Minnesota Pheasant Season Opens Saturday

MADELIA -- Governor Mark Dayton has a full agenda Saturday as he hosts the 2013 Minnesota Governor's Pheasant Opener in the south-central Minnesota city of Madelia.

His schedule included a pancake breakfast at the American Legion, then a morning of hunting, followed by a dedication ceremony for land that's being made available for public hunting.

This will be Dayton's third governor's pheasant opener. Madelia bills itself as the pheasant capital of Minnesota, with 8,600 acres of public hunting land within 20 miles of the community.

Pheasant hunters got some food news Friday when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reopened the region's Waterfowl Production Areas to hunting after closing them due to the federal government shutdown. WPAs are important public hunting areas for waterfowl and pheasants alike. National wildlife refuges remain closed.