# techniques around Kulm



## eskay (Aug 21, 2004)

Hi Guys,
I just recently booked a private home for waterfowl hunting in Kulm Oct 30-Nov 3. i we've never hunted this area of ND before, I was wondering if anyone can give us a general idea of the methods you guys use in this area and this time of year. We're from northen Wisconsin, so not a lot of field experience except for occassional goose. Is field hunting the norm this time of year? And should we leave the boats at home or haul them out? Have an experienced lab and probably another in the first year of hunting. We're not new to hunting, just this area. Also, are snow geese a possibilty?
Thanks in advance, Eskay


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## jbaincfl (Feb 5, 2003)

I have hunted that area for 7 years. In a normal year you should be hitting the northern birds. We like to hunt them in the fields as they are feeding heavy that time of the year. You can leave your boat at home unless you plan on going after divers, and even then you usually don't need a boat.

Two years ago we went out the last week in October and about half the ponds were froze up, so you will need to watch the reports. If that happens, the ducks will roost in the larger lakes where there is still open water and field hunting will be a must.

If you are equipped to field hunt that is the way to go. You only need a couple dozen honker decoys and a robo duck in the fields.

There are good numbers of snow geese in that area if you hit it right. Good pass shooting oppertunities if they are coming off the larger lakes. Get on a fence line and you should have a good shoot.

Let me know if you have any other questions or PM me more more details.

Jason


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Keep in mind the weather. This year has been terribly cool, and it may be an early fall.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Just returned today from a business / scouting trip to the Kulm area. To say the water situation in that area is BAD would be an understatement. All the seasonal and about 1/2 of the permanent waterhholes are dry. There some ducks around the area but NOTHING like years past including the reduced amount of ducks there were last year. The competition for the remaining ducks and wetlands is going to be immense. I've hunted that area for waterfowl the better part of 30 years and I'd be hard-pressed to find a more ugly looking season shaping up. This same attitute was expressed by a number of farmers in the area as well as a warden that I ran into. Upland may be a bright spot here, sort of, but I wouldn't expect too much in the line of ducks after opening weekend and then it'll be hard to get limits as well. The permanent lakes are holding water but they are way down also. I'll be redoing my plans for the year.
By the way, much of this is in zone 1.


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## jbaincfl (Feb 5, 2003)

Where around Kulm were you. N,S,E, or West? I hunt about 20 miles from the city and I was told there were good amounts of water just 2 weeks ago. This is my friends uncle and he said it was looking way better than last year.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

He must have been in one of the few areas there are big sloughs / lakes. I'm not kidding...it looks bad. I know alot of you guys have houses in Kulm and around the area but it IS very dry down there. I'd doubt that it just dried up in the last 2 weeks. I scouted west of Kulm to Fredonia area...traveled around Fredonia....south to the east of Ashley....and over and up on 56 and 281. Traveled from Edgeley to Kulm area. It gets better as far as water the closer you get to Jamestown. Don't take my word for it....The US Fish and Wildlife office located in Kulm will be more than happy to give you the report on the area.


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## eskay (Aug 21, 2004)

Boy, these reports are kind of discouraging. As we are coming later in the season, hopefully fall rains will add some water for the northerners to pull into on their way to the promised land further south. A possibilty? I figure that most of the locals will have left by the time we get there. I'll keep an eye on the weather channel the next couple of months.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Eskay, It's not that there isn't water, there just is nothing like there was in the last 5 years or so....virtually everything shallow is dried up...If you have never hunted here before you may not notice it as much. If the migration is on the area may stop some. There does seem to be more wheat and barley than usual.


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## jbaincfl (Feb 5, 2003)

I know the farther west you go from Kulm it is always drier and less water. The other thing to keep in mind is that field hunting is the way to go. As long as there are big lakes as roosts, there are ducks in the fields feeding. And like Field Hunter said, if there are a lot of wheat and barley, the field hunting will be the ticket.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

1) Leave the boats at home!!!You will only push ducks into SD if you start pushing them off their roosts. If you go to the photo album and look at pics you will see 99% of our hunts are done in fields. There is some notion out there that boats will help! No they won't. They just push birds around, and soon, after so much pressure on the water they will leave!
2) Go up North by Devils Lake, more birds and water
3) Who ever told you ther was good amounts of water there was lieing
4) If you do stay there bring your dog and pheasant hunt. 
I have hunted that area since I was 4. Now I am 27 and you won't find me hunting there!!!!
Pressure and less water have made it a very slow area.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Mav, how many poeple have we said that too. They just cant get it through there head. :eyeroll:


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

But those people might not have read it. :wink:

I'm an avid radar watcher and the rain is up north. The best luck down south will be to stop a migration, so scouting will be more important than ever...and if this summer's weather is any indication, we're in for a cold/wet fall in some areas.

Time will tell, ND is always a risk in some respects. Keep your room reservations open.


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## eskay (Aug 21, 2004)

Okay, we're leaving the boats at home. Didn't want to drag them out there anyway if it wasn't necessary. That's why I asked, to get a reply from knowledgable area hunters. We're still planning on coming, and if we have to shift our focus to mainly upland and less waterfowl, so be it. We have plenty of duck hunting here, but no pheasants at all. Too far north.

We're just basically looking to try different birds and methods. You have a lot more species of ducks and geese than we have in WI.

I'm also keeping an eye on the weather. Things can change fast in our area, and as you guys say, duck hunting in ND in a poor year is still 10 times better than anywhere else. :lol:


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## Decoyer (Mar 2, 2002)

> 1) Leave the boats at home!!!You will only push ducks into SD if you start pushing them off their roosts. If you go to the photo album and look at pics you will see 99% of our hunts are done in fields. There is some notion out there that boats will help! No they won't. They just push birds around, and soon, after so much pressure on the water they will leave!


Amen to that, I can't tell you how many 18 foot war eagle duck boats with 40 HP outboards I have seen sitting at hotels for an entire week. I even saw a guy with an old speed boat all camoed up in the area that you are talking about.



> 3) Who ever told you ther was good amounts of water there was lieing


Definitely true Mav, any hunting south of the interstate and west of HI 1 will be isolated at best. Definitely look at going north of the interstate, they are the ones that have been getting all the rain this summer. Kulm got a good amount early on, but not much to speak of to sustain it later on, not to mention that this area was already drier than a popcorn fart last year.


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## eskay (Aug 21, 2004)

Did the last thunderstorms in the area help with the dryness at all? I suppose if it's real dry that the water just soaked in, but will any more help out this fall, or is it so dry that it'll just keep soaking in? I konw that the locals will be long gone by the time we get there, but hoping for a good migration, and some oppurtunities at some pheasants.


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