Outdoors Angle: Pheasants on Public Land

The Flag Outdoors Expert Steve Carney has your weekly Outdoors Angle right here!

     We are blessed in the north country for lots of public land for pheasant hunting. I have noticed so far this early season, the hunter turnout has been above average. Lots of people in the field!

     Public land tends to get hit an awful lot and it's not unusual to have several groups daily walking and hunting these public areas, especially on weekends.

     One tip to remember is most groups park in the designated parking areas and walk the cover from there. Believe me, the roosters have already been walked from that direction and are wise to this. Always make it a point to park along a gravel road and walk the cover from the rear going forward. The idea is to walk in the opposite direction in a way they haven't seen before.

     Private land adjacent to public always hold birds that have been pushed off public land and if you can get permission, always hunt that private land because the surviving pheasants know the safety and security of private land very early in the season. As the weather gets worse in later October and November, the birds will return to the public land as the hunting pressure wanes and the cover will once again attract them.

     It looks like the bird numbers are decent and worth the effort.

Steve Carney is The Flag WZFG Outdoors expert. He can be heard every Thursday morning at 8:05 on AM 1100 WZFG. Check out his weekly podcast on am1100theflag.com and hear his Outdoors Angle reports every Friday on AM 1100 WZFG. You can also visit stevecarneyoutdoors.com for more information.