# Moving to ND



## MichHunter (Mar 15, 2010)

Hello all,

I'm new to this site and this state. I'm a laid off transplant from Michigan and looking forward to starting over in North Dakota. After several visits, I've realized chasing ND whitetails is going to be different than Michigan bucks. I havent seen many trees to hang my tree stands in! While I'm an avid bowhunter, I also love gun season. Most deer scenarios in Michigan involve a .30 caliber rifle and less than a 100 yard shot thru heavy brush or heavily wooded areas. What are some of the popular rifles and tactics you guys use? I've noticed lots of rolling hills and farmland around, looks like spot and stalk territory to me. I own a 30.06, .300 savage, and 300 win mag. I know you can kill a deer with just about anything but I'm leaning towards using my win mag with 150gr handloads to carry the majority of the deer hunting load (thinking longer, wide open shots). I'm also considering a 25.06 for deer, antelope and yotes. Last but not least, I stopped by the fish and game office in Bismarck to find out deer tags are drawn from a lottery. How common is it for a resident to draw a tag? Thanks for the insight and looking forward to joining you guys in the woods (er wide open fields and farms) :wink:


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

I can only speak for the zone that I hunt but I will usually get a buck tag 3 out of 5 years and I always get a doe. Then if there are doe tags left (and there always seem to be) you can buy a those for $20. As far as calibers go any of those would work. I shoot a 25-06 myself I think it is perfect for whitetails but it isn't like that is the only one that will work. I think my next gun will be a 7mm08 with a 3-9 Leupold on it. If you have not been a resident for 6 months once season starts you will need to contact game and fish and find out about a waiver of residency form basically swearing you intend to be a ND resident for at least six months. When I moved here I had to go to the county courthouse and pick one up. You need proof of residence and one of the sections needs to be filled in by your employer.

Lots of guys bow hunt here in treestands in the wooded areas and shelter belts. I would but I just don't have the time to do it in the fall. I don't know when you plan on moving here but the lottery deadline is June 2.

Good luck. What part of the state do you intend to locate?


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## MichHunter (Mar 15, 2010)

I will be moving to Bismarck in April.


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

Thats good then you will be able to take care of all of that so you will be considered a resident so you will be able to apply for your tag.

Good luck


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## doubledroptine08 (Feb 8, 2009)

in the unit that i hunt in i get a buck almost every year. and i will get like 2 or 3 does tags a year. for guns any that u have mentioned will work. i use two out of the three (3006,300 winmag). my buddy shoots the 2506 and it performs extremly well. 
welcome to ND. and good luck.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

ND is the best place to hunt deer of all the places I've hunted them.

My preferred method is glass from a vantage point and take my shot from a solid rest at a calm standing deer who doesn't have a clue I'm in town. My favorite deer/goat calibers for ND are the 270 Winchester and 257 Wby Mag. Last year I used a LH Weatherby Accu-Mark in 257 Wby all season and decided even though it's a heavy rifle, it may well be the perfect all around ND caliber. The shots I take range from 100 to around 400 yards with the average kill shot on bucks over the years being around 275-300.

Probably the most popular tactic is walking/pushing sloughs and shelterbelts. Personally, I want no part of this for a number of reasons. Also extremely popular is "road shooting" (I won't dignify this by calling it hunting). I flat out hate road shooters. Watching a truck tear down a prairie trail at about 60MPH after a buck running across a section then the morons inside winging shots at it (getting out often optional) PO's me bigtime...

I've killed a number of deer out here with the 300 Win Mag and 7Mm Mag. They are good prairie calibers if you don't mind the recoil & muzzle blast. Your 30-06 with 150-165 grainers will do you just fine, too. I'm all for adding rifles to the safe, but if I were you and happy with those rifles, I would spend the money on as good a spotting scope & binocs as I could afford.

A good coyote rifle is almost a must out here. Most everyone I know carries a 204, 223, 250, or 243 in the truck and we do our level best to kill every coyote we see. I have & use 223, 22-250, 243, and the 257 Roy for song dogs. Tough to beat a 243 for coyotes. My dedicated coyote calling rifle is a LH Tikka T3 Lite Hunter 243 dipped in Prairie Ghost Snow camo. I also really like The 257 Wby as it bucks the wind so well and makes 350+ shots on dogs almost routine.

Depending on the unit & species, a resident will draw a firearms buck tag every 2-5 years. Up until maybe 10 years ago, in the unit I live in I drew buck tags every year. There are a few units where you might still draw a buck every year but if so it's darn rare.

IMO it's a waste of time to put in for a doe as a second choice in the first lottery as you can pretty much buy all the extra doe tags you want after all the draws. These extra doe tags are unit specific but can be taken with any legal weapon in any open season. I usually buy 2-4 and fill them with bow & rifle.

As a rule I don't even consider taking a buck with rifle that I judge won't go at least 130. Last year's rifle buck was a nice heavy beamed 4 point that went 128 & change that was taken at 240 yards as he worked a scrape. I normally would not have taken a buck that "small" early in the season but I was extremely sick opening weekend and was unsure how much hunting I would be able to do as the season progressed. I regretted that decision when last week of the season I had a 6 point of at least the mid 170's chase a doe by me at 30 yards, and all I had in my pocket was an extra doe tag...

Muzzle Loader is a separate season and a ML buck tag is highly sought after. If he puts in every year a guy usually draws one every 4 -5 years.

Our resident bow tag is over the counter and good for either sex, either species, anywhere in the state. I live out in the country and usually don't have too much problem getting a 4 point or better that breaks 125 with bow. My bow buck last year was 5 point that went 136 & change. My nearest neighbor (3/4 mile away) arrowed this buck's partner (they hung together around our farmsteads all Summer and we could watch them in the fields just about every evening); that buck went 150 & change.

So if a resident is lucky he can draw a rifle buck tag, a ML buck tag, and take another buck with an over the counter bow tag all in the same season...


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## fullmetalone (Jul 12, 2009)

One of the things that you will have to deal with shooting here is usually wind. So i would also say consider that in your choice of caliber and bullet for what you are doing. Assuming you are a conservative, glad to have ya!


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

Welcome to ND.
i believe you have to be live in state for a while, say a year before the $20 tags apply. You'll have to look through the proclimation. I'm not exactly sure, so you'll have to contact to get the right regs.

xdeano


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## Longshot (Feb 9, 2004)

I believe you have to be a resident of ND for 6 months prior to applying or purchasing a tag to be considered a resident. That or you can fill out a waiver through your employer.


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

You have to do the waiver of residency form. Or at least that is what I had to do.

Must have proof of residency(photocopy of new drivers license)

A part that has to filled in by your employer and get it notorized(if I remember correctly)

I moved here in September. After I got my lisence I was able to buy a left over doe tag.
Good luck with the move


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## fox412 (Mar 18, 2005)

Here is the link to the form you will need http://www.gf.nd.gov/licenses/docs/sfn-6085.pdf


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## Bigfootisreal (Jan 24, 2010)

MichHunter,

As a fellow ex-Michigan resident, and now a MN guy, I congratulate you on your move. I suspect it is because of the economic conditions of your former state and I have empathy for you if you got caught up in a job loss situation. If so, you will be fine. ND has a much stronger job situation than some of the other states in the area. Wave goodbye to the politicians you are leaving behind. You won't miss them.

If you are moving to the "west river" region, you will soon encounter a new hobby that will cause instant addiction. You will not be talking about deer hunting after this Summer. You will, however, be spending every dime you have (or even those you don't have!) to buy rifles, optics, ammo, benches, spotting scopes, range finders, off road trucks, dynamite, camping equipment, etc. to go out and kill little prairie dogs. You will soon befriend a bunch of guys on the reservation south of you. Hang out at a bar and buy a few beers for the friendly folks you'll meet and you will soon be visiting ranch after ranch in pursuit of the perfect dog town. You will lose sleep studying maps at night. You will drive hundreds of miles and feel like it was worth it if you experienced the "pink mist" even just a few times on the trip. You will sleep in the back of your truck out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, bath with a washcloth and a bucket of water, eat potato chips and slim jims for 3 days, have no contact with the outside world, have your camp visited by a mountain lion at night, and love every minute of it. You will find yourself lying to friends about how far away the kill really was (I call it "estimating"). This whole thing may threaten your new job or your marriage or your religion, but in the end, your addiction will win out and you will find yourself reading the prairie dog hunting forum on this web site and writing in with tales of your latest adventures.

I wish you well, our new friend, and encourage you to just go with it and not try to fight the temptation. If you need help, several of us are just an email away and are likely to be passing through your town soon on their way to the holy fields of battle. There's room in the truck if you make your reservations early.

I recommend the following as a starting point:

.17 HMR's (one for every window of the vehicle you are driving)
.22 Hornet (cut the barrel to 16" so it can sit on your lap in the truck. Sometimes coyotes pop up and beg to be killed)
.223 bolt rifles (a few of them, just for variety and ability to swap out when barrels get too hot)
AR-15 lower
.223 upper with optics for those 200-300 yard shots. I like the 16" bull barrel DPMS. Easy to crawl around with.
.204 Ruger in a JP Rifles AR-15 upper with a 24X scope for the 300+++ yard shots
.204 Ruger in the Savage low profile precision left hand rifle for your kid who was born with that challenge
Glock 10mm handgun. Sometimes you can't resist when the little rodents present themselves at 20 yards.
Taurus Judge with .410 shot. Yep, there be snakes out there.
2,000 rounds of ammo (a little light, I know, but have you seen the prices lately?)
Lots of water

Those are the bare essentials. Everything else (tent, food, clean clothes) is luxury.

You may think I am a little crazy, but we'll check in with you later this year. I am willing to bet we'll meet out in the middle of nowhere someday and swap stories about the big one that got splatted at 623 yards ("estimated") when no one was around to witness the event.

By the way, shooting gophers and coyotes from a vehicle is legal in ND. I never do it from the road. Just when we are out in the dog towns driving from spot to spot. We have a lot of fun, but with the ranges we shoot to, you have to practice safe shooting every time you pull the trigger. The kids have to present open actions whenever we pick up and move. We establish "zones" of fire to prevent any accidental shots towards ranch homes, cattle, etc. When you are 2-3 hours (by helicopter) from the nearest hospital, safety has to be the hightest priority all of the time.

Anyway, welcome to the site.

And yes, Bigfoot is real.


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## MichHunter (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks for the help! I'm looking forward to new outdoor experiences "out west." Bigfootisreal, you made me laugh with that one, and yes I am like the other 15% in michigan that lost their jobs (Thanks Jenny!).


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## Candiru (Aug 18, 2005)

I moved to ND 5 years ago. The residency waiver does not apply to lottery licenses; deer, turkey, swan, antelope, moose, elk, and sheep. My understanding is that you have to be here 6 mos before the lottery is held. I moved here in May and had to hunt deer as a NR that fall. The odds of drawing a buck tag a real long. Leftover doe tags are $55 (3rd lottery and afterward). My residency waiver allowed me to hunt small game/waterfowl and fish as a resident.


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