Hunt in North Dakota?

C

codybaker51

Member
My Granddad and I are looking to take a trip to North Dakota for a 3 or 4 day hunt but have no clue where to go and we know nobody there. So if anyone has any advice or friends there that know were to hunt we would love to meet them thanks for your time guys and god bless
 
Cody,
Have you checked with the North Dakota Fish and Game to find out where the state and federal lands are that any citizens can hunt? While talking with them find out where most of the best areas are in the state.
Then why don't you do yourself a favor and take a three or four day weekend and drive up there to go and meet the local farmers. If you tell them of what you are doing you might just be pleasantly surprised if you ask. It won't hurt. I see you are in Indiana so North Dakota isn't that far away.
Al
 
Go to Rugby ND (the geographical center of North America), and stay in the Hub Motel. Lot's of decent hunting around that part of ND and it is relatively easy to hunt (in terms of finding places and finding places with ducks). Many people there will help you out if you are sincere and appreciative. Make sure you time it right. Freeze up occurs much earlier up there than down your way. Middle of October isn't that unusual.

Jamestown is another good area. Many will recommend Devils Lake and while I agree it can be a great place to hunt, my opinion is that this large body of water really requires someone with knowledge of how and where to hunt it. Devils lake is also a very popular place to go. Rugby is popular as well but there is much open land over there.

Mark W
 
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Cody,

Hunting in ND is easy, but as you can tell you will get no help from hunters from ND, other than driving directions to Canada. Resident North Dakota hunters spend more time trying to keep out non-resident hunters than hunting themselves, which leaves even more ducks and more open public hunting then you can imagine.

Send me a PM and I will give you the name of a couple Guide services and you will be able to maximize your time in ND with your Granddad, and even if you don't use their services they will be more helpful than most resident ND waterfolwers that are busy plotting their next move to keep non-residents from shooting their ducks. I will also give you GPS coordinates to some public areas that I found on our afternoon scouting trips that were loaded with ducks 8 miles from our motel when we were up there a few years ago in case you decide to freelance.

Another good place to get info on freelance hunting ND is on the Minnesota page on the "Refuge" forum, them Minnesota Boys are most helpful, bless their Nordic hearts.
 
Don't waste your time or money on guides... Just make sure you check out PLOTS and that they are open when you go.....
 
Amen to michael j's comment on North Dakota hunters, Actually there are only few that think their stuff don't stink and unfortunately they all seem to have found this forum. I have a working farm in N.D. I hunt there every fall, the locals are the best people you ever met! We are outside of a town of about 3000 people over the years we have gotten to know the majority of the hunters, Hardly any of them duck hunt. The majority are deer hunters and pheasant hunters , a few are sandhill hunters and a few hunt coyotes.Duck hunters are a small minority. During the week sometimes we hunt all morning without ever hearing any shots but ours, believe me we are in the right area. Guess who ask to hunt with our gang whenever we have room? You guessed it, the local hunters. We gladly take them along, Always have a great time and have formed many lasting friendships. So dont judge the whole state by a minority that dont really amount anything in the whole scheme of things!
 
Cody...the Good Lord willing and this will my 10th year going out to ND. We have freelanced the entire time we have been going. We usually stay west of Devils Lake. There is abundance of PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sporstman) and Federal land. Also there is plenty of private land that isn't posted and available to hunting. Likewise, if it is posted we have good success in getting access. Some years better than others. We primarily hunt water but have hunted with a few locals in fields. Stay away from the second week of October, as that's when pheasant season opens and PLOTS are off limits to non-residents even if its for waterfowl. Bird numbers have varied in our area, so a great deal of your time is riding the roads and scouting. What is holding birds one year, may or may not be holding birds the next. Its a great trip and great country to see if you've never been out there. If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me a pm or email.

Brad
 
Cody
We've hunted pot holes in fields, with the farmers permission, with a motor home driving right close with in walking distance without flaring the ducks. We've had nothing but good relations with the farmers. We do bring gifts usually of cheese coming from Wisconsin. Can't say enough of the reception we always got.
wis boz
 
A few years back I was up hunting with my Dad and a couple of others. The tranny on the truck started acting up and the truck was driving real hard. Naturally this was on a Saturday. Truck died out a ways from town and we had it towed to one of the local Rugby area auto repair places. Owner of the shop knew exactly what was wrong with the truck. Said he couldn't get parts delivered until Tuesday which meant no more hunting for us. Guy demanded we take one of his work trucks until the parts were delivered.

We used his Truck the rest of Sat, Sun. and Monday. Got a call from the shop Monday evening as he decided to drive to wherever the parts were coming from and get the job done a day ealry for us.

Since we only had reservations through Sunday morning, and since all the rooms were taken after that, we had no place to stay Sunday evening. As we were checking out of the Hub, the lady working there knew of our situation and found us a couple of rooms at the home of a friend. We stayed there and woke up the next morning to a homemade breakfast.

I'll always remember the hospitality of everyone on that trip. It's been a couple of years but we do still keep in touch albeit sporadically, with those new friends we met.

Mark W
 
Good lord, GPS coordinates and guides to shoot bird in ND? High rollers or first timers Mike/Rich? I said Canada because there are exponentially more birds, fewer hunters, higher bag limits and crossing the border is very easy as long as you don’t have DUI or a felony.

Thanks for the blanket statement about the people who live and hunt here and that they spend more time chasing nonresidents than hunting themselves.

If you do come to ND DONT use a guide, Stay a minimum of 50 miles away from Devils Lake and more than 25 Mi from Hwy 2. Do those three things and you’ll have a good chance of not seeing another hunter. The reason I say those three things is that guides lease land and lock it up so it is unavailable to other hunters. Devils Lake gets written about in most outdoor and waterfowl magazines. It is also mentioned 10 times to any other place in the state on internet forums when people like you are fishing for info. The reason I say stay away from Hwy 2 is that it runs through Devils Lake and Rugby and Leeds and Penn and Knox and Lakota and Michigan and Petersburg. Guys read about Devils Lake in DU or Field and Stream or they see it on the Outdoor channel so they think that is the place to go. Well they get there and see everyone else read the same article. So what do they do? Head 30 mi east or west on Hwy 2 and think they are away from the crowds. You may agree and be content but there are plenty of places that may get hunted once a year and have birds all season until freeze up.

I welcome you to hunt ND, just please don’t hire a guide or pay to hunt land or water. Pay to play is creeping into ND and has already severely limited opportunity elsewhere, please don’t support it here in ND.
 
High roller? not quite! I build boats for high rollers, but my customers and this economy have done a real good job of keeping me from ever becoming one. As many people my age in N.D. have winter homes in arizona or california, I have a spring, summer, especially fall, and whenever I can winter home in North Dakota. I love this place when I bought it I thought it was a scam! the land prices were too good to be true! Of course that has changed some over the years. The locals think I am crazy they cant imagine why anyone would want to leave florida for North Dakota? I have two close friends down here who have also bought land and homes in ND They saw the same things I saw,A beautiful unspoiled landscape abundant wildlife and the nicest, genuinely honest and friendly people you ever hope to meet. After reading these other posts I see that others have had the same experience. I guess this is why it comes as such a shock to hear what seems to be a hostile or negative atitude toward non resident hunters on this site. After all we participate on this site to further each others enjoyment of our cherished sport, not to brew hostility. Matt thanks for the clarification. Its nice to see you are one of us! If you or one of your friends were to come to florida to hunt after things have frozen up and the birds have all left I would be glad to point you guys in the right ditection , maybe take some along on a hunt. Give out my GPS coordinates? Now thems fightin' words! Rich
Matt: I read you on guides That prarie lodge thing in Goodrich a few years ago made me sick! pure greed! these guides get a little carried away. A farmer pal of mine woke up one morning to find all his farmland posted., and guess what? he didnt lease it to anyone! Just some greedy guide.
 
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so where in canada should i go then if that is what we decide to do
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I cant/wont tell you where to go, when to go, what to bring and who to talk to. I live in ND and I am telling you that if you drive 15 hours to get here drive an extra hour or two to hunt Manitoba or Saskatchewan. I am a firm believer that if you want to do something, just do it. You are going to learn more things, meet more people and probably have more success than if you follow a schedule or template supplied by others. With the internet growing in the past 8-10 years I have seen a lot of "where should I hunt and when should I go?" The best advice I can give is pick a place, and just do it. Go in October and start saving your $$, gas will probably be $4-5 by then.
 
Great points Matt. Just use the search function on any forum you belong to and you have days of reading... regardless of what you are looking for
 
You do NOT need a guide to hunt ND.

If I'm remembering correctly the Residents (R's) get to shoot the ducks for a week before the NR's which is usually around the last week of September.

Then there is a week that the NR's can shoot ducks, including on PLOTS. But the birds still haven't fully come out of eclipse so the plumage can be kinda ratty on the drakes.....if that matters to you.

Week 3 (2nd week of October) the pheasant season opens but NR's are NOT allowed to hunt the PLOTS, for anything.

Week 4 NR's can hunt PLOTS.

Field hunt the ducks if you can vs over water, and don't bust a roosting pond.

Plan your drive to get there on a Saturday, as early in the day as you can so you can scout scout scout.

Duck hunt the mornings and bird hunt/scout the rest of the day. Bring GOOD binoculars. If you don't drive 100 miles a day you aren't scouting hard enough.

Keep your gas tank full. There's about one gas station every 50 miles, or so it seems.

If you are on pavement, not dirt, you are driving in the wrong area.

Unless you stay in a major town, plan to keep a supply of bread/lunchmeat in a cooler in your vehicle. Restaurants are few and far between in the small towns. And bring a small camp stove and/or a gas grill to cook to eat lots of duck.
 
Farmers do not like seeing you pull in with your duck boat and busting up the roosts, leave your big boat at home. ive shot redheads in a little one acre pothole in the middle of the cornfield, cans and bills like little water also. I think a lot of guys thing you need traditional big water to kill birds but ive seen cans stacked in water that teal would have a hard time swimming. scout scout scout
 
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