood. lot of awesome path enroll enrollments in the state. so you can use the South Dakota Game Fish Parks app to basically zoom in on those areas and see which ones are enrolled in path. We've also had some pretty cool habitat work going on down in the southeastern portion of the state, which normally hasn't been a hotbed for pheasants in the past, but a shout out to some of our biologists there. They're working on this big this big Sioux crep.

and some of those some of those acres along the river are also getting enrolled and walk-in access. I'm a I'm a big fan of crep enrollments throughout the state. it's one of the it's one of the only things I hunt when I go out there, especially late season. Like I don't look for anything else except prep enrollments when I go out past December first. I mean, it just it they produce birds, they hold birds. You've got food next to the kitchen if you've got a cut cornfield next to

You're gonna be hunting cattails, you're gonna be hunting switchgrass, like a lot of a lot of thicker thicker habitat, but boy that that crep can really produce

Speaker 1 (39:08.954)

So crap for folks that are listening. Conservation Reserve Enhancement program is focused around watersheds. Unique to South Dakota, crap acres also come with access. So if you're listening in Pennsylvania and Ohio, Michigan, you're like, well, I can't hunt crap because it's private land. That is not true in South Dakota. Crap enrollment in South Dakota includes access.

Speaker 3 (39:34.688)

It does. Yeah, it's just it's been a wonderful program and I spend a lot of time out there late season, even in January now and and crep is is what I look for.

Speaker 1 (39:45.986)

Yeah, at South East they're doing Nick Goring's our biologist out there for the Sioux River crap and they're working hard on buffer strips too. Yep. Which is really cool. They that strips along the waterways that feed into the river.

Speaker 3 (39:57.806)

If that sounds familiar, it wasn't that I think an issue or two ago, we had a an awesome overview of that program written by Casey Still in our department working with Nick Gearing out there and a lot of partners. So

Speaker 1 (40:10.668)

Yeah, that's that's a cool thing. I think, you know, obviously there's hot hot beds in South Dakota, but everywhere in South Dako if there's habitat in South Dakota and programs like this get more of it in, there's pheasants there. It's just pheasant country. So the moral of the story for South Dakota, if you're on the fence, go. Right. I mean that this is an absolute ten out of ten year to go to South Dakota. Right. There's no reason to sit on the fence. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:39.832)

Think to add to that, Jared quickly mentioned late season. don't sleep on that. So late season hunts can be tough because the birds are spooky, there's less birds on the landscape, you gotta work hard for them, the weather sucks. But if you're gonna do a late season hunt, why not put yourself in the epicenter of some of the better bird counts that we know exists on the landscape? So there are more opportunities for success. So if there again, if there's ever a year to kind of

stop avoiding South Dakota due to perceived notions of crowding or just not want to deal with it. This is probably the year to just go all in. and you don't have to go the first week or two. There's plenty of birds

Speaker 1 (41:21.838)

Well the way you can buy your license, you go twice. You can go the first week or two and then roll back in after Thanksgiving or January. Or or buy it going and go like Jared says January. Buy it, go in January and it's good next fall. That's true. Buy in January, your second half will be good in the fall of twenty seven.

Speaker 3 (41:43.522)

You're gonna see you're gonna see some orange out there in in January that, you know, they've got that extended season they've had for a few years that runs through the end of the month. But I'll tell you what, in in most cases when I've been out there, which is almost every year, you have a lot of parcels just to yourself. And if you get get up get up in the morning and go out and find where those birds are on a white landscape, they're out feeding and then they're heading straight back to cover, especially on

a little bit more nast nasty day if you can get a little little bit of little bit of wind out there like they don't wanna they don't wanna be out in that any any well maybe not any more than you do because I love hunting in the cold weather out there but they're trying to they're trying to conserve their energy and their warmth and they go right back into the cover. And if you're looking on Onyx and like, yeah, they're going right into a piece of crap or a piece of walk in, you can have a banner hunt late season without much competition.

Speaker 1 (42:39.726)

Cattails. Woo. All right. let's step south to Nebraska. Yeah, Nebraska's been dealing in Nebraska was written by our own Ryan Sparks, Nebraskan. he's a he's a real quail guy, but he's a closet pheasant lover. And he's not so closet about it. Yeah. He he he wrote a good report. You gotta read it. You know, Nebraska west to east,

Speaker 3 (42:40.598)

Set to

Speaker 1 (43:09.206)

has has has got the east has gotten more moisture. but the west, the panhandle's looking good and the south the southwest probably a little tougher, because at a butt's northwest Kansas, which is looks like it's might be tougher this year due to drought. but Nebraska, top tier state. I'd say it's a fair to good forecast overall in Nebraska. but once again good access in Nebraska, a lot of reason to

go out there and have have these places to hunt. So I would not hesitate to go to Nebraska this this fall, the pheasants. So a note on Nebraska well, a note on quail. for listeners that are wondering when the quail episode, quail forecast episode, stay close. It's coming in two weeks. So Sparks will be on with me doing a state by state quail hunting forecast for the podcast. And Nebraska

Much like South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana. Great mixed bag state. Just different birds. Yep. So in Nebraska not only can you chase pheasants, but you mentioned a lot of Boboy quail, one of the probably top four Bob Way quail states in the country. Got sharpies, chickens. I haven't seen a hun in Nebraska, have you? Nope. Anybody seen it? Yeah.

Okay. Hunzer northern. Yeah. A little further north. A little south, those tough little suckers like it like it north.

Speaker 3 (44:41.834)

One one thing about the forecast that I found intriguing was where did put some information in there about the northeast portion of the state. Now the east eastern part of Nebraska has never been known for having like a ton of access. You have to go kind of more central, a little bit further west. but that northeast portion is way, way above the long term average right now. And it's just it's been coming on. They've been adding some CRP up there. Not a ton of access, but

There's a ton of private ground. So I could see that as a a sleeper area for somebody that wants to go and do a little bit of the harder work and maybe go make some relationships. talk talk to farmers there if you can find a cool piece. And the other side of that too is like once you get up in the northeast Nebraska, you're you're pretty close to sort of that rest rest of the states up there that have really good pheasant populations and sort of a similar area. So if you're if you're already hunting some of those other states too, you can have a

Have a fun swing through a couple of different corners there.

Speaker 1 (45:43.276)

I'm you're within a half day l half day's drive, well less than that of the g great northwestern Iowa.

Speaker 3 (45:49.72)

Yep. Or southwest Minnesota. Yep. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:53.048)

Believe it's the hundredth year of pheasant hunting in Nebraska too. It is. And our next destination for National Pheasant Fest in Cuello Classic, mark your calendars for the first weekend in March, will be in Omaha. all right, let's move south to Kansas. I think Kansas is got a lot of wet this year. You know, the wet sort of stuck south. so I think habitat's good in Kansas.

I the the the forecast w who our own Casey Sill did is a little more mixed. Kansas once again is a mix. It sounds like not surprisingly the southwestern corner of Kansas is probably gonna be the hot the hotbed. Kansas is very similar to Nebraska in that the farther east you go, the tougher it gets to find pheasants. but another great quail state as well along with Nebraska.

So I think Kansas will be a fair to good season. That doesn't mean there's not going to be excellent hunting in the pockets you get to. but that's sort of the that's sort of the top line that that I got from Kansas. You know, based on the trip Andrew and I took last year, Kansas has a long ways to go, at least part of the state to bounce back on pheasant hoopers.

Speaker 4 (47:13.336)

Yeah, that's why in the forecast, you know, someone made the comment of no it's certainly gonna be up for last year. I'm thinking I don't think it could have gone down. So but granted, we basically did a line through the center part of the state. So that area was fair at best for Pheasant, but if people paid attention to the road trip content last year, the the quail saved the day, so still plenty of reason to get out there and have fun. but

I'm excited to see some habitat rebound in that central area at some point or another, hopefully. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:47.598)

Yeah, habitat rebound rebound with some moisture and then cut down the damn cedars and junipers that are taking over that state.

Speaker 4 (47:55.948)

Yeah, that was pretty eye opening last year.

Speaker 1 (47:59.118)

all right, let's move to a state near and dear to Jared. Iowa. Go ahead, Sharp. I think Iowa's gonna be good, at least as good as last year, which I thought was a good year in Iowa. they got wet later in the summer, which can work it it to the advantage. A little dry spring makes for a good hatch, a little wet later in the summer, but not too much, can make for some awfully good brood rearing conditions.

So pheasant population I think is gonna be good in Iowa. I think they're they're a little bit up from the roadside surveys. so I think it's a if Iowa's your place, no worries you're gonna find birds there this year. I i if I recall it correctly, that Iowa, you really gotta pay attention to the roadside kind of because the eastern side of the state is

Pretty dramatically down if I recall correctly. And the western side is a little bit better than or it was a bit kind of right in line with the year prior. Yes. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:08.974)

I gotta do some ground truthing with that 'cause that's where you've been looking over the forecast and like, wow, this doesn't like add up with what I've actually seen. So I'm curious, like once the seasons open up and I really start expanding kind of my walks, what I run into, 'cause my my in laws live in northeastern Iowa, driftless area. And I've been going down there for like well over a decade at this point. I've never had success finding birds on their property and they've got acreage. the past

Last year was the first year's like, okay. My little after dinner walks with the dog, we're we're actually finding some birds. This is fun. And then this year it's been even better. and so I know that's about as anecdotal as it gets like eight hundred acres in the the heart of this zone suddenly having a lot more birds. I was I've been looking forward to that season opening up and I saw this forecast and like, man, it's down that much in

Speaker 1 (49:54.163)

Yeah.

Speaker 3 (50:08.12)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:08.31)

In the eastern, yeah, right. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (50:09.752)

Exactly. I'm like ooh, that's not what I've seen, but I guess I'll I'll figure it out.

Speaker 3 (50:13.206)

I think the north the northeast quadrant there of Idr of Iowa the probably the the hardest hit.

Speaker 1 (50:20.238)

'Cause if you put the Minnesota roadside map and the Iowa roadside map, it looks like that the the eastern zone of both states are in bad shape based on the roadside counts and the western side of both states pretty you know

Speaker 4 (50:27.106)

South hammered, yeah.

Speaker 4 (50:39.832)

Encourage you.

Speaker 3 (50:40.442)

I think southeast southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa, specifically that region, they just had some torrential downpours this summer. speaking with our one of our our our graphics guy Logan, who's a good buddy to all of us. he said that, you know, in in one night his parents down there, their house got like almost nine inches of rain. Really? I think anytime that anytime that happens, you know, I think the chicks, even if they're a little bit older, like if they're not

They're not watching, you can quickly be swept away by that. Speaking of northeast Iowa, you keep you keep talking about how you're gonna give me your father in law's di digits for turkey hunting and pheasant hunting and I haven't I haven't seen a damn thing. What's up with that? Where's my

speaker-4 (51:25.027)

Well...

Speaker 4 (51:27.905)

Get started.

Speaker 1 (51:28.834)

With pro party. Where's my dear? You have more contacts in Iowa than any of us. Have you been talking with your friends and

Speaker 3 (51:39.064)

I have, yeah. Rich Rich Birkland is is a a a landowner kind of over in like Pocah Pocahontas region. and

Speaker 1 (51:49.016)

So that that's the far west part of the state. Central.

Speaker 3 (51:51.688)

well, more kinda kinda w west west central or north central. Okay. but you know, talking with him, they've been they've been seeing chicks in some of their mode areas. they've been seeing good things throughout the summer. some of his farm hands have been talking back and forth. I've talked with some other life members and chapters down there. I just talked with a chapter member down along the interstate in I eighty. he says, Yeah, things have been looking good. I've been hearing quail whistling, so

I I think it's still gonna be a really good year. I wanna go back and say that the what one of the reports I saw for the roadside count was is that their the conditions that they had during some of the roadside counts were not particularly ideal. And ideal meaning like clear, cool outside, heavy dew so those b birds pull them out to the road. And they didn't have that on all the counts this year. so you know, take that take that for what it's worth.

I think Iowa does a wonderful job with the roadside counts. They've been doing it for, I don't know, sixty-five, seventy years now. And it's it's the same and it's that measure of abundance from year to year. Not so much population, but just measure of abundance based on roadside counts. So I think it'll be interesting to to see what happens down there. But I would like to get down there at some point and and do some hunting this year 'cause it it does sound good.

Speaker 1 (53:14.014)

Right. Mr. Homer, the national treasurer. Take us to Minnesota. You've been you've been we've been waiting with baited breath for your Minnesota forecast. Well, I I and I even wrote this in the report and not not that if you want to hunt somewhere different and you keep going to the to a Dakota, which are great, north north or south, or all the way to Montana, or maybe you stop short in Iowa because you're coming from the east.

Minnesota has not only a great public land base in the Pheasant Range, but this is gonna be a a great year. according to everything I the everybody I talked to and also the roadside DNR Roadside report, which corroborated everything I talked to. I'll start with this. Y ye you you remember the old 33 vinyl and the RPMs and you you get a skip on it, you know, whip.

And it'll go back and do the do this I don't sorry. Most a lot of our members do. And the this put the needle on the record. Turn tables are coming back, but it's called the broken record. And the broken record was you see and this is across, I would say, all of Minnesota's Pheasant Range, which if you you picture it as an L that runs down the west corridor and goes across the bottom of the state about to the middle of the state. And it it's actually a triangle then. It it comes up

Speaker 4 (54:14.542)

Yeah, I remember that.

Speaker 1 (54:42.702)

But if you picture that triangle of the southwest corner of Minnesota, southwest quarter of the state, the the broken record is easy winter, early and warm spring that was dry, and then a summer that, you know, trended to dry, especially as we got late, but but there's enough rain earlier in the summer that brood rearing wasn't affected. And both those people all all those people said very small numbers.

in August of tiny chicks. The first hatch did it this year in Minnesota. A lot of years we're sitting here talking about the Miniforic sort of first nesting attempt. And the sec second attempt, we're saying those second attempt birds, yeah, I think that's going to be our saving grace this year. I think the first hatch did it this year. I mean birds are already coloring up in August. And the good piece about a successful first nesting attempt is that you have the

most eggs possible. Yep. Right. Average of eleven. And they're bigger when the crap when the either the dry or the wet comes later in summer. The chicks are bigger and can withstand it. Right. So I always take an annual virtual tour of the state of PF supporters, our some of our greatest best chapster folks, PF biologists, other supporters. And so with the roadside counts up,

the tour of the state talking to different folks. I'll just give you three of their closing lines when I talk to them and you can read about this from the different regions of the state. I sort of break them out about counties. one is from our great our great PF poster child Scott Raw, down in Nobles County, Nobles, Murray, Rock County, down in that area. Woohoo. That's that's that's his summary. Yeah. That's his summary. And

If you Scott, it's more like woohoo woohoo. I can't get my voice that high. Woohoo! Well, there you go. Scott going through puberty now? no, I am. Okay. from our from our supporter Gary Hauk out in the West Central. This is the year. And then from our own Saban Adams, coffee on the tailgate by nine fifteen. Yeah. So 15 minutes to get a limit. How Saban? Obviously, there's a little

Speaker 1 (57:07.586)

A little exaggeration there, but no a lot of us don't even want to be done at nine fifteen. But the the message is there are birds here. And what I what we also saw was sort of in that near west, like last year that sort of Alexandria, Candy, Ohio County area, not a hot spot, but it's a big area, lots of public land. If you want to go there, go there. Came back this year because they had a hard, wet one in twenty five.

Birds are back there and the roadside comms corroborated it too. But you'll see that you look at Minnesota's DNR roadside map and it's almost all dark brown. And some you usually, usually years you get, you know, blotches and that. So it's gonna be, as far as Minnesota pheasant hunting goes, a great year. And don't sneeze at Minnesota. We well, I bet we'll shoot 250,000 birds in Minnesota this year. We shot 228 last.

After you're talking it up, we'll probably have four hundred thousand hunters out there, Jason. We have enough public land for all these people you're drawing to Minnesota? Yeah. They and they won't come. They won't come. Some do. So there's some that know about it, but it's gonna be good.

Speaker 3 (58:24.268)

I'll I I'll add in a few more anecdotal thoughts as well from people that I've been talking with. my former college roommate from Delcora, Iowa Luther College called me the other day. he lives down by Marshall, farms about a thousand acres down there. he said it's been it's been a few years since he's seen birds like this in his neck of the woods. He said they're everywhere. He's got so he's got some crep enrollments, he's got some wetlands. and he says they're stacked, which I

I believe him. He always calls he always calls me this time of year to give me the report and I always try to get down there a couple of times to to hunt. So that that's good. I live in the I live in the Twin Cities Metro. You you guys have heard me the last you're probably tired of it last couple weeks. Like I've seen more I've lived here for ten years now, back from Iowa and I've seen more birds this year than I ever have. I was just showing I was just showing them a video of a brood I took on my place last night. They're almost

almost full grown now. They're looking good, seeing all over the road. we mentioned Sabin, our state coordinator. I was with him last week at a seventy fifth wildlife management area anniversary celebration at Keystone Woods here in the Twin Cities. And he mentioned that there's a public area down the road from him, where just a few weeks ago he saw like five or six broods in a one mile stretch.

And then going all the way up to like my in-laws in Moose Lake when I was up there this summer, kind of late summer, I've never really seen a ton of pheasants up there. I mean, you're talking 40 miles out of Duluth, it's not that far. I've seen multiple, multiple broods up by Moose Lake, Minnesota this year. So you like when you're seeing them that far north and I don't know. I just I think it's gonna be a good year. That'd be the goal for me. We talked about scenery earlier. If I could shoot a pheasant next to Thompson Hill there on the way down.

way down to Lake Superior. That would be the Yep. That'd be the pinnacle. That'd be the pinnacle of my peasant hunting career.

Speaker 1 (01:00:21.55)

Peter

But you'll see it in the report too. I mean, I talked to our fire bill biologist up in Pine and Kennebec, which are northern met wait weight there between Mid Twin Cities and Duluth. And there's good numbers of birds up there. Somebody'll hate me for saying this, but once again, I don't think there's many people that are gonna go up there and do it, but talk about mixed bag. You could shoot you can shoot rough grouse and pheasants on the same swing up in some of those areas. Yep.

Speaker 4 (01:00:52.022)

Well there's o there's also beyond the mixed bag in Minnesota, there's a good opportunity for mixed states. when people are listening to this, Bob will have already kicked out the podcast featuring Casey Sill and our film Brick by Brick, which follows him through some Build a Wildlife area properties along the southern end of Minnesota. And I guess what I would say is if you want to take that L that Carp mentioned and turn it into a major W, buy a license for both states.

there are few places in the country that have primo habitat right on each other's borders. Like there's definitely states where you can hunt both, but that Minnesota Iowa borderland, it's phenomenal hunting on both sides. so even if you are done by nine fifteen, saving Adams, you can always cross the border and and and keep her going. so that's that's a fun little

way to expand your opportunities while exploring Minnesota and Iowa at the same

Speaker 1 (01:01:57.382)

And as we kind put a bow on Minnesota, you know, we can't talk about all these numbers in public land without mentioning the legacy amendment in Minnesota. That, you know, for listeners that haven't ever been to Minnesota, don't really know, you know, kinda the access opportunities, the bur it it all comes back to, in my opinion, the legacy amendment that was voted on

by a supermajority of voters in Minnesota in 2008 comes up for renewal twenty thirty-three. So it's coming up here. That is the single greatest tool putting habitat, better habitat access and the combination on the landscape and it's turning bird numbers around. not just birds, all sorts of wildlife species around. So if you're listening to this

Say you're a Minnesotan and you've seen it, you've witnessed it. you know, don't it's never too early to put a a bug in the ear of our legislators that we gotta renew this baby come twenty thirty three. This is the cat's meow. It is the absolute best conservation program on the on the table any state. It's a gold standard.

Speaker 3 (01:03:16.716)

Yep. It's been transformational in this state. and there's other states that have like the the funding mechanism has been voted on. I'm talking about Iowa, just to the south. I mean, we're but maybe maybe in the next year or two, there might be an opportunity there as well to get that funded and and get sustainable funding for natural resources for a state like Iowa. It could do some some some really spectacular things for the creatures we care about.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41.196)

And no big surprise, it's three eighths of one cent. Yeah. Yep. And look what it does. And it it goes beyond habitat. We don't have it goes beyond wildlife habitat. Parks, parks and yeah, parks and trails. You don't even have to be a hunter to want to vote for. It's water quality, it's parks, it's trails, it's it's fine arts. all things that all things that make life better, just like hunting does in wildlife habitat for three eighths of a cent.

Speaker 3 (01:03:48.076)

Hundred and fifty million.

Speaker 1 (01:04:10.584)

So we just hit the one hour mark. so carp, I'm gonna ask you any sleeper states that that you know, we've talked about the magnificent seven. Any other states you want to mention? I've you know, sleeper state there there's two. There one that and access is challenging, but Illinois has some magnificent pheasant hunting in the east central part of the state.

But you gotta have get the access. Late season might be better, having a contact down there. I think my sleeper, you know, we all talked about Montana Montana's sort of a grail just for the beauty of it. We talked about this spectacular place. I'd have never done it, but I'd like to hunt in in Washington, southeastern Washington. They've there's wild pheasants there. There's decent numbers. It's not what it was at one point, but they shoot a a number of birds down there. So

And they got CRP. Yeah. And CRP number. And in this beautiful country, too. not that I've ever seen it, but I've seen pictures, and that's sort of why that's my that's sort of my sleeper. All right. all right. So in a moment we're gonna go around the horn and ask the crew to offer a tip for the upcoming hunting season, as well as something they're excited to use. Gear, gun, you name it. So two

Two around the horn tidbits coming up. Before we get there, I want to thank Onyx for being a partner in On the Wing podcast. We don't hunt for the picture perfect tailgate shot. With Onyx as your guide, we do hunt for that walk behind a good dog, the smell of burnt powder, and the buddy right alongside. The best spots mean more every time we return.

Some of them were passed down to us and some of them we found ourselves and carry on for that next generation. Timeout here as a way of putting everything else in perspective. The best days rarely involve with what ends up in the back of your vest. What we do care about are the stories we tell for years, the unforgettable dog work, and the people who were there to share those journeys with us long after the season ends. Onyx Hunt.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36.642)

Years to the hunt. All right. Let's go around the horn, Jared. We'll start with you. You got a hack, a tip, as well as a piece of gear that either you you want to suggest to somebody or something you got new in your arsenal that you're looking forward to putting to use.

Speaker 3 (01:06:57.588)

I switched to a final rise vest this year. I'm very very much looking forward to bringing that out here in just a few weeks. Start with rough grouse and then change over to Pheasants. But we've been mention mentioning the varying weather conditions this year. and for the most part, Minnesota's been very dry. the Dakotas have been pretty dry. in this in any of those states, I think it would behoove people to

look at hunting untraditional cover earlier in the season. By that I by that I mean cattails. It's not always fun. but in those places where in those places where it could be just even a little remotely wet, it might hold some larger amount of birds earlier in the season. So I would I would I would tell people if if you're going out and looking for looking for spots, you're probably gonna see a whole bunch of people, you know

working with the dog, pushing these grassy covers. I think in the areas where it's been dry, you're gonna find pheasants in the cattails earlier. Cool, cool area, maybe some, maybe some more bugs in those areas because it's holding on to me the little water that it has. That that would be my tip for early on. I also from last year, I still have I still have like my my mobile forget the term it was not mobile waiters, but

Waiters that you can just quickly pull up over your boots. Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28.43)

Wait.

Speaker 3 (01:08:31.351)

That's that's a good one too. Yeah, the sponsored by Hefty. the having those with you, packable waiters is what they are. if you have a pair of those, if if there's wetter areas that you're out there and you need to get to a spot that you know you've been watching pheasants pitching in pitching into, I that's always a good tip for me. I carry those with me everywhere we go. It doesn't matter if I'm pheasant hunting, elk hunting, or shooting a deer for Andrew. So

Speaker 1 (01:08:34.626)

Action of treasure.

Speaker 4 (01:09:01.166)

Whatever it takes to get it done, get her done. You bet.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04.014)

All right, Andrew, same question to you.

Speaker 4 (01:09:08.654)

in terms of advice say grab a piece of paper and write down this season will be a success if and then finish that sentence.

Speaker 3 (01:09:13.358)

I would say.

Speaker 4 (01:09:25.186)

Take that piece of paper and either squirrel it away, or better yet, do it on a post it note, put it somewhere in your truck, and just ground yourself on that comment, on that thought that you had before the season started. And let that be your guiding light to the rest of the year. these seasons come and go so fast. it's almost impossible to remember like what you really did the prior season. And was it a good year? I think so. It's like

What are your real goals? Like what do you really want to get out of the short window that we have ahead of us? I'm guessing you don't write limits every day. You do, best of luck to you. but keep yourself grounded in what matters and what your goals are. You know, we all have dogs at different stages. We all have different states that we've been to or aspire to go to. we have relationships that we want to foster that have probably been ignored for the past six months.

What's important to you this year and ground yourself on that. And that way when you come out at the other end, the season's guaranteed to be a success, no matter how accurate or inaccurate this forecast may be. in terms of gear stuff, for me, early season, especially late season, I get very dialed into temperatures. And by that I mean how warm or cold my dog is in a crate. so.

Our friends at Garmin were kind enough to to sponsor this this forecast that Carp has spent so much time bringing to you. and they also carry a device called a temp. you can sync that to your watch, you can sync it to your alpha. but throw that thing into their crate and then always keep an eye on that. So when you're traveling across the country, you don't have to have anxiety about how hot is my dog or how cold is my dog. You'll be surprised how warm they are in the winter.

you might be horrified how hot they are in the early season. so it's T E P E. It's forty bucks. Yep, it's just an ambient I like thermometer. it links right to your watch. and if you don't have a Garmin watch, you should 'cause they're amazing. at least get a Bluetooth thermometer. a way for you to keep an eye on your dogs while you're traveling. you know, it doesn't take long for you to hit traffic.

Speaker 1 (01:11:23.374)

called a temp.

Okay.

Speaker 4 (01:11:48.802)

as you're trying to get to your destination and suddenly the airflow stops and you watch that temp creep up, up, up. You just don't want to have that anxiety and wonder. so that's something that's brought a lot of peace of mind to me specifically. as I, you know, travel down to Iowa all summer long with a four year old wife and all the gear. It's like, well, here we go, two hours dead of summer. Let's make sure this ends up, you know, being all right.

Speaker 1 (01:12:00.558)

That's a great suggestion.

Speaker 4 (01:12:17.518)

I guess a couple other tips based on what I experienced last year. If you've got a dog that retrieves and hunts dead, open up those damn chokes as wide as you can. holy cow, did I have the yips last year? It's probably my worst shooting year ever. and I'm really looking forward to seeing if I am better off this year. but it took me opening up my my chokes.

throwing in some skeets and luckily have a hunting dog or a pointing breed and she hunts dead very well. And it's like, wow, something I can't miss. So shame on me for having the old Minnesota attitude of, well, I need to be able to ping one at forty five yards in the middle of winter and just having that be one of my two barrels 100% of the time. yeah, I've I've matured on the

Speaker 1 (01:13:07.212)

him Andrew.

Speaker 4 (01:13:08.556)

It's like I'm I'm not trying to smoke a goose F fifty. So I I can I can open them up a little bit and that that made my life a lot better at the end of last season. and then s similar to the whole taking notes thing that I started off with. be the Onyx pin master now that you want to encounter next year. And by that now's the time where we all start going through our pins from la from last year, and we all have the same, what the hell is this one?

just take notes. Like add real titles, take notes. What do you see? Why are you dropping a pin there? Your future self will thank you. And if you want to put those pins in folders, better yet. I'm going through an absolute mess right now trying to figure out like, wait, I think I hunted this. Was this good or bad? It's like I could have had that answer if I would have said a like thirty seconds of work right.

Speaker 1 (01:14:03.182)

This this is maybe I'll do this, maybe I'll have Bob send it, but I think we need a few more upland oriented pin icons on for on X. I'll put that list together. Maybe we can all put our heads together because there's there's good there could be a few more. And then you can really They just added a whole bunch of new birds.

Speaker 4 (01:14:25.262)

Yeah, they've added a more, but they can't really add more. Show the uplands

Speaker 1 (01:14:27.758)

I didn't see that. So Which any which bird are you missing? Which well they have pheasant, but they maybe they change this, but upland is just upland. There's so was it was it a quail, was it hun? Was it a sharp tail? Was it chicken? And maybe sharp tails and chickens to be together. But you know, it it also comes down to the detail, like Andrew said, why the hell did I mark this? Maybe the habitat looks good. Or I can I c this is the access well, they have the access point, but

I guarantee you there's half a dozen to ten more icons we could get that could help us do that. But I like that, you know, don't just don't just leave the red X there. Get get a colors get some color schemes going, get get the icons going, get some words going so you know what it means. That's a great tip.

Speaker 4 (01:15:15.374)

And every year you don't do it is a year behind you you are. So just start now.

Speaker 1 (01:15:20.002)

All right. The National Treasury, you got a tip and a piece of ge I don't even know that I need to ask you about a gear. You got your old car hearts, but go ahead. Well, let's we'll start with the tip or advice. Jar Jared as usual stole mine. sorry. Which is dry that after one pass through the prairie grass, the birds are gonna be in the goddamn cattails. And you're gonna or or also known as

A hell hole. There you go. So get ready to hunt hell holes early. I get but and I guess the other tip, and it's related to that, which is how I would have led into it, is for a lot of these states, you heard us saying, It's gonna be good, it's gonna be great to this is the year. that doesn't mean the pheasants are gonna walk out of the cover and hold up their wings i in a in a okay, I'm I'm ready to for you to shoot me.

They they just don't stand there and let you do it, even if there's a lot around. they're gonna go where they aren't not gonna be pushed around. So, you know, don't take all this good, good, good it's gonna be a great season talk and think, yeah, I'm just gonna go out there and I am gonna have coffee on the tailgate at nine fifteen. It ain't gonna happen. These are pheasants. Yeah and it's you gotta prove your medal. You gotta prove your medal.

I I did a little bit of that. I like my data sometimes. I I did I did some data on on sharp tail hunting. when I was out there walking, you can do the same with pheasant hunting, just this last four days. And I and I never get into into absolute counts, but it was every a sharp tail every three miles. My walking three miles produced a sharp tail and pheasant hunting.

I don't know what it is, I'd have to look, but miles matter, even in a year like this. They are just gonna give up. So that that's sort of the tip I had or as far as as far as hunting. yeah, Bob Bob has me nailed as far as gear. my my hunt ready vest is now pink on the back and if it's me, it's it fits me like a glove and I'm gonna still wear it and I have my Costco pants that I wear.

Speaker 1 (01:17:42.414)

And do you really have pops? No I put I put chap I have chaps. I have nice chaps when I need and I have s I have good snow pants for late season. Jared sees me wearing those. They're black and they're they're they're Are they parachute pants? Like snow pants. No, they're just they're just sort of snow pants. Well, how would you describe Jared? Yeah. I look sharp. They're they're black. But they're just they're like twenty five dollar snow pants. so

Speaker 3 (01:18:03.8)

They look great.

Speaker 1 (01:18:12.792)

But where where doesn't carp skimp on gear? Boots. Do not skimp on boots. And I just got a pair of Irish setter vapor techs for Sharp Tail Hunting. I wore four times on big hikes with Lark to break in. God, I love My feet feel so good. I I don't feel like I walked all the miles I walked. so that's just my example. Get good boots that you like. I guess

A related tip there is I always take extra boots along. They sit in my car. They do not leave my car. I have muck boot I call them muck style boots, rubber boots, wading boots, boots to cross, water, or get into wet places. And I have a pair of more the more upland backup boots. If I get ones soaked, I go change. carry extra boots, and the other thing I carry is extra socks. If you you take a break midday.

Like God, I feel like crap. My y your feet get all sweaty and grungy and your socks are damp. I change socks. Man, you feel bet you feel good. So those are my s my simple tips. Yeah. great stuff. So I'll I'll just tack on a couple and and we'll call it a close. Jared started us off with look for greener areas, moister areas. I I made that same comment to some folks rough grouse hunting.

Mm. Because it's so dry, like if you can identify streams, alder sloughs, lake, the that's where it's greener, there's bugs, and that's where the broods are. And we started off, you know, I talked about my trip into the Wisconsin Northwoods. All the birds I saw were near water. And so I think that's gonna be true, whether you're hunting pheasants in Minnesota or Montana or quail in Nebraska.

Look for green. Green produces insects. And that's where the birds are gonna be. So I think that tip is really good. The the other one that I was thinking about, as we get older, being carp anyway, I've been doing hip flexors and hip extenders every morning in the gym. You know, as you get older there's no it's no fun. Like after that first day of

Speaker 1 (01:20:37.976)

bust and pheasant brush and just having the muscles you haven't, you know, worked for months. Just knot you up and ready when you start. You might as well get in the gym. You know, even if it's just for fifteen minutes to work on those muscles in your legs that you haven't, it'll make a huge difference in your comfort level. Even if you don't want I I always say too, if you if you live on flat land, get fine get get

Climb some hills or get on stairs, do some climbing, especially if you know that you're gonna have to do some of that out out in the out where you hunt. That's a good tip. And the gear-wise, I see people out still pheasant hunting with coats that they bought in 1996. And the today the layers, you know, from a wicking layer to wool to vests, performance shirts, it just

Take the jacket to goodwill, give it away and get some layers. And you can layer up or layer down. gosh, I see so many people just using the exact same clothes that they've been wearing for thirty years and it just not it's not you don't have to be discomfortable, you know, uncomfortable when you're bird hunting. And Andrew's point about, you know, putting some chokes in and pro doing something to improve your shooting.

I'd offer that doing what you say, Bob, can also improve your shooting to not have a big bulky cold right time. Yeah. All right, guys. Thank you. Thanks for going around the horn, doing a pheasant forecast. thank you all for listening. We will be back in just two weeks with Ryan Sparks, and we'll do this for the quail hunting forecast as well.

Thank you for listening. Thanks to Garmin for sponsoring this year's Pheasant Hunting Forecast. I'm Bob St.Pierre reminding you to always follow the dog. It's Pheasant Season. Something good will ride. Thanks, folks.