DIY North Dakota Bird Hunt Tips?

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  • Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    I'm going to drive out to ND to hunt pheasants and other upland game in late October/early November. The last two years I did the same in Kansas. We're hoping to find more game in ND this year.

    Have any of you done this? Do you have any suggestions on locations to go, ways to get on non-public land, tactics for hunting pressured birds, etc?

    I have a utility/bird dog who is steady and has incredible drive. She's hunted ND once before with my friend and went with us to Kansas the past two years. My friend has a unique connection that gets him on private land in ND, but that arrangement won't transfer to me. He and others have given me some ideas but of course they can only speak from their personal experience...so any advice is welcome!

    I'm also very interested in western expansion history (French trappers, Lewis and Clarke, Indians, etc.) and I think we'll spend at least a half day looking at stuff like that. So any suggestions in that regard would be great, too!

    We will have 9 days total in ND. I'm thinking of starting near Mandan and then spending some time in the SW corner of the state. But I've not locked in anything.

    I know it's possible to go with a guide service for a fee. I'm open to that but would like to DIY the whole thing if possible. Thanks in advance for any suggestions from a fellow mid-Atlantic hunter on how to have success in the upper plains. :)
     

    94hokie

    Active Member
    Mar 29, 2015
    832
    Severna Park, MD
    I'm going to drive out to ND to hunt pheasants and other upland game in late October/early November. The last two years I did the same in Kansas. We're hoping to find more game in ND this year.

    Have any of you done this? Do you have any suggestions on locations to go, ways to get on non-public land, tactics for hunting pressured birds, etc?

    I have a utility/bird dog who is steady and has incredible drive. She's hunted ND once before with my friend and went with us to Kansas the past two years. My friend has a unique connection that gets him on private land in ND, but that arrangement won't transfer to me. He and others have given me some ideas but of course they can only speak from their personal experience...so any advice is welcome!

    I'm also very interested in western expansion history (French trappers, Lewis and Clarke, Indians, etc.) and I think we'll spend at least a half day looking at stuff like that. So any suggestions in that regard would be great, too!

    We will have 9 days total in ND. I'm thinking of starting near Mandan and then spending some time in the SW corner of the state. But I've not locked in anything.

    I know it's possible to go with a guide service for a fee. I'm open to that but would like to DIY the whole thing if possible. Thanks in advance for any suggestions from a fellow mid-Atlantic hunter on how to have success in the upper plains. :)

    I would not recommend North Dakota. They have been hit pretty hard with drought the last couple of years and the pheasant count is way down the past couple years. I'm going out with a group that goes to an outfitter every year and they say the past two years they have seen a lot less birds than a few years ago.
     

    Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    Thanks. I've heard the same but also heard ND is doing better than KS, NE and SD. Do you know of a state that has good birds this year?
     

    Marshmallow

    Active Member
    Feb 4, 2012
    781
    I did NE Montana and a day in ND a couple years back. Best advice I can give you is talk to folks in towns and see what they have to say. Talking to folks saved our Iowa trip last year. ND can either be freezing cold, or 85, so prepare for both. It’s also going to be tougher ground to hunt.
     

    traveller

    The one with two L
    Nov 26, 2010
    18,266
    variable
    Just a couple of pointers:

    - the state has a program where they lease walk-in access to private land, I believe you have to be a state resident to take advantage of that program (PLOTS).
    - posting rules for private land are very favorable for the land-owner. A property is considered posted if there is a sign iirc every 560 yards and the signs are not required to be on an access road. So while you can technically walk onto someones harvested fields and hunt, if they have one sign on the opposite side of the property they can trespass you with all the negative consequences of that (return trip for a court date in New Farouttown, ND, potential loss of hunting privileges in all of the compact states)
    - all Ag land in ND is owned by private individuals or partnerships of real persons, but few of these properties are farmed by the person who owns them (most operations are multi-thousand acre outfits, some of them 30 miles away). So while you may be able to track down the owner of a parcel using a records search, the person you need to talk to is the lessee whose crop you are trudging through.
    - Game&Fish agents are spread pretty thin, heck law enforcement overall is stretched thin. But you'll be suprised how quickly you'll see a multi unit response if a local calls you in as a trespasser.

    As a result, most out of staters will rely on guides to get them access to leased private lands. There are public lands like WMAs and school trust lands and you can certainly do it on your own, just make sure you know 'the proclamation' by rote and understand all the access rules contained within it.
     

    BeoBill

    Crank in the Third Row
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 3, 2013
    27,064
    南馬里蘭州鮑伊
    Could be really COLD!! I've seen 3' of snow in September and subzero in October. I was stationed in Minot in the 80's. It's fun to have your eyes freeze shut!! Boy howdy!

    I agree about the weather in the Northern Tier. I was stationed at Minot 74 - 77. I drew a permit for the wildlife refuge lottery the last Fall I was there. Small world.

    General rule of thumb for access/trespassing (from my days in SD):
    • Three strands of wire on the fence = posted
    • Two or four strands = Open; ask permission.
     

    Racer Doug14

    Thread killer
    MDS Supporter
    Patriot Picket
    Feb 22, 2013
    8,003
    Millers Maryland
    Derwood, he says you'll be snowed out by November. Tons of waterfowl. You might need more dogs than just yours.

    Look at south of Devil's Lake, Harvey area. Ducks will be crazy, unless the ponds freeze.
     

    Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    Thanks everyone for the information!

    I know the weather could be very cold, but we're ready for it. We did Kansas Dec. 25-Jan 2 the past two years. Last year most days it was -5 and windy when we started and never got above +15. I learned it's very important to have chapstick in your pocket, a hot thermos in the car and whiskey on the counter in the warm house. But thanks for the warning. I'll keep that in mind when packing.

    I am familiar with the PLOTS program. Kansas has something very similar. It's open to non-residents. Non-resident's aren't allowed to hunt the first two weeks of the season, which is why we are going out the last week of October.

    BeoBill - I don't understand what you mean on the two vs three strand thing? Are you making the point that no matter how poorly maintained the posted sign is, it counts as a "sign" even if all that's left is a strand of wire?

    I've heard from others that the best thing to do is make some polite inquiries at the diner, grocery store, etc. I'm planning to do that for sure. I'm also planning to knock on a door if I see a good looking area. I'm a little nervous about someone possibly telling me it's OK to hunt a location that they don't actually have authority to give permission for, so I'll try to make sure we all understand each other if/when that comes up.

    Yeah, unfortunately I've only got one dog. I'm spending a lot of time conditioning her. She hunted five days straight in Kansas last year with no sign of fatigue. Maybe I'll make a friend or two out there and we can alternate our dogs.

    OK, now for the true MD shooter question: For those of you who have gone pheasant hunting in the northern tier, what's your favorite load for your shotgun? Low brass? High brass? #5? #6? Let's hear it. FWIW, I have a vintage 16 gauge LC smith side by side. So I'm pretty limited on ammo choices for it, but boy is it fun to carry and shoot. But I'll also have a modern 12 gauge if I decide I need to be using high brass.

    One more question: for those of you who would do an upland and waterfowl hunt, how do you manage the gear and what tactics do you use? I own some duck decoys but there is no way I can bring them out there with me due to space constraints in the truck. Is it possible to be successful duck hunting by doing a rough/jump shoot/sneak method? I've only hunted in deep water around the Potomac and Bay. I don't really know about hunting huge flooded crop fields and whatever else out there. Last year in Kansas we went to a wildlife area (steel only) that probably held ducks before everything froze over, but we didn't have waders and therefore couldn't really get in position to hunt them even if there was open water.
     

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