# SE North Dakota Reports



## CJ_Yani (Oct 15, 2008)

Has any one had much luck in the SE area this season so far?


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Slooooooooooww. But that could be because I have yet to go. :lol:


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## hunt4P&amp;Y (Sep 23, 2004)

Great luck! Can't wait to get back out.

Just make sure this doesn't turn into a town name dropping thread!


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Yes as Hunt4 P&Y said...

please don't start listing locations, otherwise a firestorm of internet scouting complaints come flooding in...

Keep it general and talk about field conditions, where birds were seen, and if your party had success or not..

Thanks

Ryan


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## Coach529 (Dec 22, 2004)

I have heard alot of report of people having poor luck. I have only got out once, tonight for a very brief 2 minute walk before dark.

I got one, missed one, and moved a couple more out of gun range.


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## greenc (Mar 20, 2008)

there are alot of birds you just have too catch them before they get into the corn in the am we have had great success walking crp ditches next to corn or slough edges next too the corn next year is going to be the tough one and then more tough years after that the crp is going bye bye and its really going to decimate the population its sad but get used too it i guess


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## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

80% of the birds are still in the corn and that isn't going to change for a long time...It's still green!


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## redlabel (Mar 7, 2002)

Yes, I think most of them move or stay in the corn when they are disturbed.

Our little setter worked very hard to come up with our birds last weekend and the roosters we got were some of the largest I've harvested.

So, I think I'll give the dogs the weekend off and play golf and ride the Goldwing this weekend. I'll just go a few days during the week in November to make up for it.


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## omegax (Oct 25, 2006)

I'd sit this weekend out too, but there's a big family shindig planned too... :roll:

The only thing I can hope for is that we can persuade the rest of the giant crew that's going to be with us that we need to get into the CRP AT shooting time. Our experience last weekend was that we had to be the birds' wakeup call, otherwise they were out hiding in the corn.


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

Now I have been out but still sloooow. My son and I were able to get 15 birds over 2 1/2 days but compared to other years we saw a lot less birds. Everyone is saying all the birds are in the corn. This I believe, however there is not a lot of sign in the grass areas that the birds normally bed at night. Heard a number of large groups were probably averaging less than 2 birds per guy per day.


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## bornlucky (Jul 24, 2007)

My group hunted hard all weekend and it was tough. Nearly all of our birds came in the first hour and the last hour. We could have sat on our butts the rest of the day. I talked to a young clerk at the local grocery store and he said lots of hunters complaining about the poor shooting opportunities.

Let me add though that the hunting was great. Beautiful sunrise Saturday morning, saw a couple big bucks, dogs working, lunch on the tailgate. . . man I wait all year for that. Getting the birds is just a bonus.


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## utahhunter (Jan 17, 2003)

I got my limit with the usual combination of good planning, a pair of good dogs, and good luck.

Sitting in my truck waiting for legal shotoing time, I watched as roosters flew out of the corn into the cattails to roost. The most birds my dogs moved were roosting about 50 yards from the corn in sloughs. This year it seems the birds are eating breakfast before sun up and back on their roost by 9am.

The last rooster of the day I got at 1:30pm in a bunch of cattails surrounding a tiny swamp. I only went there because the dogs went that way. In the same spot I hunted a half section of beautiful CRP that looked like pheasant heaven and didn't move a single bird or find a single nest.

So I guess I'd suggest hunting within 25-50 yards of the corn after sunup when the birds are done feeding and back in their roosts. The best moment of the day was when a rooster literally ran over the top of my boot out of the grass into the standing corn; home free. Of course the only other bird my dogs flushed from there was a hen. Anyways hope this helps some. Try to get out early and watch for birds coming out of the corn to roost.

Mike


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## Springerguy (Sep 10, 2003)

I hunted SE ND for 3 days and we only shot 10 birds - normally harvest at least twice that many over MEA weekend. of the 10 birds, 7 were old birds. We flushed a large number of single hens as well - indicates to me that the cold, wet spring had an impact on the broods. Few large group flushes. I'm sure many are still in the corn but we hunted around harvested soybeand fields. Time will tell.


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## pointblankshot (Nov 2, 2005)

Hunted a secondary spot closer to home with the strategy of hunting the sloughs with water in them in and around harvested bean fields away from the corn fields if possible. It worked out well. We hit the edge of the slough at 9:30 with the idea that they would be back in the cattails for a drink and a roost after eating beans.

There they were, holding tight and lazy. Got my limit within a few minutes and my brother got a double on a couple of sharpies as well. We had a chance at a couple of roosters towards his bag but it was one of those 'What the ___!' moments after they were missed clean.

We were done by noon so it was a fun impromtu sunday hunt. Gotta love the rooster flush. It stays with you till the next time you're out and never gets old!!


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## ericzink (Dec 8, 2008)

Good hunting, nice folks!


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## GKBassplayer (Feb 19, 2008)

A group of 3 of us and a dog went out thursday morning, we should have limited but everyone of us missed a couple birds!! Couldn't complain tho, my dog ( Britany 13 months) pointed close to 10 birds that morning! Found most of them in cattails along cut corn..


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## oKr4zYo (Dec 22, 2008)

I have gone out many times this fall and winter. Have had great success in SSE ND. We have limited out about 75% of the time and havent been skunked all year. Went out last Friday and shot 5, lost one. We really had to work for them after the first blizzard out of the last two weekends.


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## oKr4zYo (Dec 22, 2008)

Went out this morning in SE ND and we saw more birds today than I have ever seen down there. We limited out on 3 20 min walks and saw hundreds and hundreds of birds. It helped that it was 15 degrees and sunny down there today, you can see them all out feeding after the winter storms.


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## bornlucky (Jul 24, 2007)

My son and I hunted the last two days and took 11 rodneys. I have to admit, it was hard work busting through 3 foot drifts around the cattails and knee deep snow on the level. If you are not in shape, stay home.

December pheasant hunting is the best. We saw hundreds of pheasants and once in a while you get lucky and have a rooster hold tight. The really fun part is all the hen flushes right at your feet when the dogs bust them out of the cattail clumps. What a rush.

Basically, the birds are all bunched up right now. If you see one, you see a hundred. And they start flying out of the cover before you get within a hundred yards. So what! It is a great time.

Steel #2's seemed to work the best for us. We did find some frozen birds on the edge of the cover.


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