# Opener



## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Dare say pathetic. Harvest has been slowed by rainy weather, however birds were few. Not going to go again until at least November when crops are harvested. Did see some very young birds, could tell some were roosters but felt bad for them and did not shoot.

Go fishing time will be more enjoyable.


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## slough (Oct 12, 2003)

Sounds like it was much tougher for almost everyone. Our group included, 3 guys 2 labs walked over 3 hours yesterday for 1 bird on cover that usually produces limits or near limits in central ND.


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## 94NDTA (May 28, 2005)

Same deal. Went out Sunday while it was nice, very heavily hunted, lots of pressure, lots of crops. Same deal almost every opener. Spent more time scouting than anything. Found a nice spot with an old railroad track right next to a corn field...just felt like there would be birds there. When we got to the end, there were hunters already there that we did not see.


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## jonnytest (Oct 14, 2013)

Things are good in NW ND. Limited out both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was about 45 minutes of walking and Sunday was 30 minutes. Birds were on Plots with about knee high grass. Kind of wish it had taken longer as my dog was not happy to leave so quick.


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

At least one bright spot, roads look very wet?


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## indsport (Aug 29, 2003)

Didn't get out Saturday with the weather. first opener I missed in 54 years. Sunday, a few miles of walking, saw two roosters, shot 1. Neighbors report getting 2 out of 8 hunters. Lotsa a shelterbelts getting torn out, saw at least three more fields that used to be alfalfa now soybeans and a lot less pasture that was now row crop, mostly on hillsides. It will not get any better.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/415071/


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## jonnytest (Oct 14, 2013)

We had a bunch of rain Friday. This was an access road in the picture. Main roads were good. Somebody had driven in on Saturday and made a little bit of mess of the road. The picture was from Sunday.


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## chicagoland64 (Oct 15, 2013)

We took our annual trip to the Mott/Regent area after 7 straight years I believe this will be our last trip, the shelter belts and and crp fields are disappearing as fast as the birds. 4 of us with 3 good dogs hit it hard for 3 days we shot two roosters. It's too bad that ND seems to have lost sight in the value of the out of town hunters and their dollars here is our cost breakdown:

Total mileage FROM Chicago 2398 total gas $675
hunting fee to farmer $150 each x4 $600
Lodging $65 per head per night $780
meals in ND $500
licenses $400
Stop at Scheel's (I won't even say)

Total $2145 and that doesn't cover the small incidental purchases or tips etc....

*THAT'S CLOSE TO $1100 PER BIRD*


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## JBB (Feb 9, 2005)

Kinda lost sight of what hunting is all about haven't you. Do not count the cost, count the personal returns.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Hey johnnytest & chicago, welcome to the forum! We need more upland hunters here so those darn waterfowl hunters don't try to take over the world. 

Missed Saturday for rain and then work. Sunday produced a heavy frosted landscape with no wind. I was afraid of the crush in the normal spots so I headed to the grouse country. There were a few good PLOTS that had some phez there last year and thought I'd squeak a combo hunt. On arrival both of those PLOTS were tilled up as was much of the CRP. I took a section line 2 track around a WPA and saw a rooster in a narrow strip of bean stubble beside a shelterbelt remnant. Not posted so I let Carly and Sam out on the other end with the intention of walking away from the sun. Sam got a point on the edge of the trees and Carly backed for the first time. A rooster came up and I rolled it and Sam had it on the second bounce. Carly was barking-yes barking-behind me and put up another rooster from a clump of weeds that did a high overhead, got him, and Sam had him before he quit rolling. I was ready to quit right there, happy as heck walking back to the truck, when the dogs downwined another rooster that couldn't stand the strain so I got him too. Done in about 5 minutes. This was not indicative of good hunting conditions, just a fluke.

The pheasant habitat is gone from much of their former range. So are the pheasants. The lesson of lost habitat is starting to sink in with hunters and all North Dakotans. That Fargo Forum editorial listed above by indsport is right on the mark and screams bloody murder for the Clean Water, Wildlife and Parks Measure to pass. Make it happen.

A final sniff of that good stuff.









Sam is showing his age and 9 years of busting cover.









A couple oddities way out of their range.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Chicago, check your PMs in 10 minutes. Thanks.


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## chicagoland64 (Oct 15, 2013)

JBB said:


> Kinda lost sight of what hunting is all about haven't you. Do not count the cost, count the personal returns.


Lose sight? I don't think so, I won't quit hunting but $1100 per bird is too much to ask, we would make our annual pilgrimage to North Dakota for the most part, due to the large concentrations of birds that were available. We could (and will) hunt next door in Indiana or even right here at home without the cost or the drive and get our two birds which we consider a normal outing locally. I understand that your point is about not going just for the kill but if the percentage of birds in North Dakota becomes on par with every other Midwest state why would we or anyone go through the cost and hassle of hunting there? If you live in Miami beach the Bahamas doesn't have the same appeal as it does to someone from here in Illinois and likewise a "hunting destination" has to have more to offer than your own backyard. Right now the money from corn is rolling in creating a windfall for the local landowners (and you can't blame them for wanting their piece of the pie) but what happens to the motel owners, waitresses, cooks, gas station owners, etc. that are not realizing this windfall? Without the hunters the small towns struggle and businesses close, and then if/when the ethanol subsidies get the axe what's left of places like Regent, Mott, Wishek, Ashley etc?


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## shaug (Mar 28, 2011)

indsport said:


> Didn't get out Saturday with the weather. first opener I missed in 54 years. Sunday, a few miles of walking, saw two roosters, shot 1. Neighbors report getting 2 out of 8 hunters. Lotsa a shelterbelts getting torn out, saw at least three more fields that used to be alfalfa now soybeans and a lot less pasture that was now row crop, mostly on hillsides. It will not get any better.


Thomas, do you pay the taxes on these properties you mention?

My relatives in Mott said the recent snowstorm was bad and they had piles of dead pheasants in their shelterbelts around the yard.


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## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

chicagoland64 said:


> We took our annual trip to the Mott/Regent area after 7 straight years I believe this will be our last trip, the shelter belts and and crp fields are disappearing as fast as the birds. 4 of us with 3 good dogs hit it hard for 3 days we shot two roosters. It's too bad that ND seems to have lost sight in the value of the out of town hunters and their dollars here is our cost breakdown:
> 
> Total mileage FROM Chicago 2398 total gas $675
> hunting fee to farmer $150 each x4 $600
> ...


North Dakota hasn't lost sight of anything. And, certainly not the sportsman of North Dakota. We know all to well what's been going on since 2009. Have you seen the farm prices? Have you seen the restrictions and current contract prices on crp? They can't compete. This is a cycle that will more than likely be here for a long time. 1965 to 1990 the last time. Hopefully it won't take 25 years again to see the value of crp.

I understand your disappointment at not being able to shoot em' up in the SW...We all love to do that once in a while...Try living here 365 days a year...Many of us giving up higher paying jobs...just so we can hunt and fish in N.D. We pump money into our states economy 24/7. Believe me...We get it!


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

Agree with you, Rick. Sometimes there will be a confluence of man-made, i.e. changing agricultural objectives, and natural, i.e. a succession of hard winters or breeding seasons, that conspire against the sportsman. Like the fella from Chicago, I invest a lot of money in my annual ND pheasant. Some years are good, some not so good, in terms of our harvest of roosters.

But even in good years, it's futile to calculate success in terms of dollars for roosters ($$/rooster). I might as well go to the grocery store and buy a couple bags of chicken if I get too far into that mindset (although sometimes I look at the success of my quail hunts in WA state and wonder about my sanity in spending $200-300 for a handful of quail).

I look at the ND hunting experience in its entirety and for me it's still a wonderful adventure comprised of: beautiful outdoor rural settings; loads of wildlife to observe (e.g. waterfowl, deer, moose); the hospitality of the North Dakotans; and the camaraderie of friends and family.

Now that I'm retired, I have lots of free time to travel. But there's no trip I look forward to more than my annual pilgrimage to North Dakota for upland birds.


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## jk3hunter (Dec 29, 2010)

We had pretty good luck on Saturday in the southwestern part of the state but not so much Sunday as the weather changed and I believe we chased all of the birds off of our land and into the crops. Had some fun though!!


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## ChukarBob (Sep 4, 2006)

That's a tired looking bird dog! Never seen a pheasant hunting Bassett hound. Did he/she flush and retrieve all those roosters?


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

That picture is a classic if there ever was one. Congradulations!


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## GSP yooper (Sep 6, 2013)

That is a great picture! Hope I can line 'em up for the picture next week too. Two guys from our party are pulling into Ashley as I type. My brother's and I will be on the road tomorrow at this time. Today will be a very slow day at work I am sure.........


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## jk3hunter (Dec 29, 2010)

My basset's name is Winston and no last weekend he did not amount to much for hunting. He did however walk with us on every walk, which is a lot of miles for 6 inch legs. He will flush and find birds and actually is not bad to have around in the field, but he get's tired quickly. In fact last year he found two birds the other dogs couldn't find and he flushed a bird for me and my brother that we shot. He does not retrieve and for good reason. A pheasant standing up is about the same height as him and the spurs are discouraging. :lol: Bassets have the 2nd best nose in the dog world next to a Bloodhound but the intelligenced and stubbornness brings them down a notch. Winston does best in small coulees with about two or three people, and yes it is hilarious to watch a basset get birdy.


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## indsport (Aug 29, 2003)

Go Winston. 50 years ago, my first "pheasant" dog was a toy cocker spaniel. Doubt she was more than 9" high at the shoulder but she could find and bring back a wing crippled rooster. One advantage to her size, if a running rooster thought he could get away, she could follow it under any grass or brush or fence. If we had someone out to shoot, she would scour the fields after shooting hours and invariably came back with a rooster that nose to tail, was longer than she was.


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## 94NDTA (May 28, 2005)

Unorthodox bird dogs, I love it. Now only if myself and my bird dog could get a bird this year!


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## mburgess (Aug 11, 2003)

Shot 1 saturday and 3 sunday on the opener. Most of the roosters I saw were just turning color a little. Suspect the spring rains spurred a late second hatch. I have been pleasantly suprised with the number of birds I've been seeing. It isn't the good old days anymore but a good dog or two can make all the difference between a good long walk and a stuffed game bag. Noted much less pressure the last two weekends in central ND than I've seen in years. There was obviously more out of state pressure the second weekend, but not WWIII type pressure that has become the norm the last decade or so.


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