District 15 - Marshall area

CO Ed Picht (Montevideo) reports pheasant opener is off to a slow start. Waterfowl hunting is still slow. Hopes are high that the weekend’s snow will bring some birds down. Violations include using an archery bonus deer tag in a lottery area, no pheasant stamp, no small game license, and burning prohibited materials.

CO Neil Henriksen (Benson) reports enforcement time was sent checking fishermen, hunters and ATV operators. The waterfowl hunting remained slow this past week. The West-Central zone remains closed to the taking of Canada geese till October 15th, and then closes again on the 18th. The pheasant season has had a slow start.

CO Matt Loftness (Marshall) reports the pheasant opener was quiet with a lot of the soybeans and corn still not harvested. One group of pheasant hunters that didn’t let the slow opener affect them was a big group from Hawaii, California, Florida, and Colorado. Although they were a little cold and the pheasants didn’t cooperate they still had a good time. Waterfowl hunters continue to struggle with low numbers of ducks in the area. Mixed bags of mallards, teal, wood ducks, shovelers, and geese are still being seen. Investigations continue in reference to trespassing and other illegal hunting activities. Enforcement action was taken for taking pheasants before legal hours and license and stamp violations.

CO Craig Miska (Ortonville) worked a busy pheasant opener. Many hunters endured cold, snowy, and windy conditions. Success was varied, with some groups of hunters bagging their daily limit. Duck hunting activity was also monitored. Infractions for the week included no pheasant stamp, unplugged shotgun, and no HIP certification.

CO Jim Robinson (Slayton) spent the week checking hunters. Pheasant Opener harvest was only fair on Saturday but poor for most hunters on Sunday. Corn and beans in the field are probably holding most birds. Very few ducks were seen in the area. Enforcement action was taken for trespass, toxic shot, no blaze orange, possess hen pheasant and license/stamp/registration violations.

CO Gary Nordseth (Worthington) reports a large number of pheasant hunters in the area for the opener. With almost all cornfields still standing, most hunters had moderate success at best. Violations encountered included no blaze orange and taking pheasants during prohibited hours.

Madison - vacant.