No Dak 2016

I have been more of a lurker here than a contributor, but since a lot of us are in withdrawal after waterfowl season is over, here is a chronicle of my trip to No Dak last fall. I own a few acres and a house in McCluskey and go every year for the 2 weeks that No Dak allows non residents. Some of you know I professionally train retrievers and this year I took a client with me and his friend. They had never hunted waterfowl or pheasants before so it was going to be a real trip for them.
Here is sun up the first day. A good way to start.

The ducks cooperated and we had a good shoot to get started. Thunder is a Master Hunter and he was glad to get some of the real thing. We were hunting the shallow end of a slough and he got to chase a couple of cripples. That is like cocaine to a real hunting dog.


We generally hunt ducks in the A.M. and pheasants in the afternoon. I don’t like to shoot the ponds in the afternoons, so we leave the ducks for the mornings which seem to be better hunting anyway. After lunch we went to one of my farms and walked up a few roosters.
This is the first pheasant that my friend Chase had shot. He is a former Marine and a very good gunner.

We had an incredible afternoon with the weather changing every half hour as is common in the northern prairies. Check out this double rainbow. I have never seen one like that before.


Day 2 we set up in another pond. Cloudy, cold, wind steady at 20 gusting to 40. Just another day in No Dak. We originally set up on the lee side where the reeds and a high bank blocked the wind. After the first 3 groups landed on the “wrong” side, we relocated and had a good hunt. This proves you just have to be where they want to be, not where they should be. I threw out about 2 dozen decoys and a spinner. We just got a few steps back in the reeds and tried to be still. I think movement spooks them more than any thing. We had a good hunt after all.

Thunder has hunted with me when I was guiding in Canada and he has” been there done that” several thousand times. He is rock solid steady and can sit there not moving for hours, but when it is go time, he is all about getting the bird. We did not lose a single bird all week.

That day after the ducks, we went on a little sight seeing tour before going after the pheasants. There is a lot of history on those northern plains. On one of our farms there was an old barn. It was neat to just look around in it. A taxidermist would love to have some of that old weathered wood.


The wind always blows in No Dak. Look how these trees have grown in a curve, bending to the south. There are not a lot of trees on the prairie. These were near an old house place.

This one must have a story to tell, bent at an exact 90 degrees. I have been hunting here for about 10 years and this tree has always been like this.

The pheasants cooperated again in the afternoon and Chase got a really nice one. This one will end up on his wall in west Texas.

Last A.M. we got some good ducks again. Both of the guys wanted a drake Mallard for the wall and we got a few. Even though it was still in October, some of the drakes were plumed out pretty well.

My only gripe about No Dak is that I can only hunt there for 2 weeks as a non resident. My friend and I own several hundred acres and a house but still only get the 2 week non resident license. Where we hunt, there are quite a few non resident pheasant hunters, but very few go after waterfowl.
I have noticed the last few years, mainly since the oil business got big that there are very few tracts that are not posted. Our farmer friends tell us the same thing ethical hunters hear all over the country mainly related to lack of respect for fences, gates, proximity to houses etc. If this trend continues, it won’t be long until the entire state will be posted. Fortunate for me, we know most of the major land owners and don’t have trouble getting permission if we ask.
Going back again this year of course but going later than I have ever been. I’ll be hunting Mule deer in Montana last week of Oct., then to No Dak after that. I hope there is still some open water to keep the birds around for a late season shoot. Watch for report this time next year.
 
Well done, Mike. That looked to be a ton of fun. My favorite shot was the one of the brown ducks. It has been a long time since I last shot one.
Al
 
Looks pretty awesome - all but the spinner, anyway! Need some more pics of the black dog.
 
The photo's of the old farm and buildings are my favorites. Hardship lived there, and those are the markers. No matter how many times I have seen them, on so many trips and long walks (no ATV) they still make me pause. If you look in the correct spots you can still see wagon tracks.
 
Mike,
I have been hunting the same area for 13 years. We hunt very similar to you, ducks on a pothole in the morning, pheasants in the afternoon.

The amount of land that is now posted that wasn't when I first started going is alarming to me. We have witnessed road hunters, driving thru and hunting in standing crops, and trespassing. People are getting tired of it.

The thing I find most disturbing is the loss of habitat in the area. Section after section coming out of CRP and rows and rows of windbreaks bulldozed and burned.

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Mike
 
Mike

When my hunting partner and I first drove to hunt ND, it was during the height of the drought. There was real fear that Devils Lake would go dry. The Souris/Mouse River was a trickle, and the refuge a mud hole. Yet the Snow geese were there in force, as well as some ducks.

There were zero No Trespassing signs. Just tires painted white on fence posts that meant keep out, please ask. No driving was allowed on fields without permission. If we helped the farmers with chores they were very gracious and turned us on to more places than we could hunt. We made some very good friends there.

Sharptail and Huns were aplenty if you took long walks. Pheasants only in the very western part of the state, Regent, Mott, etc. CRP was just getting started and the waterfowl hunting was fair and getting better each year. There was no corn, just wheat as far as the ye could see. Plenty of shelterbelts and old homesteads.

Hunting partners and I went to ND for many years. For me it was more for the "Chickens" and then waterfowl. My last trip there was in 2008. Things sure have changed in all those years. A good friend bought a house there for his retirement and I have a open invite. May have to take a long drive again, stop there and up to the Duck Factory. I love huntin' "Chickens" and Range Roosters, they are tasty.
 
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