# Your Day?



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Light rain early this morning that quit after sun up. Perfect scenting. Lots of birds that held tight. Every rooster was full of soybeans--only one real young one, the rest had good color. A morning like this makes me realize how lucky we are in ND and what a treasure we have. And thanks to a couple of farmers who said " heck yes", and handed out fresh cookies. No pickles.


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## Bagman (Oct 17, 2002)

Similar experience as you Dick...minus the cookies. As day broke the rain eased off and the birds were EVERYWHERE! They seemed to really want to get out of the wet stuff. We couldnt drive more than 10 minutes without seeing another bunch coming to the road. No real large groups(mostly 3 to 6 per) but still fun seeing so many. If not for rusty shotgun skills we would have been home by 10AM with our limit. Oddly enough, some folks I know came home skunked  .


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## mburgess (Aug 11, 2003)

Very good opening weekend. It is nice to actually be able to get on the PLOTS land this weekend. Had to work for my birds on Saturday morning but got my limit by 2:00. Sunday went out late afternoon and was the only one out in the fields and had my limit in an hour. Saw many, many birds. Shot my first double in my life and my dog didn't know what to do as this never happens with us two birds on the ground at once. Numbers are definitely up in the SE part of the state.


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## muskat (Mar 5, 2002)

Great opener for our group. Hunted with two uncles, my brother, and three family friends. We took our limit on Saturday after miles of walking, and Sunday we got another 12(Took Sunday afternoon off, relaxed and told stories). We had mostly mature birds, and even had one banded rooster!


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## CheapHunter (Sep 24, 2003)

Opener went well for our two man group. Saturday morning we had 4 birds in 15 minutes! The rest of the day went by a little slower due to a lost bird and high hunting pressure in the area. We were able to finish at about 1:30. Sunday was not what we expected. The Minnesota boys disappeared from the area and not a single soul was around. Fine by me! We were able to get 6 birds by 1 o'clock. We hunted around the Braddock/Moffit area. Headin' over to Mott/Regent this upcoming weekend.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Hunted the SW.We did OK.But the numbers don't seem to be there.The dry conditions evidently have hurt chick survival.No where near what was there 2-5 years ago.

But still had a good time with family members.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

We didn't see as many birds but there is also still a LOT of standing corn. We also were finding birds in REALLY thick stuff which is not normal for so early in the year. I imagine the rain was to thank for that. Lots of fun though.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Nice couple of days. Didn't shoot limits of birds but had great time with the guys I hunted with for the first time this weekend.

It sure was great to hunt in somewhat less than over crowded conditions as in the few previous seasons. Saw a fair number of PLOTS areas that were very crowded with resident hunters. There were areas that probably didn't see much action but nice to have the birds not pressured every hour of the day.

It seems that there were more than the usual numbers of residents out hunting. The NR restrictions on PLOTS lands seemed to have brought more locals out. For the NR's planning on hunting next weekend, there are many birds left on the PLOTS and many areas where the corn and beans are still up.


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## tmorrie (Apr 1, 2002)

We hunted 1 plot and 2 WPA's from 8-1:30 on Sat. and no other hunters in any of them. Saw good numbers of birds, and all this was within an hour of Fargo.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Got my first limit ever!

Three of us got nine birds by 10:30 am on opener! They were all mature roosters except for one! It was a great weekend around Watford City, ND.

Made a pheasant and wildrice bake last night for dinner, it was AWESOME! I never realized that if you followed the directions and cooked stuff right it actually tastes great! (I'm not much of a cook - toast, cereal, sandwiches and pizza are about all I ever make - this was a nice change!)

I am looking forward to this weekend in the Valley City/Litchville/LaMoure area for some SE ND pheasant action, I hear the numbers last weekend were simply staggering!

Dick Monson --
Glad to hear you did well! How's your dog doing? I'm still working on getting my dad back into the sport, but he's resisting...might need some backup!


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Hunted with the guys this weekend and had a great time. Fell short of some ruddies but sent Robert L. home with plenty for the Mrs. (nice shooting Bueide).

Ditto what's posted above, it was nice to get some good pushes through the PLOTS. And there were A LOT of resident hunters out, more than I can remember in the past. Good to see a lot of ND hunters again like when I was a kid.


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## Drixmein (Jan 25, 2003)

Definitely a lot of resident hunters, which was great. Our 5 man team had 15 roosters by around 2:30 on Sat, and picked up 8 more on Sunday. We didn't get the morning shoot on Sunday because we found a stacked corn field and hammered the greenheads and a few lessors. Guess you can't have it all, but a great nodak hunting weekend.


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

A great weekend to be an Nodakian. Four guys shot 12 geese in 8 minutes Sat AM. Then 12 roosters by 2pm, Ended up 2 Greenheads short of a Nodak grand Slam (Mallards, Roosters and Canadas). And we still had time to squeeze in scouting for the next day! You couldn't pay me to live anywhere else!!!!!


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Glad to hear everybody had a good experiance-----that's a pleasant change. Tried again today.....didn't see one rooster, but had fun with the grouse.

Nick, your Dad might hunt again if you clean the birds. And I see a dog in your future.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

Dick,

Whaddaya mean 'IF' I clean the birds. I do that already, and I'm bringing some home this weekend for sunday dinner! 

I definately see a dog in my future as well. Just gotta get this school/bar exam period of time out of the way and find a place to live in VC.

I will be down in Valley City on Saturday and Sunday. Got any tips as to where to head - I hear the birds are everywhere! I can get on some quarters and half sections around Oakes, Litchville and LaMoure, but they are spread out. If you are interested in meeting up on Saturday with me and my buddies let me know. Send me an email if you are interested - I think you have my address. May sneak in some early morning walleye fishing too!


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## Perry Thorvig (Mar 6, 2002)

Five of us had a great two days of hunting pheasants in central North Dakota. No rain where we were. Saturday morning was very crowded though!! Despite the crowds it was nice to be out there on the opener. I have not hunted the opener for years because of waterfowling. It was fun to have birds jump right in front of you instead of 60 yards away like they do when they get wild later in the season.

Sunday morning the pressure dropped way off. We could not get on one spot that was posted, though. We asked but the landowners said no. They had had a bad experience with other hunters in the past who had walked in without permission. By the way, the birds were walking all over their dry slough 20 yards behind the barn. Oh, well, that's life.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Nick, thanks for the invite, I'll take a rain check when it is cooler--supposed to get warm this weekend. My dog went down once on a warm day and I don't want that again. Think snow!


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