# I do solemnly swear, as an NR,



## itchy (Aug 15, 2006)

that I have done the following:

Driven many miles scouting for birds.

Asked permission to hunt posted land.

Asked permission to hunt unposted land.

Dropped off beer and/or booze at a land owner's door to thank them for allowing us to hunt their land.

Field hunted and never the same field 2 days in a row.

Picked up empty hulls after the days hunt.

Never busted a roost ( I want the ducks to stay all week/season, too)

Chuckled about seeing boats on the way to God's country, but hey, some think that is the only way to hunt ducks.

Enjoyed the witty back and forth banter on this site.

Sung Kum by Ya while reading some of the more "passionate" posts.

Enjoyed every trip out to ND, even last year when we shot 3 ducks all week.

Thanked God that I live in a country that I can cross borders in and the only thing being shot is wild game (for the most part).


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Most hunters are respectful, it's the few bad apples that make people stereotype. I can say, some of the things I've seen residents do are just as bad. Boundaries are meaningless when it comes to slobs.


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## diver_sniper (Sep 6, 2004)

Chris Hustad said:


> Boundaries are meaningless when it comes to slobs.


It's true. We were picking up dead teal floating in roadside ponds last weekend that someone apparently didn't feel like getting. Unfortunately they must have been from the day before because they were too rotten to clean. But I'm sure it was no NR that did this.


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## ndm (Jul 22, 2007)

Itchy,

Welcome to North Dakota. If you ask permission, clean up after yourself, and follow the rules in the proclamation you will be have a great time and be welcomed by most. Good Luck.


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## Hdnpowrz (Aug 27, 2005)

Love It! I am getting pumped now I just printed my license here at work. Yeah I am in the shoot almost done for the day. Good luck to all Res and not so res's. LOL Have a safe trip and we will be right behind you in the early morning hours. 
Shane


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Welcome itchy!! :beer:


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## fishhawk175090 (Sep 27, 2007)

Hey my boats loaded with field decoys, its the only trailor I have that will carry everything!


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

Great post itchy I nominate you for NR of the year. You have learned well


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## water_swater (Sep 19, 2006)

There's only one thing you could do better itchy, move to ND!


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## rwjtaz (Sep 8, 2005)

I have always been curious why "most" people that post on this site appear to be so against hunting on water? I have 20+ years in MN and 6 in ND, and while the number of slews in ND is fewer, having the ability to hunt both, IMHO allows one to be ready depending on conditions. I like both situations because late season bill's are a blast.


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## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Good luck to all. 25-35MPH winds and Thunderstorms predicted for opening day.


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## 870 XPRS (Mar 12, 2003)

rwjtaz said:


> I have always been curious why "most" people that post on this site appear to be so against hunting on water? I have 20+ years in MN and 6 in ND, and while the number of slews in ND is fewer, having the ability to hunt both, IMHO allows one to be ready depending on conditions. I like both situations because late season bill's are a blast.


It's really not so much against water, but the type of water that you set up on. Transitional holes as well as some other bodies of water are just fine and dandy, I enjoy hunting them from time to time. The majority or the drift that you are getting from people is related to hunting roost ponds. Setting up on larger bodies of water where many birds are roosting pushes those birds out of the area many times as they no longer feel safe roosting in those locations. This also tends to not only downgrade the hunting for that roost pond, but also the people that are set up in the surrounding areas field hunting those birds that felt safe. Distinguishing the difference at times can be somewhat difficult, but that is the reasoning behind some of the apprehension to hunting water.


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## just ducky (Apr 27, 2005)

rwjtaz said:


> I have always been curious why "most" people that post on this site appear to be so against hunting on water? I have 20+ years in MN and 6 in ND, and while the number of slews in ND is fewer, having the ability to hunt both, IMHO allows one to be ready depending on conditions. I like both situations because late season bill's are a blast.


SHHHHH! I get bored with limits of mallards field hunting...honestly. Yes I do field hunt, but I'd take a group of Redheads or 'bills bombing in on my spread any day. But I'm extremely happy that most of the hunters in ND field hunt.


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## rwjtaz (Sep 8, 2005)

I have also heard your reply before where hunting roost ponds sends the birds south. I hunted a larger body of water in MN for over 20 years and it was a roost pond. We would hunt generally only on Sat-Sun with the birds getting a rest during the week. Over those years I can count on one hand the times we would be shooting, either passing as they came and left and over decoys, where our hunting caused the birds to leave. My belief has always been if the birds like the roost, they will stay. Whether they get a little pressure or not, if they are transient they leave, hunting has no impact. In fact wind and fronts seemed to be the biggest factors on whether the birds feed in the same location or if the birds stayed.


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## greenwinger_13 (Oct 6, 2005)

There are also a billion sloughs that ducks like in ND.. and when they call one home and someone blasts it up they will leave because they don't think its any longer safe... If its a bigger piece of water.. sure i am sure some will stay around... Shooting the roost won't always send birds south but when they go place to place to try and and locate a new roost and get shot at... it doesn't help the journey south sound like a bad plan.


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## rwjtaz (Sep 8, 2005)

This might be something we agree on if we add in the size of the roost. Mine was close to 1000 acres so the birds had a home that could be some distance from the hunters. If you are talking 300 or less I would tend to agree that hunting pressure would spook the birds and send them elsewhere or south.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

Ive seen plenty of roosts that weren't any bigger then 5 acres in ND, even some tiny rivers. Those are the ones you especially dont want to shoot up but with all the options I dont see why you would need to shoot a roost at all.

Divers complicate things quite a bit further though.


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## Lucky Lab (Apr 28, 2006)

Just got back from our first trip to the great state of North Dakota.I hope all people do as Itchy has posted in N.D. and any other state that you may hunt. After 8 years our trip is more about getting to together and laughing at all the sure fire ideas that don't always work. Look around next time you are at a non outdoor event count the outdoorsman and woman we need to stand together. good hunting to all


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## island guy (Oct 20, 2006)

I'm an official non-resident ND hunter. My family is originally from ND. A few still live there. We still own land as a family that we lease out for crops and hunt on in the fall. This will be my 22nd year waterfowl hunting in ND. I don't bust roosts, trespass on posted land, I respect land I hunt that isn't ours and pick up litter. I'm a conservative hunter who enjoys being afield as much as I enjoy pulling the trigger.
I don't use sneaky posts to try to obtain info on certain areas or locations. I always use part of my hunting vacation to do my own scouting.
That said, I hope I'm allowed an opinion without getting blasted too bad. I'm tired of the NR issues to a large extent. So much negativity. Not just on the ND side but also the Mn side. Being a land owner on a Mn lake in the heart of a great fishing area and surrounded by many fine ND neighbors on the lake I live on, I've seen it go both ways. Mn outdoor sites similar to Nodak Outdoors experience the same tiring NR blasting. 
I don't have a answer. I believe we are all sportsman enjoying a passion for the outdoors. Borders should not make much of a difference.
I do understand much of the controversy. I never give out my fishing honey holes in Mn and at times have been annoyed by being surrounded by ice fisherman or having a boat follow too close after seeing me net a fish.
We don't post our ND land and have had resident hunters set up within 75 yards of us. We do post a larger slough that we consider a roost and do not hunt it. We've had NR and residents alike hunt the slough.
Anyway, there really isn't much substance to this post other than giving me a chance to vent.
If you're going to fish Mn do your homework. Hunt ND, do the same. Educate ourselves. Use common sense. Enjoy the season!!


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

rwjtaz The waterfowl in ND dont get a rest during the week.The hunting is fairly constant from opening day until freeze up. The absolute worst time to bust a roost is towards the end of the season. The birds are very easy to push this time of year. I'll give you an example
Last fall I was hunting with the regional Benelli rep. He is from Minnesota. We were hunting a corn field about 3/4 mile from the roost. There were other hunting parties working fields and small water that was partially frozen. Everyone was having a great time. Then I heard the big vollies of shots come from the roost. Several thousand ducks and a few hundred Canadas rose into the air. I said "its over". The rep asked what do you mean? I said the hunt is done and so is this roost. The rep had some very high end binos(12x50). He watched the mallards and pintails swing the roost a few times to gain altitude , they got into formation and headed to South Dakota. He could not believe what he saw. He watched them for as long as the binos would allow. They were going,going,gone. Im not trying to tell people not to hunt the sloughs big or small. But if you need a boat your busting roosts, especially late in the year. If you want to hunt that way in Minn go ahead its the norm. Please have the courtesy to respect the knowledge of the residents. I have a hard time with someone who comes on this site and tells people that roost busting does not hurt anything. Double your 26 years of experience and you will be in my league.


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

The way I see it is, There are two very different hunting cultures that do not co exist well together in the prairie states. I grew up hunting in MN. There when you hunt ducks, you do so out of a boat. Diver hunting was the norm as most small wetlands were drained years before.
When I moved to ND I took the aproach: "when in Rome do as the Romans do" and sold the boat, switched to small potholes and fields. The first 5 years I thought that I had died and went to waterfowl heaven. We had huge build ups of snow geese and mallards that were around from the begining to the end of the season.
The boat hunters showed up (those unwilling to adapt to the prairie way of hunting waterfowl), and you rarely see the huge build ups of waterfowl, except maybe by a refuge. We were angry at first, but adapted. Now when scouting we allways find where they were coming from. Is it a safe roost, or can it be busted? If it is public ground, we move on.There is nothing more annoying than setting out several dozen decoys, blinds stubbled, trucks parked, then hearing several rapid shots from the resting area. Everyone in the group knows the hunt is over, time to go home.
By the way, I have one very safe roost left that only the bravest, most fool hardy people would try to jump. The owner is bi-polar and has a problem with meth anphetamine.


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## carolinadh (Oct 11, 2006)

Asked permission to hunt posted land.

Asked permission to hunt unposted land.

The first year we hunted in ND we were particular about asking permission from everyone when we hunted land but we got the same response every time. Farmers looked at us like idiots because they had not posted their land. We eventually stopped worrying about it. Granted, we hunt a part of the state that gets very low pressure so maybe that has something to do with it. 
We even asked around to make sure it was alright and the farmers we talked to said that if they didn't bother posting it they didn't care if you hunted it. Those that did post land mainly did it so they could shoot pheasant themselves or keep deer hunters away from their houses. We still ask if there is a house within eyesight of where we're shooting because it just seems like good manners. Maybe it's just a different part of the state.
I know I'm probably going to get busted for this post but I feel like we are just doing things the way the locals prefer. If pressure increases and attitudes change we'll change with them.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

> Asked permission to hunt unposted land.


u want a cookie or something??

a lot of people i know do that


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## sleeri (Oct 9, 2006)

Wow averyghg, you and your friends are a cut above the rest of humanity! Relax, I don't think you needed to attack that previous post.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

carolinadh sounds like an ethical hunter to me...I don't see anything wrong with that.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

> Wow averyghg, you and your friends are a cut above the rest of humanity! Relax, I don't think you needed to attack that previous post


yeah its an ethical thing to do but does anyone care, hunters are expected to ethical. If i heard a story for everytime somone did something ethical my ears would start bleeding.

Thats like telling everyone, hey i recycled today, hey i didn't drive my car today because i wanted to save the ozone layer


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## sleeri (Oct 9, 2006)

...so highlighting positive "ethical" hunting behavior is pointless? Seems to me we need more examples like this in today's enviorment. I don't agree with your take averyghg, but we've all got our own opinions.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

90% of the people on this site do poistive and ethical things all the time, if they posted everytime they did something ethical, thats all this site would be about............yeah im glad that he's an ethical hunter, but if i was a state champion in ND for some type of sport am i gonna go around and tell everyone about it, no, its irrelavant, why? because its expected


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## Snowshark (Jan 31, 2007)

My favorite word to describe this behavior is *"RESPECT*".


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## R Buker (Oct 29, 2005)

The only ND hunting I do is for coyotes. I've got duck and canada goose hunting right out my front door. (literally. Last night I shot my two honkers off my deck...)

Anyway, I never know what to do in ND. As a rule of thumb, I always ask permission to hunt on land... anywhere... for anything. But, I've gotten some interesting responses asking to hunt coyotes in ND.

One farm was posted and I asked the owner if I could and he looked at me like I was held back a year or two. He said he posts it for deer hunting and that no one would be opposed to coyote hunters on their property.

Another one on unposted land refused me permission because I had bothered him by asking. Said he leaves in unposted because he doesn't want to be bothered.

Another on posted land refused me permission for the same reason. Said coyote hunters could feel free and he only posts for deer season. Said I had bothered him so couldn't go.

What's a poor NR to do??? HA HA HA LOL.... :roll:

I think I'll keep asking. They often give you good ideas of where to find ol' wiley.


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## shiawassee_kid (Oct 28, 2005)

R Buker said:


> The only ND hunting I do is for coyotes. I've got duck and canada goose hunting right out my front door. (literally. Last night I shot my two honkers off my deck...)
> 
> Anyway, I never know what to do in ND. As a rule of thumb, I always ask permission to hunt on land... anywhere... for anything. But, I've gotten some interesting responses asking to hunt coyotes in ND.
> 
> ...


same here, i don't ask unless its posted....poor farmer must get sick of guys askin to shoot those crappy ducks anyways.


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## itchy (Aug 15, 2006)

If we see someone in the yard or not working, we ask. Everyone (and it ain't that many) we have talked to has never made it out like we [email protected] for asking, they usually will make small talk for awhile. We don't stop a farmer riding his tractor in the field. We're a little smarter than that.


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