# North Dakota Duck Hunting



## bloodnguts (Nov 22, 2005)

I'm a non-resident of North Dakota, who put up with years of bad to mediocre duck hunting in other states. In the fall of 2000, I made my first trip to N. Dakota, with the idea I was going to get my fill of good duck hunting in one week, and just give up on duck hunting at my home state, which at the time was Missouri. We met a very nice family southwest of Jamestown, who have become great friends. They let us stay in their own home, and allow us to roam all over their land for ducks. We have visited every year since, and the first few years the duck hunting was fantastic. You could jump ducks of the sloughs during the day, sit in the cover, and within a few minutes the ducks would be sitting right back down in the same slough. During the first three years, we saw very few other hunters, and some mornings we would never even hear a shot. The last couple of seasons, I have noticed significant changes in bird behavior. Not only does it seem we have seen fewer ducks, but they are much warier than in years past, in that they don't decoy or respond to calling near as well, and when you jump them, they take off for parts unknown without returning. This last season, 2005, I can honestly say I observed more hunters in our area than our first three or four trips combined, and with our friends never turning other hunters down for permission, it seems like hotspots are harder to come by. Is anyone else making similar observations? I'm not blaming anyone, I just kind of miss that feeling of not having to compete with anyone for a good location and ducks that aren't so spooked all the time. Since I'm already driving a long way to get to N. Dakota, I'm kind of curious if driving a few hours more to get into southern Manitoba will provide the same kind of experience N. Dakota provided us just a few years ago. I don't know, maybe N. Dakota just spoiled us those first few years. I believe I would even like to take my chances as a non-resident with a drastically reduced number of non-resident licenses, if the hunting returned to what it was a few years ago, even if it meant I might not get in each and every year.


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## lasalle (Jan 15, 2003)

I've been hunting ND since 99 as a NR. From my experience last year was one of our best. We killed more greenheads that in past years and the divers were ridiculous. My group hunts private land only and part is posted and other parts are not. There is some pressure but it seems like more for pheasants than ducks. I plan on hunting ND for as long as I can.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

BNG, You pretty much answered your own question as to why ND hunting is getting tougher, albeit, better than most areas. When you jump the birds off a pond, they then flew to another pond, no problems. But, as the number of hunters increases, think about those same ducks being jumped off five ponds. They finally get tored of being harassed and move on out until they get less bother, ie-SD.
If you have land that only you are hunting try a field hunt for those ducks and don't harass them on the roost ponds and I bet they will stick around longer for you and others to try and hunt!!!


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## bloodnguts (Nov 22, 2005)

Because we hunt ducks only one week out of the year, we have not equipped ourselves for field hunting. We have no goose decoys and no field duck decoys. The few times we tried field hunting with what duck decoys we had, have not been successful. Only on one or two occasions did we find what we thought was a "hot" field on the land we were allowed to hunt, but after returning the next day, the ducks just didn't come back. Only once did we actually get lucky enough to bag a couple of ducks while laying in a field, and it was over as quick as it started, with only one or two flocks showing interest. When you've driven all that way and only hunt for five or six mornings, you tend to want to go where you know there are ducks, when you're experiencing that kind of luck in the fields. Having said that, we recognize the importance of not shooting roost sites, and we do our best to avoid them. Most of the sloughs we shoot over are cattle type ponds or sloughs, with limited shoreline cover, which seem to draw ducks during the day, but not as much at night. This property we're hunting is private, but anyone seeking permission is allowed to hunt there. This past season we did finally find another "hot" field, but another large party had found it first, and they were allowed to hunt it. Because they had an enormous spread and all the fancy field blinds, they were quite successful. For only a week of hunting, I just don't want to spend the kind of money necessary to put together a successful field spread. I really just enjoy sitting on the shoreline, next to my lab, throwing out only a handful of decoys, calling in a few bunches of ducks, and bagging a few at the same time. I really hope field hunting is not going to be considered the only sporting way to bag ducks in N. Dakota. That's why I wouldn't mind seeing them drop the number of non-resident licenses to something along the lines of what S. Dakota does, just to ease some of the pressure on the ducks.


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## shiawassee_kid (Oct 28, 2005)

bnd, My first trip to ND started out on water, but it took me about a day and half to figure out that the fields is where its at. We come from strictly water hunting here in michigan and i wasn't to fond of field hunting until we did it there. Talk about awesome hunting......The above posts are correct, if you continually pound the roost ponds your just dwindling your own hunting. You don't need a large field spread to pull it off...just recommend some goose shells and a layout blind (not required). The ducks will home in on the goose shells and you'll never touch water there again.


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## tb (Jul 26, 2002)

bng, you gotta move around. Each year different areas have different amounts of precipation. You need to find where habitat is best. When it comes to duck hunting, I hunt almost exclusively over water. But I move around a lot. Each year I hunt many ponds that I've never seen before, much less hunted before. Don't spend a lot of time wasted on non-productive water. You can pretty much tell if your spread is going to work in the first half hour. If nothing has come in an hour or so, its not going to. Pull your spread and move around. Some days its easy, somedays its not. Some days I've set up on 4 different spots, or more. Some days I end up 100 miles from where I started. Some days I walk in a mile or more from the nearest road. That's the fun part, in my book. I would never think of hunting the same place two days in a row, probably not even twice within the same week. It doesn't take long to get them educated. Get as far off the beaten path as possible. Keep moving.


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## SoIllDuckslayer (Mar 28, 2006)

I was stationed at grand forks throughout the 2004-2005 duck season and I have to tell you, I had the absolute best season probably of my lifetime. I live in southern illinois and our duck hunting has pretty much gone to hell over the last 6-7 years, so our tactics of hunting are much more precise than some of the setups I observed while your neck of the woods. Like it was said above though, you do have to change your setup as the ducks become more keen on your hunting locations. That season I don't think I hunted the same set up twice. I might have been just as successful hunting the same spot over and over again but I just like the idea of having a brand new set up, based on where the ducks are, everytime i set foot in the water to maximize my odds. Painting a picture of the night before. Between me and two other young men I introduced to the sport, we killed close to 300 ducks and our fair share of geese all within 60 miles of the base and all on public land. We did work hard for them though. 1000+yd walks through knee deep mud with a hundred pounds of equipment is definitely no fun. But that's the game. I put a lot of time and effort into scouting holes and adjusting decoy setups though according to what the birds looked like the day before. I am by know means the expert when it comes to killing birds on private land though because all i have hunted my whole life has been public land based on a first come first serve basis. Maybe that's why we did so good. I don't know. In soill we are used to getting up the night before and sleeping on the bank of a waterhole somewhere just to have a chance at having "the spot" when daylight breaks. From my experience this isn't an issue in nodak or at least in the grand forks-devil's lake area. I had tremendous success just driving the roads a half an hour before sunset and finding the birds. I am not bashing anyone but i just had to put in my 2 cents worth. You guys are really blessed with the habitat and the birds. I just wish I had what you had in my backyard. God Bless and good hunting


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

So you are complaining about the birds getting educated to people like you jumping them off the water/roosts, but dont want to pony up and get a mild field spread like others? I'm a poor college kid and i know countless #'s of others in the same boat with little or no money who have done what it takes to get a mild spread and kill birds in fields.


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## Phil The Thrill (Oct 21, 2005)

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All you need for hunting mallards in a field is a spinning wing decoy and a few honker decoys. For this hunt we had 7 avery fullbodies, 1 mojo, and our blinds.[/img] We were done 20 min. after legal shooting time.


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## bloodnguts (Nov 22, 2005)

Well, I guess I should have prefaced this whole thing by asking everyone to define a "roost" site. I guess my own idea of a "roost" site is those specific sloughs in which a fair number of waterfowl fly into to spend the night. In my experience with the land we are allowed to hunt in N. Dakota, there are usually a few such sloughs which we immediately recognize as drawing birds at night. There are also those bodies of water which consistently have no birds on them at night, nor first thing in the morning, but will attract attention during the day. I thought I gave the impression, maybe not, that it was these types of bodies of water that we choose to decoy ducks during the day. By a couple of the responses to my original post, it certainly seems that the spirit of those posters is that there is no acceptable body of water in which to hunt ducks during the day, and all water hunting must immediately educate and/or drive ducks out of the state. I guess I just can't accept that guilt trip. I will concede, I would be very upset to watch other parties go into an evening roost site, and blast ducks as they came pouring in during the last few minutes of shooting light, or waited for legal shooting light in the morning and blasted ducks right off the roost site. I completely understand this logic. What I have a hard time dealing with, is the difference in the level of education provided to ducks when blasting flock after flock as they come into a particular field, verses shooting at small bunches as they come into one of thousands of watering holes they have to choose from, but which they are not roosting in at night. One could also possibly argue, judging by the size of flocks that come into field spreads, as you guys report from time to time, that one is educating more ducks in one blast in a field, than someone popping off at small bunches of three or four ducks as they try to sit down in some corner of a slough during the late morning. I'm not saying that argument is proven, but it could have some merit. I don't know, I just love to watch a dog fire out into a body of water, and swim out after a duck. I love the sound of ducks splashing down into the water as they land, and as they fall after the shot. I love the smell of the muck, and the lap of waves on the shore, and the shore birds flitting around, and the decoys bobbing in the breeze. Again, I'm sorry, but I started duck hunting over water when I was nine years old, and 26 years later, I'm still hooked on it. I won't argue about the joys and productivity of field hunting if that's your gig, but I just cannot believe I should be condemned for wanting to shoot some ducks over water, as long as I abide by the "don't blast the roost" philosophy. And like I said before, as a non-resident, I have no qualms about restricting the number of non-residents, if it will insure quality duck hunting, even if it means I can't come every year.


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

BNG

Water hunting should not be looked on as a negative factor, it is and always will be a viable way to hunt waterfowl.



> What I have a hard time dealing with, is the difference in the level of education provided to ducks when blasting flock after flock as they come into a particular field, verses shooting at small bunches as they come into one of thousands of watering holes they have to choose from, but which they are not roosting in at night


There is a big difference between your bedroom and a restaurant putting this into human terms. Field hunting when done properly will keep the birds around longer because most duck hunters will not hunt the same field on consecutive days. Ducks as a rule will generally spend most of their sleep/rest time on water because they feel safe on water.

The education factor of waterfowl has evolved in ND to the point of ducks frequently feeding at night. Over the years from my experience, ducks have gone from traditional off the roost in the morning to feed back to a transition slough or roost, back to feed and then to roost for the night. Many times in recent years ducks are off of the roost prior to shooting hours and back to the roost well after shooting hours. This shows the education factor of waterfowl that is created by 7 day a week, dawn to dusk hunting pressure which IMO is the factor that affects waterfowl hunting more than any form of hunting.

I field hunt pretty much exclusively now, however, I will not bash water hunters, I still put on the waders from time to time and do some pass shooting. 

We tend to forget that hunting should be an enjoyable experience not a contest.

Enjoy your hunting time be it on land or water.

Bob


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## northerngoosehunter (Mar 22, 2006)

the reason you are seeing so many more hunters in ND is because there are too many "non-resident of North Dakota" hunters around.


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## BandHunter (Dec 17, 2003)

I dont know why all the people want to come to ND anyways there are no duck out here..they are all in central minnesota... 
Bandhunter


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## dakota31400 (Jun 10, 2006)

I'm a non-Resident, Resident North Dakotian and I can say the last three years have not been the best....everything cycles and right now it all depends on timing.......nothing else......simply timing. If the weather ever returns to the norm, timing won't matter as much


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## hydro870 (Mar 29, 2005)

Pressure is up - no question, the license sales trend over the past 10 years speaks for itself. These are just the facts of life. If you don't like it you have 3 choices: buy or lease land, change the laws to limit guides/hunters, or quit hunting.

Hydro - who's opening weekend spot has been taken over by college students from Minnesota because they can now purchase a resident license.


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## H20fwlIowa (Feb 1, 2006)

All you guys in ND no offense but your a bunch of babies!!!!!!

I've only been to ND once to hunt as a non-Res but plan on coming this year. Do you guys realize without NON-RES that all your hole in the wall towns wouldn't be there? Non-Res hunters are a huge boost to the local economy.

I could care less if people come to Iowa and hunt, as long as they obey the laws of hunting written or unspoken. I'm sorry but I'm so sick of hearing all this boo-hoo the non-res guys stole my spot. Buy the land and then they won't be able to.

Now don't all you get your panties in a bunch this is just my opinion.


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## Hunter_58346 (May 22, 2003)

Thank goodness you guys spend enough in our small towns in one month to sustain life for the other eleven. The local small store owners are happy that you wait to buy your ammo when you get here. The small town grocery store can't thank you enough for waiting to buy all your groceries until you get here. The local pubs are sure glad you don't bring refreshments from home and buy them locally. Because if you change all of that, there wouldn't be any reason to have any of the stores open except the month you guys are here.
Thanks for not stopping at Gander, Cabelas, Sportsmans Warehouse, or Scheels just so you could buy your equipment cheaper just so you can keep our "hole in the wall towns" survuving. We need more just like you.
Our deepest gratitude goes out to you and your fellow travelers. :beer:


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## griffman (Jan 17, 2004)

H20fwlIowa said:


> All you guys in ND no offense but your a bunch of babies!!!!!!
> 
> I've only been to ND once to hunt as a non-Res but plan on coming this year. Do you guys realize without NON-RES that all your hole in the wall towns wouldn't be there? Non-Res hunters are a huge bust to the local economy.
> 
> ...


H20fwlIowa, I'd like to personally thank you for all your caring and generousity. Here you go.....(insert middle finger here).......

Maybe if you knew the difference between boom, bust, and or boost, you'd have been able to portray yourself as something other than a moron.

No offense, just my opinion.


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Round and round we go, where where we'll stop, nobody knows!

Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

C'mon guys, this has been hashed and rehashed more time than on can count. Even when the thread starts out good, it is almost a given that it turns into a cowpie tossing fest.

I'll hold off on locking this thread for now, but if this continues we'll have to shut it down.

BNG, there is no problem at all with hunting the transition sloughs. Which are what you are describing.

The webmaster even wrote an article about it. 
http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/ducktips.php

Robert


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## dakota31400 (Jun 10, 2006)

H2OfwlIowa,

Having owned a small town pub in North Dakota.....I can say in more than one instance, the proceeds /windfall increase in sales from NR hunters allowed me to put propane in my tanks to heat the bar for most of the winter.


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## H20fwlIowa (Feb 1, 2006)

sorry for the misunderstanding. I was trying to say boost and typed bust.

I for one don't stop and buy all my stuff anywhere but maybe shells. I buy local so I don't have to haul a bunch of extra stuff with me.

I love ND as the people there are generally great and have no problem with use out of towners. It just seems on this site you guys all cry because us Non-res guys come up and steal your hunting ground and blah,blah,blah.


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## Nate1983 (Mar 15, 2006)

well said H20fwlIowa :beer:


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

H20fwlIowa

If you want to make friends and influence people with post like some here go to hot topics. I am not going to allow flaming in this forum

Locked


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