# Roost Busters Boat hunters, R or NR please read!



## water_swater (Sep 19, 2006)

Its getting to be that time of year where we may not get another push of birds, yes the only place the birds are sitting is on big water, please leave them alone, I'm not saying dont hunt, I'm just saying leave the roost sites alone. Yea you may slaughter them once but its better for everyone if you just leave them alone.

Thanks for your courtesy


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## parker_lipetzky (Aug 31, 2006)

agreed this time of year its better to land


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## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

It is a good idea to leave them alone on the water all year long!


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

Couldn't disagree with this post more. I hunted some big water and stayed clear from the roost and still shot my ducks out of my boat and the ducks are still there a week later.

This is nothing short of a plea from a bunch of lazy hunters who don't want to work for their birds, but would rather drive to and from their hunting spot so they don't have to do any "leg work".

Not hunting the roost I agree with, but telling people _"It is a good idea to leave them alone on the water all year long!" _ is WRONG.


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## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

*live2hunt*



> This is nothing short of a plea from a bunch of lazy hunters who don't want to work for their birds, but would rather drive to and from their hunting spot so they don't have to do any "leg work".


Let's see - you drive up to the landing, launch your boat, motor out to your "spot" on the big water, toss your decoys over the side, motor around to pick up your ducks and decoys, motor back to the launch, load the boat and motor back home.

On the other hand, I walk from 1/2 mile to a mile into where I hunt, carrying all my equipment, and the walk out (with any birds I have harvested). Because of this, I am the "lazy" one who won't do any "leg work".

You must have your head stuck in the wrong part of your anatomy!


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

> On the other hand, I walk from 1/2 mile to a mile into where I hunt, carrying all my equipment, and the walk out (with any birds I have harvested). Because of this, I am the "lazy" one who won't do any "leg work".


A whole entire 1/2 mile in one walk with all your decoys????

Yeah right. You drive out across the stubble field, unload the decoys, guns, etc.. and drive out. Your only walk is to and from the vehicle which may end up being 1/2 mile away. wooo.. hard stuff.

Ever launched a 200 lbs boat by yourself in a pair of waders. I use my boat to get to places I can't trek to. Many times I pull my sled with my decoys in and push through 30-40 feet of cattails before hitting any water.

My boat also doesn't allow me the pleasure of standing in it and throwing out or retreiving my deeks. I do all that work on my own since it is only a 10 footer.

jhegg: Anytime you want to come with, I could use a hunting partner. Hopefully then we can see who's head is stuck in the wrong part of his anatomy.


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## jhegg (May 29, 2004)

*live2hunt *



> Yeah right. You drive out across the stubble field, unload the decoys, guns, etc.. and drive out. Your only walk is to and from the vehicle which may end up being 1/2 mile away. wooo.. hard stuff.


I guess you must have been watching someone else.



> Ever launched a 200 lbs boat by yourself in a pair of waders. I use my boat to get to places I can't trek to. Many times I pull my sled with my decoys in and push through 30-40 feet of cattails before hitting any water.


I used to band ducks during the summer for the DNR - 30-40 feet of cattails would have been a cakewalk. Try pulling a grumman sport boat loaded with a portable generator, deep cycle marine battery, spotlights, banding gear, catch crates and net through floating bogs, mud flats *and* cattail before you see open water.

Sure, if you want to pull me through cattails in yourb boat (I'm about 250# btw), I'll hunt with you. Then I can truely see what the dark side looks like.


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## slough (Oct 12, 2003)

But my dad can beat up your dad.


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## Chris Schulz (Sep 7, 2004)

Pissing all over the place!


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

I thought the rut was over.


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

> I used to band ducks during the summer for the DNR


You think you are the only one that has done that? I worked 5 years with fish and wildlife banding geese on Audubon & Lake Nettie along with ducks up and around the J Clark Salyer NWR.

So everytime you go out to hunt waterfowl, you carry everything in? You never drive out into the field for a field hunt? How many trips do you make? How many decoys do you haul in?



> Sure, if you want to pull me through cattails in yourb boat (I'm about 250# btw), I'll hunt with you.


It is obvious why you don't water hunt now.....Just wants to sit in the boat while others do the leg work.


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

I agree with jhegg, hunting water is for nonresidents. Thats the easiest way to spot one. Whenever i see a boat on the hood of a car i think NR. Here is my question to you live2hunt? if hunting water is so much work why don't u hunt the fields? I really wouldn't mind if people hunted the water if they didn't bust the roost but that just doesn't happen (there's to many idiots!)


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## Triple B (Mar 9, 2004)

I've never understood why so many boats. I know in southern ND the potholes run alittle deeper, but where i'm from you'd have a tough time finding a slough above your chest. must be for looks, or like averyghg said, easier recognition of NR's.


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## goosebusters (Jan 12, 2006)

I've hunted out of a boat once. I bought a fourteen foot jon boat for hunting water when the situation called and I have only used it once. I'll admit that I had fun during the hunt, but I absolutely chased every single duck off of this lake (except for the divers, but do they really count?). That was the middle of last year and I haven't hunted out of my boat again. I don't think hunting water is bad, it just has to be done at the right time. Mid morning and afternoon are ok, I can't stand it when people go throw out 2 dozen duck floaters on a lake holding 15k snows as the sun comes up chasing all those birds to mexico. Also, I hate it when people hunt ducks right until dark, first off it is illegal and those birds obviously aren't going to stick around if they don't have a place to sleep. If you have to hunt water, why not hunt a pothole?


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

well said! thank you for that great opinion


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## Bert (Sep 11, 2003)

Thing is that, yes, you can shoot a limit a birds by putting on your waders and walking 20 yards off a road through some cattails. Dont even need decoys. (killing not hunting)

You can shoot your limit by driving past a swamp and crawling back in the ditch and jump shooting. (killing not hunting)

You can venture out into somebody elses field and shoot your birds over decoys when they are trying to feed. (hunting but no more or less legitimate or disturbing to the birds than water hunting).

There are lots of ways to shoot your limit.

I have brought a sliver of a duck boat to hunt in NoDak in years gone by.
Probably got laughed at by some of you as I made my way through the beautiful city of Fargo.

It was never a little pothole.

My reason for the boat was that I enjoy finding the perfect set up to decoy shoot ducks. (Overkill if it were all about killing for me...see above).

Before daybreak, I would pushpole back in through channels and around points and across open water. Id find a spot where the wind would play nice with my decoys and help me to make killing shots on singles and small flocks. They would all leave at 7 or 8 oclock to go off to one or two fields where you guys would pop at them wheather or not I was there.

Id shoot my 4-6 birds (depending on the limit or less) (with 6 or 8 shots) and slip out of there with ducks circling and piling in behind me as I left.

Tell me where the big crime is in that.

Conversely, here is what could happen were I a resident "field hunting purist":

I could drive and drive and find where big flocks of birds are feeding in a specific area that they deemed "the spot". Go bug the landowner regarding permission. Drive my vehicle out to set decoys. At 8:00 when the birds start coming to feed I pick and choose out of large flocks (or educate and spook the large flocks as I disturb the dining room...how often do you field hunt by yourself...alone with a dog?)

The shooting that occurs in the bedroom does no more damage than the shooting that occurs in the dining room. Gotta eat...gotta rest. Shooting is shooting. They pick a roost for a reason and they pick a field for a reason. North Dakota has plenty of both.
Shoot at a flock on big water and they will find another spot on that water and light. Shoot at them in a field and they rarely fly a half mile and light and feed there.

I have jump shot creeks, rivers and farm ponds. I have shot ducks and geese in fields. I have pass shot ducks and geese in any number of good passes and I have hunted from a boat, in water over decoys. Wanna know where I have fired the least rounds for the most birds? Decoys, boat, water. Wanna know where I had the most fun? Water, decoys boat. Wanna know where I pestered the least amount of birds? Water, boat, decoys.

Ya know what though? I dont care what you think. Y'all want everybody who comes to NoDak to hunt fields (but you dont really want anybody to come there) (you dont like it when the landowners post due to too many people asking). You dont want NRs to hunt water. (but you want to limit them to two weeks which is really, on average, probably 4 days for most so that kicks them in the nuts regarding scouting and getting permission for fields and you dont want a GO to do that for them even though that is really what GOs are all about).

You take credit for producing the ducks because you live in the state but you dont own the land they are produced on. You want to kill the ducks and geese, but not enough to buy the land to do it on but still dictate who can come and go and for how long and how they hunt that land you dont own.

People who actually own the land and produce the ducks decide to make a buck by selling access (not the birds, as many of you spin it to be) and you guys blow a gasket.

Be honest. Admit that you dont want the burdon of land ownership, you want unlimited and sole hunting rights to it and and you want to dictate how the birds are hunted on that land you dont own because you are so much more entitled than the landowner or the NR.

Of folks that see it your way...you are the minority fellas. Most landowners dont understand your sense of entitlement and neither do most NRs. The only ace up your sleeve is the fact that there are getting to be more urbanite hunters in NoDak than landowners and your voice is getting louder. Good luck with that.


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

> Here is my question to you live2hunt? if hunting water is so much work why don't u hunt the fields?


Sometimes it is alot of work and sometimes it isn't. I don't hunt the roost, so sometimes I may need my little boat to get to the other end of a large body of water as so not to disturb the roost.

Other times I will find a nice body of water with ducks in ponds around the area and rely on calling, the decoy spread, weather and some luck to get my birds as so not to disturb those "other ponds".

I like hunting water. I don't mind putting some waders on. I also hunt fields. It just depends on what I am feeling and which species of waterfowl I want to key in on. I don't just hunt mallards.

As I said above, you can hunt the water without busting the roost.


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## wirehairman (Oct 31, 2005)

jhegg said:


> Bert,
> Get a life!
> Jim


I realize I am mostly a lurker on this site and may not have the respect of some of the long time posters, but was this really necessary? I read a lot of the threads on this site and must say Bert pretty accurately summarized many reoccuring sentiments I've observed, albeit with no sugar coating.

I don't know if these themes are so prevalent because a minority of the posters post more often and louder than the rest with their opinions or if its because I'm one of the evil non-residents and just take it too personally. In either case, its getting old.

And just so you don't lose any sleep, I have no intentions of visiting your beautiful state to hunt anytime in the near future. This board has definitely instilled in me a fear of mistakingly busting the roost or infringing upon the ND residents' god given right to the game on somebody else's land. I will stick to poking around MT.

On the other hand, if any of you would like to visit MT and teach me how to hunt ducks somewher besides the water (because I've never even seen a duck in a field), you would be more than welcome. :beer:


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

WIREHAIRMAN

Those are Berts OPINIONS not facts!!!Take it how you must but I am with JHEGG on this one!!!


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## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

People say a lot of things on the internet in ways that can get a little harsh but it is only the internet and one man's opinion is only one man's opinion and when a small minority of posters dominate a topic it can seem that their opinions are the consenses of our entire NoDak intellect. So if you can see trends in our chatter we are certainly an opinionated bunch and only say what we believe to be our own opinionated truth. No more, no less but if you act like a NoDak when you come to Nodak you will certainly find us a friendly bunch.


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## Bert (Sep 11, 2003)

Mav

Those are Bert's experiences...facts... not opinions.

Take them for what they are worth but I was there...did that.


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