Devils Lake area duck hunting on Opener - to go or not?

[pjwalleye1]

Our party of 4 duck hunters have been going to northern Canada for the past 20+ years but for a number of reasons won't be going this year. We have a tip from a friend who hunts the greater Devils Lake area and recommends it. Here's the deal though: he hunts with a party that own 700+ acres of private land that our party of 4 will not most likely have access to. His comment though was 'there are plenty of public areas to hunt'.

My question to the forum is: given none of the four of us have been to the area, is it worth it in your opinion for us to head up with no private land access and no perspective on the public land/water hunting areas? We do like to fish walleyes too, which is one of the appeals to this area. We have 2 hotel rooms reserved but I am questioning if it is worthwhile to go up for 5 days if none of us have prior experience with the area. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[huntnfish]

Non residents can't hunt public land on opener. You would have to wait until the next weekend if you were only going to hunt public.

[Lakers]

Huntnfish is right, non-residents can not hunt public land on the opener. However, you should have no problems getting land access. North Dakota is not like most other states. If you do not see posted signs indicating the landowner does not wish to allow access to their land, you are perfectly legal to hunt it without permission. Most landowners could care less if you go after geese/ducks in ND (unless they hunt them themselves), and I would bet you will find plenty of good private land unposted that you can hunt. The last time I was there I saw very few posted signs. But if I were you, I would wait until the second week like huntnfish said, to increase your land access with the public hunting areas. There will still be plenty of uneducated birds by then, believe me. Birds are all over the place in that area. I'm not even going back until the weekend of Oct. 25th, because that is when the snows should really be coming through the area thick also.

Good luck!!

[pjwalleye1]

Just to clarify - we are looking to come up the weekend of Oct. 3rd. Thanks for the quick replies.

[nate larson]

Non residents can't hunt public land on opener. You would have to wait until the next weekend if you were only going to hunt public.

HUH???? Nonresidents CAN hunt WMA's and PLOTS land on NR waterfowl opener. They close off state public land during the pheasant opener but federal land remains open. See below:

CLOSED OR RESTRICTED AREAS

In accordance with NDCC 20.1-08-04.9, nonresidents may not hunt

any game from October 10-16 on North Dakota Game and Fish

Department wildlife management areas or on Conservation PLOTS

(Private Land Open To Sportsmen) areas.

[brittman]

Resident opener is obviously hunting for ND residents only. This season runs from September 26th - October 2nd.

On October 3rd, NRs can join the fun. Opener is busy and competition for spots can be intense in some areas and non-existent in others.

In ND private land only guarentees one a place to hunt. Sure ducks will be their opener, but after that migration patterns, etc... will dictate whether good populations of ducks are there or not. I shoot a lot of ducks and geese in ND. Over the 30 years I have hunted in ND I rarely hunt the same section 2 days in a row and never have hunted the same section of land 3 days in a row. Scouting ... always results in better opportunities.

All public land is open to NRs on October 3rd. State land and state leased land (PLOTS) do go off limits to NRs from October 10th - 16th this year. Coincides with beginning of pheasant season, but is not limited to pheasant hunting or even pheasant country.

If you have a good location to hunt MN opener with good success I would suggest you stay in MN. If you struggle in MN then give ND a try. Ducks will be flying and where they start at 5AM (before hunting time) that morning is not where they will be by noon.

[huntnfish]

I was partially wrong about the NR's hunting on opener. Here is straight out of the regulations on the ND game and fish HSOforum:

Nonresidents -Nonresidents may not hunt waterfowl from September 26 through October 2. State law restricts nonresident waterfowl hunters to zones (exception - statewide license) and specified days. For waterfowl hunting a nonresident may choose either option (1) hunting in zone 3 only for 14 consecutive days or for two 7-consecutive-day periods; (2) hunting in zones 1 or 2 for 7 consecutive days and also hunting in zone 3 for 7 consecutive days - either back-to-back or split; (3) choosing either zones 1 or 2 and also selecting zone 3 for the same 7-day time period; or (4) purchasing the statewide license which allows statewide hunting for 14 consecutive days or for two 7-consecutive-day periods. Nonresidents may purchase only one waterfowl license per year.

Since you are going the weekend of the 3rd you will not have to worry about that. I have never hunted that area but have heard from friends that it can be very good. Also, if you don't have a hunters safety certificate it is required if you were born after 1961. Good luck on your hunt and let us know how you do.

[kobear]

Which way from Devils Lake?? It really does matter.

Within an hour of Devils Lake a majority of private land is posted especially along major roadways. But you do have the big lake, which sees alot of other hunters and gets better towards late Oct.

It would payoff to go up early and scout it out if you can.

Otherwise I would plan on heading about 30 miles or more out of town THEN start looking for birds. You can always scout your way back into town. At that time of year I normally look to local birds working areas where they were raised if your staying in town head somewhere north to areas with tons of small sloughs.

Have you tried zooming in on DU's migration map? They have the FSA 2003 airphotos and you can virtual scout.

Do a loop from Brocket, Lawton, Derrick, Hampton, Alsen, Newville, Bisbee and back to town. You'll find some good spots.

[kobear]

And bring the fishing rod! Cast Raps over flooded roads, jig flooded trees, slip bobber anything!