ND suggestions

Hi guys, while the season is fresh on our minds, I wondered if someone could give me some advice on a ND trip for next year. I have been there a few times between Jamestown and Bismark mostly hunting public lands but it has been a few years and I hear the amount of public land has been shrinking.

I have a buddy that wants me to plan a trip for next year and I am wondering if I need to go the route of a guide or if I should do what I used to do and make use of what is left of the public lands? All I know is this guy wants to shoot birds – who doesn’t…

Thanks,
Dave

I wouldnt worry about nving land to hunt. ND has plenty. The area you speak of is the stretch my crew hunts every year. There’s plenty of birds. (But that’s the entire state of ND.) If you know what your doing there’s no need for a guide.

You should be able to do fine without hiring a guide. Just scout a lot, it will pay off huge. A lot of the land out there is posted but many people will let you hunt waterfowl on their land, it is mostly posted for deer and pheasants. We were able to get permission on a few different places during our trip in early/mid Oct.

You could do both depending on how long you are going to be out there. You could do a morning or 2 with a guide and then freelance the rest of the time.
JB

What do you guys think is the best time for going out to ND?

that part of the state you should be fine as that area usually posts mainly for pheasants but for waterfowl allow access. Good luck, do you hunt north or south of 94?

MossBoss: Timing was my next question – when is the best time to go. Unfortunately, I think we will need to set some dates and have to stick to them. I also know I have been there in the middle of October and had to fight to find open water a few years back. I could have planned this for this year but it would have been mid-November and most guys said don’t bother (everything should be froze by then).

Wade: I have hunted both north and south of the interstate. I have done well around Pettibone and Medina and as far south as the Napoleon area.

I have not been out there in a few years but I did experience the same thing about permission on private land for duck hunting versus pheasant hunting. I have heard from several guys that have gone out there that have said the public lands are drying up and there is more competition for those spots. We used to hunt a lot of WPA’s and State School lands and I do have some of the old map books showing those areas that would obviously need to be updated.

Thanks guys!

Keep the location open. We hunt Peddibone, Woodworth, Medina. Our family owns a few lots in Woodworth. This weekend is usually about it for ducks on the small water in that area. (Obviously there are exceptions too this.)So keep that in mind when your making decisions.

As the time you choose gets closer let me know. I can give you an update on the areas your talking about. We always have somone up there. (Thats if there’s not already one posted in the migration report.)

Heck.. Maybe we can meet at the Decoy in Medina if were there at the same time.

Hey Chriss – thanks for the info. Do you know if the Chase Lake Country Inn is still open for business? They were in the Medina area but I heard a rumor they sold out a few years ago and I never heard what became of the place.

I was thinking about this place because I know the lodging is somewhat limited in that area.

Thanks,
Dave

Last I checked it was still open. (Maybe 2 years ago.) I’ll see if the guys will run past there this weekend. (It won’t be an issue since the Snows are stacked like cord wood in chase at the moment.)

Timing is a very tough question because weather year to year changes. We always went the 3rd weekend in Oct until they closed state owned lands that week and we normally did very well and only a couple times was small stuff icing up an issue. With state land closed that weekend we started going later in Oct and 2 years in a row the weather was so nice there wasn’t much for birds around because it had been cold enough to push out the teal and some local ducks but not cold enough to push new birds in to the area so it was tough hunting with almost everything being educated local birds. This year we went the second weekend in Oct and did really well but we scouted a ton and we found some AWESOME spots. I talked to a buddy of mine and 2 guys just got back from the Devils Lake area and they shot 18 ducks for 4 days of hunting so it was really poor hunting last weekend.

Pick a weekend and watch the weather, if it is getting cold enough to freeze up the small pot holes plan on hunting bigger lakes or field hunting and if the weather is decent you can hunt the pot holes.

Personally I would go the 3rd or 4th week of October and hope by then the weather in Canada has been bad enough to move birds into the area you are hunting.

i alway go during the closed week here in wisconsin. i go out not looking for geese or “trophy” ducks i just go to kill them when there is nothing to do here in wi. we always usually do pretty good

Let me throw some different locations at ya. I’m from the area around the J. Clark Salyer refuge, way up north that runs from Canada north of Westhope down to the Willow City area, about 30 miles long. That area IMO was great when I was in high school and even up to about 7-8 years ago. Now that the Devils Lake area has got all that water, I feel the birds have shifted to the east in greater numbers than even Devils Lake was used to.
The areas I would point you to then are not J. Clark or Devils but inbetween. Areas that prior to this water, didn’t see much pressure. Rugby, Cando, Leeds, Churches Ferry, south of Rolla, etc. Last year we were forced to go here cause J. Clark was dead and we found a ton of birds, a ton of public water, maybe too much. You would have no trouble finding spots here.

Timing, I always like to go when the World Series is on. Sometimes you’re just a week early but you rarely get frozen out then.

Give me a shout next summer, I missed my chance to go this year but won’t miss another year.

Eric

Cougereye — myself and my family and a bunch of friends are from that area as well….great option of another choice!

Thanks Cougareye, I will be spending some time looking at a lot of areas during the off-season. I have not been to ND since 2002 and can’t wait to get there next fall. I have pulled out my PLOTS and other maps and info from previous hunts and the current info from all the guys here is great stuff!

Thanks again to everyone.
Dave

Order a new set of plots maps. With the new incentives there has been a huge influx of plots land.

Chriss, do you know were I can order the PLOTS on-line? I have found sites that say they are free and give you a list of places to pick them up and I have found where I can print them but my printer lacks some quality.

Thanks,
Dave

Go to the ND DNR web site, you cna print off the maps for the area you are hunting. That is what I always do. Usually print 2-3 copies of each map so I can mark them up while I am out there.
http://gf.nd.gov/maps/plots.html

I usually stick to the low res maps for speed of downloading and printing.
JB