Forman Area Report

[kobear]

My uncles got back last night. They hunt almost exclusively private land. Their report was that the majority of the CRP in this area is gone either cropped in 2008 or worked this fall. The area received over 4" of rain recently and the sloughs that hadn't been plowed were full. The huntable cover was limited with water extending beyond the grass that was left. Some of the beans were still standing and almost all the corn, the farmers hope to get back in the fields in a week. The pheasant population was 30-50% of last year even grass pasture areas held few birds. They are hunters and have exaggerated before but it did not sound good.

[marine_man]

Thanks for the Report!

Your report is about spot on with respect to water levels. The corn will be standing till deer hunting at a minimum, if not longer in my opinion, which is not helping the pheasant hunting one bit.

I don't think the pheasants are down 50%, but closer to the 25-30%, but every area's different.

marine_man

[Springerguy1]

I would agree that the population is down 50% from the past few years. I hunted Dickey/Sargent county the past three days and we only harvested 10 birds - typically, we would end up with 20-30+ birds over MEA weekend. We also had some kids out over youth weekend and only harvested 1 bird - I was hoping that is was just a dismal weekend but that doesn't appear to be the case. Just interesting observations - of the 10 birds we shot this weekend seven of them were old birds and only three young ones - also, can't tell you how many single hens we flushed - much more than usual. I know that there is still corn in the field but we hunted around harvested soybean fields. Obviously, there will be more birds when the corn is harvested but I still think the hatch took a major hit this spring due to the cold/rain. I hope marine man is correct - have heard reports of guys getting their limits but I don't think any of them are coming easy. Yes, the sloughs are full of water - I saw on the local news this weekend that most of SE ND experienced 6-9 inches of rain the past three weeks. Based on how the sloughs have filled up I would not doubt that for a minute.

[tweedlap]

Springerguy, with all of the water were there ducks moving through that area?

Thanks,

tweed

[marine_man]

Thanks for the updated report... we'll see how things shake out in the next couple weeks!

marine_man

[Springerguy1]

Tweed,

I didn't see the numbers of waterfowl that I would associate with the migration - no snows or large # of canadians. I did see some large flocks of mallards - not many, but a couple times each day we'd come across the large flock of mallards either sitting in flooded parts of soybean field or circling in the distance. Not like past years where there were ducks in every slough. I do think there will be some really good waterfowl hunting - the water and corn fields could keep the birds around for awhile if he weather cooperates, sure hope so since I have purchased a waterfowl license to use in November.

I am hearing really good reports for pheasant hunting farther west - friends of mine have had no problem getting limits in the Bismarck area.

[night bite]

I will be heading to Forman on Nov 10. What do you think the hunting will be like and will the corn be coming down by then. We have private land to hunt so that should help. Never hunted this area before. Thanks

[Springerguy1]

Since I'll be there at the same time I'm hoping that 1) most of the corn will be harvested 2) that the fall migration will be in full swing. The best hunts I've had normally come around this time of the year and make for some great waterfowl and upland game hunting. Once the corn is harvested it's like a second "opening weekend" and there is nothing in the world that compares to fall migration in full swing. If the timing is right there are thousands of geese and ducks in the area. A ton of rain the past month has put the harvest behind schedule but, hopefully, the wind over the weekend dried things up somewhat so the corn can be harvested. Forecast for this week in excellent weather. The pheasant population is down this year but there are still enough around to keep it interesting and the possibility of getting a limit. Get a PLOTS map- they provide good information about public hunting spots.

[kobear]

Remember that the PLOTS Guide is about 30,000 acres off and most of it is in the SE area of the state. Lot's of PLOT's contracts have been cancelled, if signs are missing or mainly missing the area is no longer PLOTS.

Still a great guide to hunting in ND.

http://www.kxmb.com/t/crp/277266.asp&usg=AFQjCNG18q5ZqiGuO64-t2yiXwQRRZY_bA

[marine_man]

Corn harvest is 4% complete, so I wouldn't hold your breath. Some farmers are starting to take corn, but the majority aren't yet.

It will be close, I don't think all of it will be off, but hopefully a good percentage.

Here's a link to the Plots Maps online: ND GNF Plots

marine_man

[LMITOUT]

My dad called today to rub it in a little....they're combining sunflowers (at a rate of about 700 acres/day) and he said the pheasants were rolling out of the fields. This was the problem when I was back last week; too many sunflowers standing yet. Hopefully by next weekend when I head back up there it's better. Not much for corn around my area.

[Augusta]

Limit, what part of ND are you from?

[anchor man]

I spent last weekend in Havana waterfowl hunting, some of the corn had come out, but not much. A couple of the standing corn fields also had standing water in the middle, so this weather can't be helping the harvest. Might be an interesting deer opener out there.

[LMITOUT]

Near Bismarck. I was supposed to head back there on Wednesday but changed my plans when I heard about the approaching blizzard. Looks like I'll take Thanksgiving week off and try it then.