# No Ducks in Nodak



## hoosier dhr (Jul 24, 2003)

Well i never thought id see it but there were very few ducks where we were hunting last week. 
the weather was way to warm for the last week of Oct. ! :******: 
We did see more snows than normal but they would not decoy at all

It will be a long wait till next year.

I was surprised to see all the farm land in the refuge at rocklake the ducks and geese dont even need to leave.

I still had a good time but i think the guys i hunt with would have rather stayed home.

A bad day hunting is still better than a great day at work!


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Sorry you had a bad hunt. The local ducks have been pounded hard and with the weather the way it has been the hunting is slim to none unless you can find an out of the way place that has not seen the pressure.

PM me when you get a chance.

Bob


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## hoosier dhr (Jul 24, 2003)

Thanks Bob,
We put a lot of miles on the truck and were surprised to se so many soy beans. We would find the snows or canadas in a field at dark and go there in the morning and usually even if the geese that were there at night didnt come in at least the ducks would but not this year, so we went to hunting transission sloughs and that was slim.

But like i said i still had a good time.

Good luck to all when they finally do come down. :beer:


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## tumblebuck (Feb 17, 2004)

Same thing with us. Saw the ducks (what few there were) and geese working the same field every night. They never came back in the morning. Water hunting didn't amount to much either.

Still, nothing better than a ND sunrise.


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## hunters7 (Sep 11, 2003)

Just got back from a four day hunt in the DL area. We hunted until 11am each day and then scouted until sundown. The numbers of puddle ducks were significantly down from three weeks ago, but the snows and blues were in some fields in large numbers. Diving ducks were more numerous. In general, the ducks are very wary. We didn't see too many other hunters and the ones we spoke to were somewhat dissapointed.

Please keep the reports coming. Thanks.


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## djleye (Nov 14, 2002)

The birds have been pounded and are very decoy shy at this point in the season. Especially since there have been no influx of new birds.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Not trying to be a smart *** here but this is just another reason to spread out the pressure in the state.....the area that you were hunting is hit day after day by a lot of NR hunters......PM some of us next year if you're having problems finding concentrations....most of us are glad to help.


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## fishunt (Jan 24, 2004)

there are many ducks in two area where I found south of rocklake and one of them got post sign where almost million ducks there and of course too many blue and snow geese all over place and so some lesser and greater canada geese too u will have to scouting and follow wher they roost on field I learn something !!!! it is kind of trick but we got busted them lol


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

When we were moose hunting we found several areas holding tens of thousands of ducks, ya just gotta look for the disaster areas in the state.


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## fishunt (Jan 24, 2004)

I agree


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## Bandcollector02 (Oct 4, 2005)

A good friend of mine was hunting in the same area last weekend and reported the same thing. Few ducks. They ended up shooting some diver though. He did mention that when they left on Sunday there were a lot of snow geese around.


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## HonkerExpress (Sep 23, 2005)

I guess I don't know the total story behind this, but when we were up in that area, not more then a 30 min drive from rock lake, we shot lots of ducks last weekend. Even managed to get some bands out of the deal. I guess its all about location, location, location. My best peice of advise is look for corn, lol. Shot alot more snows and blues then we did ducks, but they are around.


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## Nolte (Oct 6, 2004)

I'll have to agree with Hoosier. We were out last Thur thru Sun and had a tough time finding any good fields. I mean we couldn't even find them to ask for permission after Fri. We found on good one on Thurs and got permission, but it was real tough because it was a picked bean field with very little cover. And no doubt these ducks had already seen a few spreads. They just wouldn't commit in the last few yards for easy shots like a few weeks ago.

We scouted on Fri afternoon, and Sat and couldn't find another good one, except for snows which we weren't geared up for. On Sat we set up in the same field but in a different location that the birds were going to on Fri but they never showed. I'm guessing the roost got hit and they boogied, saw a few big flocks at dawn heading southbound, but very little else. Oh well that's hunting.

We checked over a lot of corn, but we didn't find where any were using it. A few small pods but not huntable numbers.

I've got a ? for you field hunters out there. We only get a few shots at field hunting when out in ND so I've still got ?s. Can you hunt the same field twice with reasonable success, or is it better to find a new one all together. In Prior trips, we could hunt it but usually had to change locations in the field, or get out before the rest of the birds came. This time we got one crack and they were gone completely. Or do you just scout and make sure they're in the night before and go from there.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

This happened to Deltaboy yesterday. They had thousands of ducks the night before but only one small flock came back. But the were littered in geese so it made up for it.

Here's a tip...I know it's hard to do but it doesn't hurt to take a morning off from hunting to scout. When it gets late in the season, WARM and coupled with fairly constant pressure; they'll switch it up from night to morning.


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Nolte

I have at times hunted the same field two days in a row but I usually change locations and get as far away as I can. Hunting educated ducks sucks. I have done what Chris suggested in the past, and scouted mornings. Twice now when I have done so (once last year, once this year) and We did get some afternoon/evening shooting in as the ducks transitioned from fields to transition sloughs on the way back to roost or vice versa when they are on an evening feeding pattern. Pressure is taking its toll weather you want to believe in the pressure theory or not. we are currently up over 900 licenses over last year at this time, and we are probably looking at the first time in the history of waterfowl hunting in ND where NR hunters out number Resident hunters. Please let me qualify that by saying that it is NOT the fault of NONRESIDENTS!!! we are all out there hunting hard. the pressure comes from ALL of us, and the current resources available in some areas of the state are thin.

Bob


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Are you sure it's not the NR's? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## always_outdoors (Dec 17, 2002)

I just came back from a 4 day hunt south of Devils Lake. We worked really hard for ducks and even when we got on a pond that was holding 1000 ducks plus, they were still pretty wary.

Our best hunts came when we put robo away. I think they have just seen too much of that are wary about them. When we sat still and didn't call, that was when we got ducks. (I am not a good caller anyway which is part of the problem)

I only did morning hunts and was always on the water. Hunted from sun up to about 11am each morning. Thursday and Saturday were tough, but Friday and Sunday were really good. Sunday we saw the most birds around and it appeared as though new ducks were moving in. Who knows?

Didn't hear alot of shooting, but saw alot of people out.

Bob is right. Pressure has got them pretty wary. It is even hard to glass a pond without spooky them and that is on some extemely big water.

I think this weekend will probably be the best duck hunting weekend, but alas, it is also deer opener.


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## Goldy's Pal (Jan 6, 2004)

> Are you sure it's not the NR's?


I did it. I blasted every roost I could find from Valley city to Bowbells.. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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