I made my second trip to North Dakota this year, and it was awesome. My brother and I loaded up my Ford Taurus with the dog and gear, and were on the road by 4am Friday. We drove through ice, snow, and dense fog before arriving in Rutland, ND around 8am. We were fortunate to have access on 2000+ acres, so we decided to do some scouting 
with the car to figure out the lay of the land. It didn’t take long to realize that there were a ton of birds left, but they were educated ones too. With only two of us, we elected to hit some tree lines and the smaller sloughs. In every area we went the birds flushed too far away, but we pushed on hoping to catch one holding tight. Luckily the wind started picking up and the birds sat a little tighter. By noon we (my brother) had 4 late season roosters in the bag, with no missed opportunities. We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon thanking the farmers for letting us hunt. The first couple were very busy, so we talked a little, gave them some walleye fillets, and let them get back to work. We went into the bar to thank another farmer, and in doing so ended up getting access to 500 more acres. It is unbelievable how nice all the people are out there. On the way to the hotel, I snuck up on a rooster and ended the day with a total of 5 birds.
Saturday was warmer, but windier. My buddy and his Dad met us out there on Saturday. My buddy is a dog trainer, so he had a couple excellent dogs along. The two of them are fairly new to hunting, so I told them that being quiet is essential when chasing late season ringnecks. Immediately they were on the whistles and giving the dogs instructions. After 3 hours of this, and 100+ wild flushes, I got a little 
and decided to have a heart to heart with them. They put the whistles away, and let the dogs do what they are trained to do. We pushed a tree line and a couple CRP fields to end the day with 5 birds. As the sun was sinking, I tried to take a few pictures of the sunset and my dog. For the life of me I couldn’t get her out of the cattails. I decided to put the camera away, and see what she was so crazy about. Good think I did because she busted a motherload of birds, and I bagged one that flew back my way. We all had plenty of opportunities, but I connected on 4 and my brother 1. Our little rivalry was tied at 5 birds apiece.
Sunday was a little cooler, and very windy. We decided to hit the same CRP field that we hunted the night before. Unfortunately these birds are smart, so they had moved on to other places. We decided that we had pushed the birds around to much, so we headed to a section 1 mile North that we hadn’t touched yet. This paid off because the birds were less skiddish. My brother and I decided to walk with the dogs in the middle of the sloughs, so my buddy and his Dad could have a chance at bagging some birds. The birds didn’t cooperate for them, and my brother and I had to drop 4 more birds. We tried everything to get them shots, but everytime they missed or the birds flushed right at my brother or me. We ended the day with 7 birds, for a grand total of 17 ND roosters. We both shot one bird, so we finished the trip tied at 8.5 birds apiece. The hunting was good, but watching the dogs work and hunting with friends was even better. I will be back again next year.
My photo editing software is on the fritz, so does someone want to resize and post some pics for me?
sorry.
