Officially, at least, Minnesota’s 2008 pheasant hunting season begins at 9 a.m., next Saturday.

But most seasoned bird hunters know the opening weekend can largely be a chance to stretch the legs, let the dogs run. A bird or two in the bag on opening weekend is but icing on the cake.

That’s because in most years — and especially this fall when the corn crop across the pheasant range remains virtually untouched by farmer combines — standing crops create vast tracts of cover for the birds to hide in.

By the numbers, roadside wildlife counts conducted in August by the Minnesota Department of Natural resources suggest a 24 percent decline in pheasants abundance from 2007. That’s similar to the 10-year average but a 22 percent decline from the long-term average.

But Ken Varland, DNR regional wildlife game manager in New Ulm, says there is evidence that a late hatch may not have shown up in the original counts.

“There are lots of young birds out there that we probably didn’t catch in August,” he said. Indeed, some may still be so young, he added, that hunters may have to look very closely to tell the difference between hens and roosters.

Varland’s opening day strategy?

He said many birds will be in the jungles of cornfields by the time legal shooting time rolls around but a few birds likely will linger in grassy roosting cover.

“There’s going to be lots of pressure on state lands on opening day so you’re going to want to hit them pretty early,” he suggested.

As the crowds go home, he said the best hunting likely will be later in the day as birds return to grassy cover for their evening roost.

He suggested working the edges of cornfields and, if mild weather conditions continue, checking edge cover and open, woody cover that provides birds overhead shelter from predators and shade along the edges of cornfields, grassy areas and wetlands.

As is usually the case, the hunting should improve as standing crops are harvested.

Last year, Minnesota hunters bagged an estimated 655,00 roosters. This year, the harvest could reach 575,000 by the time the season ends on Jan. 4.

Shooting hours are from 9 a.m. to sunset. The daily bag limit is two roosters and a possession limit of four After Dec. 1, the daily limit is three roosters and a possession limit of nine.