# Learned a lot on first time ND hunt



## smeurett (Mar 11, 2006)

Just got back from South Central ND-great trip! Wind, cold, snow and the farmer handed us a map and said-go explore-We loved it. Hunting is so much different in ND. We scouted small potholes, tried to jump shoot them with the 4 of us belly crawling or sneaking thru the weeds-if successful, the birds would get up and we may get a shot, but soon learned if we hunkered down for a while, we could get returning birds for an hour. Is this the usual technique? We'd try to get on a small pot hole in the morning and evening also and set up with decoys. The super windy days last wed and thurs were good. Sat and sunday were less successful...maybe the birds were just not out and about as often (the weather was much calmer and nicer). And we tried different spots each day. The big bodies of water were less ice covered and seemed to be the roosting areas, so we stayed away from them. We couldn't beleive how many species of birds we shot (in NC Wisc, it's mallards, woodies and teal mostly). Great trip-Thanks NORDAK!


----------



## Eric Hustad (Feb 25, 2002)

Glad to hear you had a good trip!! You certainly did have an interesting week with the weather. I stayed home this weekend and finished up projects but am excited to get after the ducks next weekend. Are you coming back again this fall or just the one time?


----------



## smeurett (Mar 11, 2006)

NO, can't do another trip this year, but I know I'll come back!


----------



## Eric Hustad (Feb 25, 2002)

Well keep reading and picking up tips and next year will be that much better. I've been hunting for 20 years in ND and every fall I am learn new things. I guess that's part of what makes hunting so fun. Well again glad to hear you had a good hunt and keep in touch.


----------



## smeurett (Mar 11, 2006)

Thanks, I've been reading this forum since last year when we planned the trip and picked up a lot. At camp, we commented how much we changed our hunting techniques as the week went on. Best hunting trip I've ever done.


----------



## gandergrinder (Mar 10, 2002)

If you are going to push ducks off of a small pothole. Instead of trying to get them on the jump. Just push them off without shooting. Set up a half dozen decoys and wait. They will come back in small bunches and you can shoot some birds.

The nice thing about this method is that you will only disturb one small slough. Instead of jump shooting and scaring them off of 5 or 10 spots.

When you really start to figure things out, and you will with more experience. You won't have to jump birds because you will be done hunting by 10:00 am. The rest of the day you can spend scouting and talking to people and learning more about the area which will lead to more good hunts.


----------



## N2Duks (Aug 27, 2006)

what about potholes with say only 5-10 ducks on it? do you sneak and shoot, or push off and decoy..with 20 or so birds I'd definitely throw the dekes out and wait, but with smaller bodies of water and less ducks, I'd be tempted to shoot em...what do you guys do??


----------



## goosegrinder (Mar 4, 2005)

Not sure how far Smeurett had to drive but I know it's about 600 miles from Nebraska and I wouldn't drive that far to jump shoot one duck let alone limits of ducks. The fun is in the decoyin'...IMO. It is amazing how fast those ducks will come back after being spooked off and not shot. First time we did it up there,I think we only got about 1 dz. decoys out before the ducks started coming back. The first 2 downed ducks were drake pintails,2 wigeons, and the rest were mallards for our almost 5 man limit. Only way to do it. Glad you had a good time.

Alex


----------



## smeurett (Mar 11, 2006)

550 mile drive from Wisco.....and no, not to just jump shoot. There is nothing better than decoying birds-damn, I love that! We'd set up in the morning and then scout and check out other potholes later in the morning. I kept thinking, yeah, scare them out of a pond, toss out a few decoys and then wait for them to come back. In about 80% of the time, they did come back within 10 minutes or so and we got pass shooting. Next time, we'll do the quick decoy set-up technique.
Just wondering...we did see groups of Pintails and wanted to get one in the worst way, but they seemed to get off the water and not come back. Are they more difficult to decoy or more skiddish? We don't have 'tails here where I hunt.


----------



## N2Duks (Aug 27, 2006)

you and me both man...I'd love to shoot a pintail...been going up to ND for 3 years and yet to shoot one...mallards are old game for me in IN..that is all we get...we love to shoot a bunch of different species! if I get a pintail, it's going to the taxidermist shop!


----------



## smeurett (Mar 11, 2006)

I agree, one of the cool things about our trip was seeing and shooting so many different species. Mallards, of course, shovlers, bluebills,Widgeon, Gadwall, redhead, a Can, green wing teal,Bufflehead-very cool.


----------



## Dunk221999 (Sep 11, 2002)

IF you want a pintail, hunt a field.... always to damn many of those buzzing or landing in the decoys.... and you can only shoot 1.

Do that for one morning and you'll have all the pins you could ever want.............................


----------



## N2Duks (Aug 27, 2006)

we're bringing tons of field gear on our trip so hopefully we'll bag a few( I know one a day)...and smeurett...it was funny..back at the hotel the first year we were there, some of the other guys we're making fun of our "bag" with so many different species...I told them all we get in IN is mallards, they are all the same to me, but the different ducks...that's why I go to ND, and for the pure numbers of fowl...glad you had a good time! :beer:


----------

