# Newbies to N. Dakota - Need advice



## xcleox (Oct 7, 2008)

My 13 year old son and I are making our maiden voyage to North Dakota. Our goal is to duck and goose hunt first and fill in with some pheasant hunting. Since we've done primarily pot hole and stream hunting here in WI we're looking for some general info on field hunting. We're coming out the 20th of October and hunting through Sunday. In a field spread with two people how many goose and duck decoys does one need? I'm assuming you can put out both and draw in either geese or ducks. Do you have to modify your water duck deeks or are they ok sitting on the ground. We do have a lucky duck. How far apart should we spread our decoys? The ducks and geese together or apart. How far away should we park our truck? So many question! Sorry, we just want to be prepared. One last question. We've been told securing permission to hunt shouldn't be a problem? What are your thoughts?? It worries me a bit.


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## MSG Rude (Oct 6, 2003)

xcleox, I don't have any info on this but you might want to search this site and become familiar with it as it might answer your questions because these subjects have been discussed numerous times before.

Just trying to help.


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

If you scout a lot and fine some birds then a few dozen goose shells will do fine for the 2 of you. A dozen or so mallard floaters will work in the field too. Just put them on the ground supported by some stubble so they are upright. Park the truck as far away as possible. Permission usually isn't a problem. I would say 9/10 will let you hunt unless they are saving it for someone.

good luck


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## xcleox (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks for the info Shu - It's appreciated.

Sorry for inconveniencing the other fellow. I realize that many of these topics have already been touched on. I also thought that by making an initial post it may spawn other conversion. Doing something for the first time is part of the fun, sure we're a bit ignorant of the topic, as you probably are of hunting whitetails in the heart of a cedar swamp in NW WI. Learning is part of hunting, trying new things. I'm asking questions to learn. I somehow think the people of ND will be more pleasant than yourself, at least I hope so, because first impressions can go a long way.


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## MSG Rude (Oct 6, 2003)

xcleox said:


> Thanks for the info Shu - It's appreciated.
> 
> Sorry for inconveniencing the other fellow. I realize that many of these topics have already been touched on. I also thought that by making an initial post it may spawn other conversion. Doing something for the first time is part of the fun, sure we're a bit ignorant of the topic, as you probably are of hunting whitetails in the heart of a cedar swamp in NW WI. Learning is part of hunting, trying new things. I'm asking questions to learn. I somehow think the people of ND will be more pleasant than yourself, at least I hope so, because first impressions can go a long way.


Wow...easy there. I _was_ trying to help and be nice too. it was no inconvenience at all. I was simply eluding to the fact that there are people that will blast a person for asking questions like yours and I was attempting to help. You took it wrong because you haven't researched this site at all.

I was helping you, you just didn't know it. Do not judge by first impressions until you know what you are judging.


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## xcleox (Oct 7, 2008)

Sorry for the misunderstanding. You just kind of put me on the defensive there with the 'OMG' statement. How can people get sick of talking about hunting? Same topics or not? :beer: after a hunt and everything will be just fine.


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## MSG Rude (Oct 6, 2003)

All is good to go and I wish you fullfillment on your question and your hunts.

:beer:


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

It may depend somewhat on where you are hunting in the state. Much of it is pretty dry right now. I'm in the eastern 3rd and we have had significant rainfall this fall. Right now I am having decent success in flooded fields so your floaters would work out great. Right now a couple dz Canada decoys will get you birds. A few more would help toward the end of the month. If you have S&B decoys bring them. They seem to be a bit earlier this year so there may be significant numbers when you get here.

I ran into a couple of WI hunters last weekend. Nice guys. We were scouting the same field and they offered to hunt it together but I already had another spot picked out as my primary.


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## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

xcleox said:


> My 13 year old son and I are making our maiden voyage to North Dakota. Our goal is to duck and goose hunt first and fill in with some pheasant hunting. Since we've done primarily pot hole and stream hunting here in WI we're looking for some general info on field hunting. We're coming out the 20th of October and hunting through Sunday. In a field spread with two people how many goose and duck decoys does one need? I'm assuming you can put out both and draw in either geese or ducks. Do you have to modify your water duck deeks or are they ok sitting on the ground. We do have a lucky duck. How far apart should we spread our decoys? The ducks and geese together or apart. How far away should we park our truck? So many question! Sorry, we just want to be prepared. One last question. We've been told securing permission to hunt shouldn't be a problem? What are your thoughts?? It worries me a bit.


These are great questions. Here is what I have found in my experience.

1. Be able to move to where the birds are. Meaning, as you scout, if you don't find birds in a particular area, move on to the next (within your license zone limitation).

2. Scout, scout, scout....if you find a decent field that birds are using, you do not need a ton of decoys. I think most would agree that scouting is probably the biggest factor in having a successful hunt.

3. Water decoys can work in a field. As said before, try to prop up the decoys or push them into the dirt to avoid them from tipping over.

4. Seperate duck decoys and goose decoys by about 20 yards. If it doesn't seem to be working, readjust your decoys. Try your lucky duck at the base of your duck decoys. If there are more geese than ducks around, turn off your lucky duck. Geese don't seem to like roto ducks.

5. Permission should be fairly easy. Most land is unposted (try to find the owner). The land that is posted often times has a name on it to call. Also, look for yellow triangluar signs that say PLOTS. These are fair game to hunters as long as the crops are harvested (which by 10/20 most will be) However, you can not drive on the land ("walk in access only").

6. Some other things you might want to bring is camo burlap and a good set of binocs.

I am by no means an expert but I think that will get you started. The nice thing about ND is the options are huge in terms of both birds and hunting ground.

As with any trip, the first trip will be a great fact finding mission. You will learn more about hunting in one week than you think. It sounds like you are going to have a fun trip full of new hunting experiences (area, ducks and tons of snow geese that will make your boys head spin).

Good luck and have fun. Please post any follow up questions that you may have.  And also post up some pictures when you are done.


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## xcleox (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanks guys for the info. That is really helpful and eases my mind in terms of locating hunting ground. Here in Wisconsin private grounds can be difficult to get access to. We are really looking forward to the trip. Like you say the first go around is going to be a learning experience. If all learning experiences could be so fun! All the info has been helpful and I'm sure I will come up with some other questions before we leave. Thanks again and good luck to all the other hunters. I will be sure to post pictures.


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

I use floater ducks for my field spreads. You can either prop them up by the stubble, dig the keel in or if you have water keels you can drill a small hole in the middle and put a small dowel in it to raise it off the ground.

Also ducks will come to just goose decoys and a lucky so if you can take that into consideration if you run out of room packing.

What part of WI you from? My wife is from Forest Jct which is by Appleton.


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## xcleox (Oct 7, 2008)

We're from the Rice Lake area. Farther west, not such a long drive to ND! Good news about the decoys. Space can become limited in a hurry. We are planning on doing some pheasant hunting too. How are the bird numbers in the central part of the state? I've been going to Iowa the past many years and they took an absolute beating there with ice.


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## Hooked4life (Oct 25, 2007)

We've found that if we are doing the waterfowl seriously, we can't do the pheasants seriously, at least in the area we hunt. We spend 3-4 hours scouting almost every day. Of course that's part of the fun!! :beer:


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Heres my advice:

1. scout scout scout (success lies in the field, not in the dekes, if your where the birds want to be, the number and style of decoy used matters little)
2. hunt *small* water if you must
3. stay off the roost

Glad your showing interest in the field hunt. :beer:

Oh yeah, good lucking fitting it all in. Seems waterfowling takes up alot more time than it used to. Plus, I think most landowners are more protective of their commie ditch chickens.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

Actually I managed quite a few "bonus" sharptails while scouting for ducks. I'm not gonna pass up birds that get up in front of the truck and land in a field only 50-100 yards away. It doesn't cut into the scouting that much. Not to mention if you pick the right field you May fill on your birds by 9 or 10 AM and have a few hours before you have to scout.


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## Sportin' Woodies (Jun 26, 2006)

it would seem to me the point of a talking forum is to talk.
quit complaining when someone posts a question that has been posted by someone else.
if you dont want to respond, dont.
:withstupid:


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## Leo Porcello (Jul 10, 2003)

Sportin' Woodies said:


> it would seem to me the point of a talking forum is to talk.
> quit complaining when someone posts a question that has been posted by someone else.
> if you dont want to respond, dont.
> :withstupid:


I see where this was needed! :eyeroll:


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## Goon (Apr 3, 2005)

dakotashooter2 said:


> Actually I managed quite a few "bonus" sharptails while scouting for ducks. I'm not gonna pass up birds that get up in front of the truck and land in a field only 50-100 yards away. It doesn't cut into the scouting that much. Not to mention if you pick the right field you May fill on your birds by 9 or 10 AM and have a few hours before you have to scout.


I have have not seen as many sharpies this year and I think it is because a lot of the crops haven't been harvest yet.


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## Gooseguy10 (Oct 10, 2006)

I have have not seen as many sharpies this year and I think it is because a lot of the crops haven't been harvest yet.[/quote]

It must be different in each part of the state b.c this weekend I saw tons of sharpies all over. It goes to show you how different areas can produce different numbers, regardless of species.


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## Goon (Apr 3, 2005)

Gooseguy10 said:


> I have have not seen as many sharpies this year and I think it is because a lot of the crops haven't been harvest yet.


It must be different in each part of the state b.c this weekend I saw tons of sharpies all over. It goes to show you how different areas can produce different numbers, regardless of species.[/quote]

Yeah I think your right because I hunt north of Devils lake and haven't seen a lot there but I have seen a lot in other areas as well. I saw a nice covey the other night but it was in unharvested crop so I left them alone, I think if they get the soy beans off there will be more of them around the place I hunting south of grand forks, ND right now is surrounded by unharvested crop as well...


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## xcleox (Oct 7, 2008)

You guys have me all torked up now. Geeze, not sure one trip is going to get it all out of me. Do the landowners get a little easier with their "ditch chickens" permission the later the year goes? Nothing better than pheasant hunting in the snow.


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## Goon (Apr 3, 2005)

xcleox said:


> You guys have me all torked up now. Geeze, not sure one trip is going to get it all out of me. Do the landowners get a little easier with their "ditch chickens" permission the later the year goes? Nothing better than pheasant hunting in the snow.


There should still be a lot of stuff that isn't posted and there is also PLOTS land to hunt as well. I have never had trouble finding somewhere to hunt Pheasants.


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## Quack Addict (Oct 12, 2003)

Xcleox,
I have been making the trip to the great Nodak country now for 11 years. Just a few tips from a fellow cheesehead. Follow the advice given so far, Our group has been freelance hunting there for the past 11 years now and it does not get any better than Nodak. Be sure to try hard to find landowners, they really appreciate knowing who is hunting on their land even if it is not posted. Also, hunt the mornings and spend your afternoons scouting it does payoff. 
It would also be to your advantage to take along some FRESH CHEESE. North Dakotans don't expierience that flavor very often. We got hooked up with a local farmer out there and each year a lot of fresh cheese and beer goes a long way. The farmer and his family have welcomed us with open arms every year. And have also connected us with several other landowners. 
I will end with this, Respect it as if it your own and you too will be welcomed back with open arms. The people in North Dakota can't be beat. :beer:


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Leo Porcello said:


> Sportin' Woodies said:
> 
> 
> > it would seem to me the point of a talking forum is to talk.
> ...


About equally as much as yours leo.

If you have nothing to add to a thread people...please don't post.

Keep it positive please.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Quack Addict said:


> I will end with this, Respect it as if it your own and you too will be welcomed back with open arms.


 :beer: :beer: :beer:


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## pointblankshot (Nov 2, 2005)

X,

Do you have a place lined up to stay? I might have a place for you that comes with land to hunt on exclusively. We might have to cancel and don't want it to go to waste if someone else could use it.


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## Trapper62 (Mar 3, 2003)

X, I grew up shooting geese and with this front that hit ND this weekend the geese really started coming down. I visited with my dad today and he stated that the fields were pretty loaded with geese. He even stated it reminded him of the 70's, for some reason the geese don't seem to stay as long as they used to. But with goose hunting it can here today gone tomorrow, so use the scouting advise given above.

We always put out around 200 decoys, never used duck decoys in the field as the mallards and pintails seemed to decoy into goose decoys just fine. I have shot them with 50 decoys and set up with others to produce flocks of 800 decoys (that is way to much work and requires getting up way to early for me to enjoy it). As someone stated, if the geese want to land in the field your decoys are in it won't take many.

Which part of the state are you planning to hunt? I can sure point you in the right direction if you are coming to my neck of the woods.

My cousins from Wisconsin started coming here in the late 70's and hunting until about the mid 90's, than families dispersed and it wasn't so easy to get here together.

I answered a question once on here about locations to hunt and freely offered them on here and got hammered by guys stating I gave up "their best spots" so if you want more information or if I can help sent me an email. I will not be around the computer tomorrow, need to get some hay hauled beings I have the day off, so I will see first hand just how many geese have actually moved in and can get back to you Tuesday.

Good luck and enjoy ND!


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