# Pheasant numbers are down, haha!



## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

Well we went out and smacked them again. Acemallard and I with a limit in short order.


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## Shorthair.On.Point (Nov 28, 2006)

Nice work! Looks like it was a great time.


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## Acemallard (Sep 30, 2003)

Was a fun time. Can't wait to do it again Wed. :beer:


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## indsport (Aug 29, 2003)

Did get a limit on Thursday, but even in the location where I have seen good numbers of birds over the past two decades, the numbers were down by at least half. Yes, there are birds out there if you are willing to work, but compared to previous years, it is down considerably in my area. With the CRP losses, this will be the last year. Met just this past week with a half dozen of us from our region that hunt the entire season and we were all agreed get'em while you can because there won't be the nesting habitat next year. Reports by friends in other counties were all the same, anywhere from 50-80% of CRP was or is being broken out in southeast and south central North Dakota. We all recall the hunting (or lack thereof) of the 1980's before the CRP program and all expect that is what it will be in the next decade.


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## pheasantslayer (May 13, 2004)

As of yet i haven't had a problem filling a limit even though that isn't what the hunt is about. A lot of birds out there and i can only hope that everyone out there can get a share of them before the season ends. Good luck to all and good hunting as well.


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## muskat (Mar 5, 2002)

Cory, that country side looks very familiar!


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

muskat said:


> Cory, that country side looks very familiar!


Not unless I have taken you to my honey holes before!!


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## muskat (Mar 5, 2002)

I have driven by that Mecca a few times, envious of the country side and pheasant population.....


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## bornlucky (Jul 24, 2007)

I love hunting December pheasants. I have been hunting every weekend in December and have not got a limit yet. Granted, I only hunt about 3 hours each day; but I am only seeing about a fourth of the birds I have seen in the past 3 years. The last couple years we could limit out walking one field. So what. It is still fun and it makes having a good dog even more enjoyable. I wish I had a honeyhole like you guys. Maybe not. It would make it too easy.

Happy hunting. Only two weekends left.


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

It's never too easy. We have good dogs that know what they are doing. We know our guns and our what our chokes are doing to the shot string. This time of year the shot is normally going to be right at your feet in front of the dog, or a long one on a jumpy rooster. Either way it's a lot of fun. :beer:


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## indsport (Aug 29, 2003)

Must be nice. In our area, as seen by myself, my wife and a friend this past Sunday at five different locations, any vehicle that comes to a stop flushes the birds up to 300 yards away, even without opening a door or any other sound. At the very best, we now stop 1/4 mile away and walk to the location. Hens hold tight with our dogs flushing them at our feet, roosters are another story entirely. But then again, in our area, just adjacent to my home, there have been a vehicle every hour this past weekend stopping at the CRP. I saw 14 vehicles out this weekend. This is called hunting pressure.


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

We have a ton that flush wild. I just try and find the bigger groups and flush them out into smaller sloughs or tree lines that way you can get the birds to hold better.


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## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

Took a 3 day weekend last weekend and had good success with my stepdad. I don't know if the title of your post is serious or not, but the numbers are down - way down where I have hunted for the last 9 years. I have a very good dog and a young dog that has potential but I really have had to work hard for the birds this year. The snow certainly has helped knock down some of the marginal cover and made things easier. Late season rooty's are jumpy and and I am glad an expert like yourself has had no problems baggging your limit after all that is what it is all about. :wink:


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

NDMALLARD said:


> Took a 3 day weekend last weekend and had good success with my stepdad. I don't know if the title of your post is serious or not, but the numbers are down - way down where I have hunted for the last 9 years. I have a very good dog and a young dog that has potential but I really have had to work hard for the birds this year. The snow certainly has helped knock down some of the marginal cover and made things easier. Late season rooty's are jumpy and and I am glad an expert like yourself has had no problems baggging your limit after all that is what it is all about. :wink:


Yeah the title was really serious hence the HAHA! I could care less about limits, we just happened to shoot one this day. And really late season roosters are jumpy? Thanks for the heads up. Should I feel bad that I can shoot a limit of pheasants and you have to walk 9 miles to get some birds? Maybe you don't know how to hunt pheasants or maybe you are sh!^ shot, I don't know. The point is that pheasants aren't down 60-80% in all areas like everyone was freaking out about. Just like all the deer are not dying from eating moldy corn, that's a bunch of BS as well!!


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## hunter9494 (Jan 21, 2007)

i would say those arrogant enough to brag about a few limits don't understand the long term trend that will make that event a rare one. you guys are on the fast track to lose even more CRP over the next 2-3 years, which will render recent pheasant hunting as little more than a fond memory. keep on bragging, all the way to the preserve hunts which will soon be the only game in town, except for some of those few and far between "honey holes", which will be disappearing as well.


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

I know where it's going and since nobody seems to care I might as well take advantage of what we have now. And who is bragging about limits??? When I started pheasant hunting I would walk all day just to get a shot in the same area that I can walk today and get a limit. I know all about the hard times. Most of my pheasant hunting was in the hard times. I am not bragging, nor do I care what anyone else on here would think. I go out to have a good time with family and friends and watch my dog do what she was made to do and what she is excellent at. And when those numbers drop and all those NR's aren't coming anymore, who will be left out in the field walking all day to get one shot, ME and MY dog!


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Wingmaster said:


> I know where it's going and since nobody seems to care I might as well take advantage of what we have now. And who is bragging about limits??? When I started pheasant hunting I would walk all day just to get a shot in the same area that I can walk today and get a limit. I know all about the hard times. Most of my pheasant hunting was in the hard times. I am not bragging, nor do I care what anyone else on here would think. I go out to have a good time with family and friends and watch my dog do what she was made to do and what she is excellent at. And when those numbers drop and all those NR's aren't coming anymore, who will be left out in the field walking all day to get one shot, ME and MY dog!


Right on.....I don't see any bragging here.You had a good hunt.I have had some also.But at the recent Advisory meeting the GNF said SW ND will have as few as 3,000 acres of CRP by 2012.That isn't even 1 good farm.The SE won't be a whole lot better if things don't change.Bird numbers will plummet,Limits will be cut to 2 a day with 4 in possession.G/O numbers will drop bigtime as hunters will stay home.That will basically end NR hunting here.Deer numbers will also drop big time.....no more extra licenses.


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

I know most of the CRP is out where I hunt. One bad winter and it's over with. The Fed government has to get something going or else hunting in ND is going to be worthless.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

> Should I feel bad that I can shoot a limit of pheasants and you have to walk 9 miles to get some birds? Maybe you don't know how to hunt pheasants or maybe you are sh!^ shot, I don't know. The point is that pheasants aren't down 60-80% in all areas like everyone was freaking out about.


indsport is a retired biologist so I think I would rethink the part about pheasants not being down. I'm a retired biologist also, and I guarantee you that your wrong about pheasant numbers. You can't look at your favorite spot and apply it to the rest of the world. 
As for the guy not knowing how to hunt or a sh!* shot as you put it I doubt that. I think it's more of where he and you hunt.


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## Nick Roehl (Mar 7, 2002)

I know. I said they are down in my area too, just not nearly as bad as some areas. Not as good as the last 5 years or so, but still pretty damn good. It was a joke heading. You all need to relax. There are plenty of pockets to hunt pheasants in I can't help it if you guys can't find them and get mad that I can. This was just a joke between myself and Acemallard. 
Ok once and for all for all of you that don't get it. Pheasants may be way down where you hunt, but they aren't where I hunt so I will continue to take my friends and family out and have a good time shooting all the roosters I legally can until the season is over.

And Plainsman thank you for the great talking to. :roll: The guy was getting on my nerves about limits so that's why I said maybe he is a bad shot or doesn't know where to find the birds. Just a little back and forth. I thought you would catch that.


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## alaska (Nov 10, 2004)

so wingmaster wants the feds to save hunting as we know it in nodak..I thought ND was one of those red states that wants as little fed gov't as possible??? That said, the doom and gloom about the future can and probably will be the futue. Look at ID and WA for 2 examples. Harvest of 500,000 plus in the 60's, 70's and maybe early80's...now maybe a 100,000 on a good year and s### for places to hunt... There is a partial answer out there..I have brought it up on various forums and even called nodak fish and game to get their take and all I have ever gotten back in reply is nada. Not a f###### comment...If it does'nt involve whining, I guess it isn't interesting??? . If I was a resident of your wonderful state I would be pulling out all the stops to get the state to start taking care of state public lands...we are talking hundreds of thousands of acres that won't be affected by outside interests or the ups and downs of farming practices...I am blown away that you folks who have roots in nodak don't seem to care about your own public state lands !!!! Oh, thats right... wait for the feds to take care of it....thats lame
I just have to believe that a unified coalition of sportsman could really make a difference about the development of habitat and hunting on state lands....fwiw, nodak is not alone. Most states treat there public lands the same exact way..which is to let some farmer run cows on it to the extent there isn't a blade of grass left... I guess I have a thing for public land and see it as a unique and special opporotunity that doesn't exist in very many places really.....do a little research and see how much public land is available in texas, our second largest state, ( a pittance).....when you look at it in this way, I don't see how you can not say a wonderful opportunity is being lost...
OK, off my soap box...happy holidays to all
p.s. there is one state where i have killed numerous limits off of state and blm land, so I know it's possible...


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## wburns (Feb 27, 2009)

In reality we have very little state owned land. Most of our public land is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the BLM. So in effect, we do have to wait for the Feds to take care of it. What state land we have is managed fairly well IMO for the amount of dollars they have to spend on it and what can be done with it. In addition, when you have high bird numbers surrounding the state land, what would be the purpose of stocking, etc, as you are already reaching threshold limits to sustain the wildlife there is. The only grazing or haying I know of on the state wildlife areas occurs to get rid of the dead undergrowth, which may make the area not suitable to hunting for a season but sure helps nesting the following year, as well as keep native grasses healthy. Yes, in the future it is going to be important to manage these lands the best we can, but I don't know how much it will help due to the limited amounts. We need more than just state lands to support decent bird numbers.


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## alaska (Nov 10, 2004)

wkburns,
correct me if I am wrong....I am talking state school sections which are colored blue in the plots guide. Typically 640 acre sections..I don't know of any that the fish and game manage. I am not talking about stocking these lands. In my opinion, the riprian zones need to be fenced so that cattails and other heavy cover will exist, and then the parcels need to be fenced in a way that what grazing that does take place can be managed to the benefit of wildlife as well as cattle.. The biologists out there know a lot more than I do about what would work the best.. It's my opinion that the acreage I am talking about is significant... Guess I could pull out a plots guide and start doing the math.....
It is typically these school sections across the west and midwest states that are so poorly managed.. Almost criminal in my opinion..managed even more poorly than BLM land, which is hard to imagine.
I am curious if someone on this forum can speak to the history of school sections and the politics surrounding their present day use ??
For a modest investment and a long term management objective, these lands could go a long way towards what is being lost in crp.


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## wburns (Feb 27, 2009)

They were originally set aside to allow a place to build schools as well as generate funds for the state school school system through renting of the land. They still do generate funding to this day. They are not under the Game and Fish control, so that is why they can do nothing about the management practices. I don't even figure them into our public lands as they can be posted just like private lands. The kicker is the lessor can not hunt the land if he posts it, which is never enforced. Some states don't allow farming of the land while others do. I agree it would be very helpful to manage these grounds better, but I don't see it happening in the future.


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## hunter9494 (Jan 21, 2007)

> there is one state where i have killed numerous limits off of state and blm land, so I know it's possible...


that would be Kansas, where i do the same. they understand how to run a program, over a million acres of walk in and still plenty of CRP, although they stand to lose more too, they have a ton of it and in most areas the production of row crops is actually helping the bird populations, in that they have so much grass, the row crop production is needed to enhance bird populations.

it will be the remaining jewel for upland bird hunting and thankfully it is only a 6 hour drive for me......SD and ND would do well to understand how they work their program, they will be the model going forward now.......Merry Christmas to all!


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## alaska (Nov 10, 2004)

with the loss of crp and the remaining ground being tied up by/for fee hunters, I can't imagine why a grass roots campaign directed at the governors office and your local legislators wouldn't be worth a try. Not much to lose and a whole lot to be gained..plus the fact I am not advocating getting rid of the current leasee, just managing them better. Funding could come from an annual access permit, much lake a state parks permit. One price for Res and another for NR. In the world of polotics, anything is possible ( just ask senator nelson...) Just imagine if 1/2 those dollars that went into crp (now being plowed under, literally) had gone in to a publicly owned land base.. Talk about leaving something for the future!!!!
I have spent a lot of time in nodak since the mid 90's, and seeing the loss of so much habitat (crp) happening at the blink of an eye is a real shame...There has to be a better way that will endure and not be held hostage to the almighty dollar... In my opinion IT IS those state school sections...don't those lands really belong to the residents of ND??? and don't you hold your elected officials accountable for doing the right thing? sure, I sound idealistic, but like many of you, I am pretty damn passionate about hunting birds behind my dogs ( now just dog )... is this concept not reasonable??
there you have it...god I type slow!!!!


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## alaska (Nov 10, 2004)

9494,
it wasn't ks, but I do agree overall with your assessment of ks...have had some wonderful trips there...I have been lucky enough to hunt birds in every state east of the mississippi, excepting ca, tx, ok and co,.... so I have got to see the good, bad and ugly in a lot of places. I think nothing of driving 1000 miles for a bird hunt... I do feel really lucky to do this now, because it is changing in so many places. Guess that is why I bothered to post what I did about state lands in nodak. I really would like to think the average guy could make a difference at least once in a while.....
If it does go down the toilet in nodak, I've still got tens of millions of acres of PUBLIC land to chase anything from rock ptarmigan to chukar to all 6 species of quail. Have even bumped a couple of hymalayin snowcock (sans shutgun at the time ). Oh, and did I say all on public land...... not trying to rub it in anyone's face.....I am just an average guy that has had the benefit of living in a country with incredible opportunity to hunt on lands belonging to each and every one of us.
The guys down in sodak that post on another forum seem to think all hunting is done on private land and why shouldn't you have to pony up a few bills to have the privilege to hunt....cough,cough, bull****....
I stay clear the h*** away from mott, but low and behold, I am now starting to see hunting leased land in out of the way places in nodak.. I have never payed ( other than my taxes and licenses ) to hunt and don't intend to sart. I would gladly pay 1 or 2 hundred for a state permit though, if it had a quality public lands base to choose from...
you all get the idea, it's your state, do with it what you will.. vean


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## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

Wingmaster - I know you were just poking me back for taking a jab at you about your limits. I can take it  
I am glad you are finding pheasants and having good success with your hunts. My point was that the spots and area I have hunted for the past 9 years really took a beating this past winter. Last weekend I headed to another area of the state and had very good luck. The fact is Mother Nature holds all the trump cards when it comes to the hunting game and last winter someone put a twist in her tampon because she was in a foul mood.


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## Guest (Dec 26, 2009)

Worst season of my life. Crops out too late to save my hunts out west and now the snow will slow my lungs down. Oh well, there might be a next season......


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## coyote_buster (Mar 11, 2007)

nice, like they say, why kill two birds with one stone when you can kill six with a shotgun


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

R U Dun,

How many days?


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## Boone (Jan 12, 2010)

I'm new to this forum. I reside in Livingston, MT but stroll over to ND once a year to hunt ringnecks. I have to say, Nodak Outdoors is a really nice web site/forum (much better than what we have here). I am an avid bird hunter and love hunting Huns, Sharpies and Mountain Grouse. However, ringnecks are the king. Our bird crop here in Montana, particularly ringnecks, just got pounded this past Winter and Spring. In Northeast Montana I've never seen it so bad. Over a four day hunt there, we saw a total of twelve birds where just last year there were hundreds. I will probably take a few years for the populations to recoop. A silver lining is that all the lakes and ponds there got filled again from the snow melt and I saw lots of trophy ducks.


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## Remmi_&amp;_I (Dec 2, 2003)

270 Days until 2010 opener !!!


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## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

Remmi_&_I said:


> 270 Days until 2010 opener !!!


Now that is a man who's glass is half-full


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## Remmi_&amp;_I (Dec 2, 2003)

NDMALLARD said:


> Remmi_&_I said:
> 
> 
> > 270 Days until 2010 opener !!!
> ...


 I know the numbers were down this last fall. Heck, I had the first opener I can remember that we didn't get our limit (not even close actually), but I ended up shooting a lot of birds. I can't wait for next year, I just hope the rest of the winter and this spring are not bad... 269 Days now !!


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2010)

Guess I have lost my passion.


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