Getting in The Car And Just Going

[nate larson]

http://gf.nd.gov/maps/plot-book-sites.html

[lots2fish28]

One other question does it pay to get a Small Game license to hunt pheasant while im there. I think its another 85 dollars if im not mistaken.

[brittman]

Buy your license over the phone or on the net. Do not wait until you get there ... U WILL BE SORRY.

[goblueM]

i agree, get a licence before you get there. also, don't bother with pheasants. i've tried to do too much before on a trip and it just takes away from the experience. cost you less and you'll have more fun.

[fivebucks]

I think the only way you can get a non-res ND license is phone or net. I got back recently from central ND and had good ducks and pheasants. It's pretty fun to hit some small patches while out scouting for ducks.

[Mr.Seaguar]

If you ever need to buy something off the net but are on the road w/no access, just walk into a hotel or public library. This sounds like fun. I hope you nail em.

[lots2fish28]

Thanks Again everyone for all the great Info. 24hrs and im out of here. And whats cool about everything I talked one of my buddies into going yesterday who has never been duck hunting so hopfully I can spoil him right off the bat. I will post on how we did when I get back hopefully lots of pics. Thanks again

[nate larson]

Good luck dude!

[lots2fish28]

Well just got back Last Night Wish I could of stayed through snow storm that was predicted for yesterday but had to work. First of all ended up with some birds did not shoot a limit between the two of us. Ended up with 3 bluebills 4 mallards 1 Can 2 gadwalls 1 pintail and 3 greenwing teal. The teal where full plumage which was awesome. I thought we did terrible considering it was ND but talking to a lot of different hunters that where staying at Hotel we did very well compared to most of them. I have alot to learn out there but I know it could be awesome with all the water. Put on about 1600 miles over the 4 days and every pothole had some ducks in but not what I expected. We did get permission to hunt private land and thats where we shot all are ducks but they where very skidish and wanted nothing to do with a robo or calling. Pulled robo and stopped calling and we had some ducks decoy but not many. I think that the birds that where around have been hunted hard and not a lot of new birds around. Another thing that astounded me driving around and sitting is we never once saw a high flock of birds or had any high flocks come into the deaks. All birds that we shot came in as 1 or 2s which were most likley jumping potholes. Only saw 1 field that had mallards working it and it maybe had 300 ducks on it but couldnt get permission some commercial duck hunting company owned it. All in All had a great time next time going to Plan It when a front is moving into canada Maybe find birds that havent been hunted so hard and will actually decoy. Oh yeah forgot to mention the people from ND are some of the nicest people I have ever met Thanks for having us

[nate larson]

Nice report! I think you did well considering the time of year and that it was your first time out there. This is a tough time of year even in ND. Early season and late season is the best. Timing the late season hunt can be tricky...the best hunting usually happens sometime between now and deer hunting. It can be hard to get permission during deer hunting season though. I give you props for your hard work! Got any pics???

[buckx37x]

L2F28 we found the same thing when we made are first trip 4yrs. ago we are pretty good callers and we had 2 robos and birds would always flare. we then put robos away and called very little and started getting some birds. i believe we were in pretty popular area and this late the birds were quit wise,we wre impressed with the numbers we seen though.

[strait-meat]

hey lots2fish what part did you end up going to or where did u see the most birds at?

[Sifty]

From what we saw most of the ducks we saw had been there for awhile. I had to come back but four friends stayed and are coming home tommorow, they had a blast hunting in the snow storm.

Sifty

[Seabass77]

Congrats on accomplishing your mission. Well done Sir.

[lots2fish28]

Ended up staying in the central southern part of the state Started scouting as soon as we left Mn didnt see hardly any birds in eastern ND most of the Potholes were empty about a 150 miles into ND is when we started seeing birds and concentrated there. Next time gonna try going North maybe devils lake area or Minot. I still have a week left and might try to go Mid Nov if it dosent get 2 cold What do you guys think I figure if potholes dont freeze up it should get better and better. I have a few #s of some people we met out there so I can stay in touch with them. Will see though plan on hunting around here the next couple of weeks. Saw a lot of ducks tonight well scouting must of got a big push this week. When we left didnt see much of anything tonight saw a ton. Gonna hunt Monday and see what happens

[Chef]

It sounds like you had a pretty good trip for a spur of the moment deal.

I'd be happy to help you with some private accomodations and access to private property for next year if you're interested. Just let me know and we'll talk about specifics.

[goblueM]

just got back an hour ago. SAME stuff as you, lots2fish! Wanted nothing to do with calling or robo/spinners. We tried field hunting and did ok, but didn't have blinds or much experience doing it. Had a flock of 40 greenheads come in and i'd bumped the carrier on the gun so the shell wasn't in the correct position and they were gone by the time i figured it out

shot one beautiful green winger, a bufflehead, a few lesser canadians, a giant canadian, 7 gadwalls, 2 wigeon and a half dozen mallards for 3 guys. Felt like we were doing everything wrong but I guess we did ok compared to some guys. Snowstorm was fun, lots of teal and woodies moving during it! Also a ton of bluebills around but we didnt hunt much big water.

Best two moments of the trip were when my dad and I were field hunting - we were done with the morning hunt (didn't see a single goose) in the field and got up to walk the drainage ditch to jump a slough. Lo and behold there was a goose in the grass. We stalk it for 20 minutes, figuring it couldn't fly. Finally just say "ok lets just cut to the chase" and it takes off. What the heck! It takes off and flies 300 yards to our spread and lands. Then it walks over the hill and i book it over, poke my head over the top and shot it.

Second good one, I'm eyeing 3 geese coming into the dekes. I tell my dad "geese!". He must not have heard. A coot does its skitter/walk/fly dance into the spread and he ups and blasts it when the geese are 70 yards out. Best shot he'd made all day, and it was a freakin coot! Lol. I guess he thought it was a duck. I dunno what the old man was thinking, but he sure was out of it. Hahah! Still got a goose out of the deal so we laughed about it.