# Jones' Tips For Hunting NoDak



## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

Since it's obvious A LOT of you guys could use the help (and since many of you have asked for it), here you go...

Tip #1. Unless you're hunting DL or the River there are very few reasons to bring a boat to ND (most locals just laugh at you). I.E. There's no reason to put a boat in slough that doesn't get any more deep than 2 feet. Hip boots will work in a lot of spots and if you feel like hunting larger sloughs here's two words for you...chest waders.

Tip #2. You DO NOT need to bring 4 wheelers. This isn't spring snow goose hunting, and the fields are dust-bowl dry right now even in the WETTEST parts of the state. I drive a 2-wheel drive truck and unless for some stupid reason I felt the urge to drive accross a shallow slough I could go anywhere your 4-wheeler can right now. Of course I understand that a lot of you who have them blew $5K on one and just want to play with your new toy. But for all PRACTICAL purposes there is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED for one...unless you're using it to haul your oversized boat accross a field into a 2 foot deep slough that you could have just waded accross using hip boots. In that case it's TOTALLY understandable. :roll:

Tip #3. HAVE A BACK UP PLAN!!! Or better yet, two or three...and sometimes even four. That way when you decide to get up an hour before shooting time and find that the unposted field you scouted the night before is being used by someone else you don't need to be an ******* and ruin their hunt because you put all your eggs in one basket. Some people call it foresight some call it planning ahead...I just like to call it COMMON SENSE. Which leads to my last tip...

Tip #4. Give everyone their space. If you're set up close enough to another party to the point where your gunshots are flaring birds working they're spread you are TOO CLOSE. Maybe that's not how it goes in your home state, but that's how it goes here. When in Rome...


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

LISTEN TO HIM!!!! I would have ssaid the same thing! :withstupid:


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## Austin Bachmeier (Feb 27, 2002)

Jones just nailed it on the ***.
^
^
:withstupid:


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## Red Dog (Sep 27, 2002)

I couldn't agree more!!! The tips were perfect they should be posted on the website that liscense are purchased. I'm from Cook, Minnesota (Lake Vermilion) and we experience the same type of problems you guy are frustrated with. Except our visitor come from Minneapolis or Chicago. True a few make a bad name for all but when you've seen the same things for so long it gets old. I think it's funny/sad that these guys use the excuse "that's the way it is back home", isn't the reason you traveling to North Dakota or Northern Minnesota to get a way from that problem? Why recreate the situation in another area. There are always spots to hunt/fish if you are willing to look, the problem with alot of these "out of towners" is they have been sold on the fact that all they have to do is drive into town and the action starts. Not the case. Listen to the locals, this is the most important thing you can do in order to be successfull!!! Also respect them for living where and how they do, it is a choice!!! You do not have to live/work/hunt where you do, you chose too!!! Locals make sacrafices to live/work/hunt where they do, they have earned respect because of that. I look forward to coming out to North Dakota and hunting for the rest of the week. Hopefully I'll meet a few of you and see some ducks. We will not be towing a wheeler or a boat we have learned from past trips that in order to be successful you scout, put on the miles, get away from the crowds and committ a few more days than you would originally plan, because we don't live in the area. Thanks for all the help. I've learned alot from reading posts on this site and it certainly has helped me in my trips to Dakota. Thanks again and for anyone who hasn't been the above tips are right on the money!! :beer:


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Jones For Governor!!!!!


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## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

Jones-eerrrrrr! Come on now man...

Now I am all for listening to your opinions, but let face it your gonna have stuff like this anywhere you go... Best thing to do is educate people, I am sure the first time you hunted in ND, after all them years of hunting the Apple Valley area of MN you were tempted or at least asked the question " Do I need to bring a boat?"..

A lot of NR's dont have the connections to ask the right questions on what to bring to Dakota.

I have hunted with you before and I can still see a little of that good ole MN boy coming out of ya still.. You did lose your ability to drink like a SOTAN!!

Keep it reel

Madison


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

Madison I'd be careful. Those fighten words in Jones world. :lol:  :beer:


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## stevepike (Sep 14, 2002)

> You did lose your ability to drink like a SOTAN!!


Does that mean he can keep it down now? :lol:


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## Drixmein (Jan 25, 2003)

Jones,

Maybe we can get a few NR's to put your statements in action, but I bet most will shrug it off and go on pissing people off. I just wish a few of them will finally figure it out: The duck boat parade is the laughing stock of North Dakota hunting. I saw a guy in a boat last year in the ditch, right off the blacktop, 200 yards from Tewaukon Refuge with 2 robo ducks, and MN plates of course. R U KIDDING ME?


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## bigblackfoot (Mar 12, 2003)

Hey Madison Im not sure how much you drink with Jones, but I know i do quit a bit and he can hold his own in the drinking game.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

Madison said:


> after all them years of hunting the Apple Valley area of MN you were tempted or at least asked the question " Do I need to bring a boat?"


I'll officially state for the record that I was never tempted putting a boat in ND waters until after a couple seasons I decided to try the diver hunting on DL...which must be that 'Sotan coming out in me wanting to shoot divers. :lol:

There are boat hunters in ND, as I'm sure Fetch will let you know, and they are actually quite a few spots to put a boat. A slough that you can wade accross that you have to drag a boat to it with a 4-wheeler is not one of them IMO. That's just me.

...And I can drink like a Jones...which I'm not quite sure makes me more of a 'Sotan or more of a NoDakian. :beer:


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## ducksndogs (Aug 12, 2003)

Theres lots to like about Nodak... one of them being the fact that I can leave the boat behind! I remember year one, going through our list of what to bring. Somewhere on there was "BOAT". Didnt bring it. Didnt need it. Year 2, BOAT was on there again, but with a thick line drawn through it. Year 3... what boat?? IMO - Leave 'em behind fellas. Hip waders and a good dog is all you need.


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## Rick A. (Sep 5, 2003)

I couldn't stop laughing at your comment about NR's bringing boats to N.D.
Last weekend when I was coming home from Devils Lake from an afternoon of Fishing, I counted 79 boats on U.S. 2 between Devils Lake & G.F. It was hilarious! Peace out, I've got to go get my waders out for this weekends hunt! :lol:


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## Nate (Sep 11, 2003)

Jones...AMEN I say the same things, every year.

Red Dog, you can hunt with me anytime...


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## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

Its all good Jonsey!!

As for Big Black I've seen the Jonser hit the bottle, I;m just giving him crap. I had him folded up and singing Pearl Jam songs after a night of boozin... All jonser had to say at the end of the night was the famous words of eddy vedder "ohhhh Im Spinnning!!""

Keep it reel

mad d.o. double G


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

Hey Madison......is that cananda I see........Oh sh#t is that geese I see....?They don't stop!!!!Can't sleep! Alll I hear are geese!!

Mav..... :fro:


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## Fetch (Mar 1, 2002)

Yes I boat hunt - But if there is another boat in the same water, it is too close for me :wink:

The thing many of you have not learned is Ducks are water birds & comfortable in water - hunting from shore or fields ducks are weery (of predators - including man) - out in big water where there are islands of reeds etc - ducks do not expect predators to be there

& as long as alot of waters are open & public - some greedy person cannot keep you out of there - so actually it opens up lots of places to hunt hassle free (not many public fields that ducks want to be in is there) :eyeroll:

If it's truely a roost & effects a large area for field hunting get the G&FD to make it a Waterfowl rest area - But if it is not - leave the boat hunters alone - we just want to get away from you land hunters & all your hassles

I wonder how many could wack & stack all those birds without all that Bait :roll:

Let em feed :roll: :lol:


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## bigblackfoot (Mar 12, 2003)

Rick A. said:


> I couldn't stop laughing at your comment about NR's bringing boats to N.D.
> Last weekend when I was coming home from Devils Lake from an afternoon of Fishing, I counted 79 boats on U.S. 2 between Devils Lake & G.F. It was hilarious! Peace out, I've got to go get my waders out for this weekends hunt! :lol:


Rick yeah it is pretty hilarious. I was driving to Fargo from Grand Forks and i counted *90* [/b] SUV's or pickups with boats and 4-wheelers. Like Jones said what do you need a four-wheeler for? Is it laziness? I dunno


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

You know what ****** me off, I go to class in Detroit Lakes (everyday I commute from Fargo) and I see feeds of 200 hundred birds. Today right off highway 10 I saw a feed of about 100 birds. That would be perfect for these nonresidents from MN. I went out for a drive at my lunch break and found another feed of 80 to 100 birds, it had Mallies in it to. I think there are a lot of birds moving and I am seeing them in MN, as well as ND!

It's called scouting. Something people don't do enough of!

Mav....


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

Mav, I have seen a ton of birds in the DL area as well. This past early season I was almost tempted to buy a non-resident MN license and hunt them in the third week of the season when Nodak was shut down for Canadas.

As for Jones, I use my boat to fish the Red River for cats, and I'll drink you under the table any night. Wu Wu. :beer:


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Not the WU<WU!!


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Wuuuuuu Wuuuuuuuu!!!!

(this has been a Greenskins Classic inside joke brought to you by Nodak :wink: )


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Where's Booster when we need him the most! :lol:


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## Nodak Duke (Oct 14, 2003)

PJ- You better watch your mouth... Nodak Duke is on the board now and I have seen both you and Matty get drank under the table... 

I would have to agree with Matt... It blows my mind seeing how many people lug boats and canoes around all weekend, only to have them remain unused... Rather comical actually.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

Did you guys know that we drank them out of Crown Royal that night! Can you say WWWWUUUUUU WWWWWUUUUUU

Mav.... :beer:


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

Nodak Duke said:


> PJ- You better watch your mouth... Nodak Duke is on the board now and I have seen both you and Matty get drank under the table...


Wha-What? I don't know there Duke, we were out-drank but not quite drank under the table...

...OK, we were. But I'm calling for a rematch!!! :beer:

Glad to see you on here buddy!

As far as PJ, keep dreamin' there pal. Maybe it's about time I bust out a jug of Karkov and we try to go toe for toe. Oh what's that? Nothing. That's what I thought. Boo-Yuh!!!

WUUUUU-WUUUUUUUUUU!!! Mav, we stayed at the Sunlac that next weekend and they were still out of Crown!!! We kept sitting there going WUUUU-WUUUU but I don't think that bartender found it as amusing as we did. :lol:


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

That's why they call it JONSIN WITH JONSER. That's great!


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

Last weekend Booster, Cbass and Benelli Blaster and I went down and hunted by Gwinner and the lady didn't have any cranberry juice in the bar. So we politely asked her to go get some.
The bad news is she got the cranberry juice and we all walked out of the bar broke and drunk.

One of my friends who shall remain nameless went uke: mode.

I was the last man standing after we played quarters at the house. Booster didn't even get to play. He was lucky to make it in the door.

No more WUUUU WUUUUU for me untill next time


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## smalls (Sep 9, 2003)

Cbass didn't perhaps wake up naked (again) did he? Like with his feet at the head of the bed? :beer:


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## Quack Addict (Oct 12, 2003)

I would like to just throw in my 2 cents here. I and a few other select CheeseHeads are heading your way this weekend, 10/18. We are bringing our NR boat parade with us. Not because we feel we NEED our beloved boats to kill the ducks, because we enjoy hunting Devils Lake on occasion. We brought our parade last year and though we were having outstanding luck with our waders we had an awesome time for a day hunting the big water.

Just A thought


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## wemlaw (May 10, 2003)

I wish that I had brought my boat last week. We drove all over ND last week and I did not see one, not one duck in a field. The boat at DL or some of the other large lakes we saw would have possibly saved a wasted long drive. The other hunters we saw were "jump shooting" or as we call it road hunting. At least we could have fished. One good farm in Arkansas has more ducks on it on the right day than I saw in the entire state of ND for three days. It was 90 degrees, no ones fault. That boat also gives access to real open hunting and lots of it in more place than you think, finding non posted land is not as easy as you guys who know everyone tell us that it is. The landowners were friendly, but didn't get home until after dark, like farmers trying to get a crop in do. I made a mistake listening to y'all and not bringing a boat, you know its just attached behind the truck and carries gear too, why not? The only joke that we are going to have about the boat is how stupid we were for not having a back up plan and bringing it.


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

Mav, I found out we drank them out of Crown last weekend when we stopped by for a drink and the ol lady said they were still out of it since Greenskins!!!!
As for the NR issue, I was scouting tonight and saw a NR boat in the WPA North of Kelly's slough. You could put a couple boats out there and not shot ducks. Keep on truckin'


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## pjb1816 (Sep 8, 2003)

dont forget your four wheeler next time either

-Phil


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Wemlaw,

Next time ask for some help....We were out last weekend and although we as residents had trouble accessing land, there were lots of birds around. If there are no birds in the area your in you need to drive a ways to find them. Pressure has been consistent in most areas and the access now for the remaining feeds is getting harder to come by unless you scout and find an out-of-the-way area. (hard to find) I would bet there are more NR's and Resident hunters that experienced the same thing in the last couple of weeks and may think about whether ND will be their destination next year.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

PJ, Phil, Jones and Sinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
I'll be up in GF sat night to party and go to the football game. I'll be giving you boys a call Sat night. WUUUUUUUUUUU, WUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!! :beer:


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## bigblackfoot (Mar 12, 2003)

Hey tyler you better bring you drinking shoes the whole jones family is going to be up here and that means nothing but trouble. As for the Wu Wu all i can say is WUWUWUWUWU.


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## Matt Jones (Mar 6, 2002)

Matt Jones said:


> Tip #1. Unless you're hunting DL or the River there are very few reasons to bring a boat to ND (most locals just laugh at you). I.E. There's no reason to put a boat in slough that doesn't get any more deep than 2 feet.


OK, since I'm getting the impression from some of the posts and from a couple of PM's that a lot of guys are taking offense to the whole boat comment, I'm going to elaborate on what I said. DL is the abbreviation for "Devils Lake", the river is short for the MO river. A lot of guys have mentioned, "well, what about hunting Devils Lake?" You're right, a boat is usually needed for hunting DL. I also said that if you're not hunting those two locales that there are very few reasons to bring a boat. I DIDN'T say, there wasn't ANY. I'll be the first to admit that there a quite a few locations where a boat will prove to be quite useful, if not essential. I hunt out of a boat several times a year, usually on Devils...so you can include me in the boat parade going west on 2.

Being from MN I've learned over the past few years the differences in hunting styles between there and here. In most states, duck hunting means you'll be hunting out of a boat. So the whole boat parade thing does make sense to me since I can relate to the type of hunting most NR's are used to. However, most ND hunters don't own a duck boat let alone hunt from one...and most usually have no problem shooting birds. So I can definitely see why a lot of them can't understand why every NR hunter is often trailering a duck boat.

The post was a tongue-in-cheek attempt to point out that in most cases you really don't need a boat to hunt successfully in ND, especially if you're hunting potholes. I wasn't trying to make anyone who does use a boat feel stupid for doing so or offend anyone. That was never my intent and I apologize if that's how you interpreted what I said.

Good Hunting


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## Longbow (Sep 22, 2003)

*  Okay guys, It's my second trip out there, and I am planning on bringing my 14 ft V-hull out to hunt DL if the potholes freeze up while we're out there next week-they did last year at this time. Am I a complete moron for lugging a boat out there? I would like to think I am just being prepared, but maybe I shouldn't bring it out there. We had a great time out there with the potholes, just don't want our options to "Freeze Up". Let me know what you folks think, I want to do the right thing. THANKS, Jon :beer: *


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## bigblackfoot (Mar 12, 2003)

To be honest with you longbow i dont think you will need it unless you are going to hall a bunch of stuff in it. Its been getting below freezing just the last couple nights. You may come across a little ice in the morning but if i had to bet id say you dont need it.


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

~long bow~ Our Freeze up is different every year. One year it might be beneficial to bring the other not? All just a guessing game. But I agree, around freeze up you want to have a boat for devils! The only way to get birds when the slews are froze! Unless your in filed?

mav....


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## Longbow (Sep 22, 2003)

:lol: THanks for the advice on the boat, I think we'll take it, just in case and for more space. See ya out there, and good luck!! Jon


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## sempter596 (Jul 24, 2003)

We just returned from ND.....Had a great time!! Shot lots of holes in the air but the fresh air and spectacular sunrises/sunsets were worth every penny that we spent. Thank You!!!

Just a note though. We were having lunch at the Elks Club in D.L. A group of six hunters came in to eat, all six wearing chest waders. I never realized how damn dumb I looked until I saw them!!! When we left, there were three trucks parked, all with duck boats with Wisconsin plates. We had a good laugh at their expense!!
The Leeds crew were the best!! Thanks Earls Bar!!!!! :beer: Anyway,,,leave the waders in the truck! 
Thanks North Dakota!!!


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## tkeeler (Oct 15, 2003)

Coming out ND on Sat the 25th. Heading for Rugby. I'll be pulling a 14 foot Lund with a puddle boat on top, lot's of decoys, behind a black ford Explorer sportrtack. Honk your horn if you see me. I'll leave the waders in the truck................ LOL


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## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

I've tipped a few in Earls Bar in Leeds and the people are rowdy and fun. Good times.


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## PJ (Oct 1, 2002)

Speaking of boats, it is about time to start hunting the big lake. The potholes are still open but the divers are coming down with avengence. It's time to Die Hard.


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## Hoggr (May 28, 2002)

:lol:


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