# NR Regs for PLOTS Lands Oct 11-17



## d wiz (Jul 31, 2003)

Can somebody please help me out with this. A paper here in MN stated nonresidents are prohbited from any type of small game hunting, including waterfowl, on PLOTS lands during the week of Oct 11-17. I then read somewhere that this rule only applied to pheasant hunting. Can somebody please clarify this for me.

Thanks

D


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## Hunter_58346 (May 22, 2003)

Go to this link: http://www.state.nd.us/gnf/licenses/smallgameguide.html

And thank the over zealous legislators for this bit of law.....


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Our Attorney General has ruled that the law says...non-res. cannot hunt GNF land including PLOTS for anything from Oct. 11 through Oct. 17.


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## prairie hunter (Mar 13, 2002)

A comment for those not living in ND. Federal Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA) are not impacted by this ruling. Only state owned and leased land are impacted.

More often than not it is the Federal WPAs that offer better waterfowl hunting. Of course there are exceptions.


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## d wiz (Jul 31, 2003)

Thanks for the help guys.

Curious as to everyone's opinion on this, specifically ND residents. My thoughts would be that this could/will deter some NR's into going either a week earlier or a week later. I would think that would mean you have a he11 of a lot of hunters in zones 1 & 2 over a 2, maybe 3 week period. I don't see how this really be beneficial for anybody, whether you a resident or nonresident.

I know the whole resident vs. nonresident issue has been pretty heated on here. And from what I've read in the past on this site, it seems the people that are quite knowledgeable about the issue are mainly blaming outfitters. The outfitters have to be licking their chops with this. Just my $.02.

D


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

This law was passed mainly for pheasant hunting.But the word pheasant was left out.It will have a BIG impact on hunting pheasants that first weekend.


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## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Some of the effects of this provision are unknown and we'll just have to see. With a 110 day pheasant season, longer I think than any other state, I have a hard time believing it will vastly increase outfitter use for upland. If you want to hunt pheasants in warmer, snow-free conditions, and you focus on state land, there's still several to many weeks to do it, just not the first week, a week when most other states have not even yet "opened."

For waterfowl, this provision takes WMA's out of play for the week. Some of these sometimes can be good waterfowl areas, but certainly not all and not always. In the pheasant belt, they are typically great pheasant habitat. Some of the PLOTS parcels have water, but they are by and large more upland and deer type habitat. Federal lands, e.g., WPA's and the Grasslands, remain open during this time.

Now on philosophy. The latest interpretation is no mistake by the sportspersons closely working the bill. Would have been an enforcement nighmare to try and decide who was where and for what purpose. And, the purpose of the bill was to give ND residents improved pheasant hunting opportunities. A pheasant doesn't know or care why someone is is passing through the area. Resticting traffic on these sites for this week is consistent with providing residents with great, accessible pheasant hunting on state land for the first seven days.


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## quackerwhacker (Aug 21, 2003)

I am from Lansing Michigan and have been driving out to North Dakota for a waterfowl hunting treat in October for the last 5 years. I am having a hard time understanding why North Dakota seems to want to make it more and more difficult for out of state hunters to come to North Dakota.

First N.D. has the increased license fees for a combo hunt of ducks and pheasants, and now they have decided to reserve certain State controlled lands for resident hunters during 1 single week.

So far in every town that we have stayed in, the people have been some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. North Dakota hospitality is second to none. But I have not been in any area that is upset about the number of out of state hunters or where these hunters are practicing their hobbies. Granted I have not been around some of the more highly invaded areas of N.D. like the Devils Lake area where there may be some issues. I have no problems paying a little more money for the opportunity to hunt a State like N.D. but I think that making State managed properties off limits to out of staters who help fund the monies that go to the management of these areas is a little extreme.

By the way I will be hunting extreme North western North Dakota this year. It is some new area for me and I am excited to get to see it and to meet new friends this year.


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## H2OfowlND (Feb 10, 2003)

There is ALOT of private and FEDERAL lands still available to hunt the week NR's are so called "LOCKED OUT" of, hunt those, knock on some doors!! If the only land that you hunt is PLOTS, come here the following week!!
Last year I never set foot on PLOTS land, it can be done either way...hunt only PLOTS, don't hunt PLOTS, or hunt the following week. I stay away from PLOTS because it gets the hell pounded out of it!! This is the state of ND thanking its resident sportsmen and women for living here, so get over it! 
Sorry to sound a little irritated, but I'm tired of reading these forums and hearing nothing but the same crap over and over.

H2OfowlND


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## d wiz (Jul 31, 2003)

H2O - 
The really unfortunate thing with this whole ordeal is the fact that there are a lot of NR's who are seriously ****** off and are blaming ND hunters. Which of course starts the mud-slinging. And in that aspect I am on your side with the whole irritation deal.

My biggest fear is that ND waterfowling will turn into what SD pheasant hunting is now... one big money game. Maybe that is something that we can't stop, but at least I would sure like to prolong it. Gaining access to private land seems to get more and more difficult with every passing year, and the total amount of hunters is ever increasing. I would prefer to see a cap on NR's. North Dakota is one of the few states that can cater to the freelancing hunter, whether resident or nonresident. It would be a shame if WE as waterfowlers would ever lose such a luxury.


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## quackerwhacker (Aug 21, 2003)

H2O

I agree that there is a ton of huntable property in ND and that will not keep me from coming out. However, I do not think that it is the ND sportsman that is damaged by the newly enacted regulations. It ends up being the other residents who are not interested in hunting and who are more agreeable to having the local economy given a boost by the NR who are there for a month or so.

I am not sure where anybody sees me pointing a finger at ND resident hunter's as the root of the problem. This is a situation that starts at a governmental level and hurts people below.

I agree that in state resident sportsman should be given a higher degree of privilege within there own state. I think that had been ongoing in previous years. Why the bigger seperation now.

There may be some really good reasons for this that I as an out of stater am not aware of and I would like to understand it. I am not down on the North Dakota sportsman, I just hope that an affordable trip to a waterfowling mecca continues to exist in the coming years.


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## Field Hunter (Mar 4, 2002)

Have to agree with H2O. I'm really getting tired of the whining by a few NRs over the 7 day restriction of PLOTS lands....it's just not a BIG thing at all. The PLOTS and STATE land don't amount to much land at all in relation to rest of ND. Get here a week later...more crops will be down.... and the hunting WILL be better. Sorry that the MEA weekend falls on the 16th....I don't think the ND gnf department really looks into when all our bordering states have their teacher's conventions. Next year it may fall on a different weekend.


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## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Unchecked demand will ruin it for everyone other than landowners who wish to maximize revenue from hunting. When demand gets heavy, those who can afford to, obtain less-hasseled, exclusive hunting by buying hunting land, leasing hunting land or using an outfitter. All lands subjected to this effect tend to get underutilized compared to when it was "available". Remaining "available" land gets used even heavier by the vast majority of hunters who can't or don't want to secure exclusive access, and the whole process fuels itself again.

At the end, you have significant areas of the very best stuff that are used by relatively few people. The commercialization model, at the end, produces fewer people using more land.

Average-income (the majority) resident hunters lose, as the use of the ever-shrinking "available" land gets over-used and crowded. Average-income nonresident hunters lose for the same reason and because the things they find so neat about ND are gone. Economies lose as the "less on more" model at the end produces less "traffic". Some landowners win - everyone else loses.

Check demand at just the right level, ND and her economies still attract those of us who have based our residency decisions in part on the quality of hunting, the ND economies still attract the volumes of people who travel to her for her special experience, and the landowners who wish to gain revenue from hunting are still able to do so, just not at the same level than if you let demand go wild.

Don't, and you end up with Texas or the other states that have trended all the way through commercialization. As I've said before, we're not saving us (ND hunters) from you, we're saving US (all average income hunters and the rural economies) from you. Unchecked demand will, at the end, produce far more losers than winners.


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## quackerwhacker (Aug 21, 2003)

The issue doesa not boil down to access to some piece of property for either resident hunters or non resident hunters. I know that I can gain access to prime ND hunting areas by knocking on a few doors and having some libations at the town watering hole. Beleive me it is more difficult to find access to private land in Michigan than it ever has been in ND. Resident hunters already have their connections so this is hardly an issue.

The issue is a growing trend in the world of hunting that is trying to tell non residents to stay away from the States Natural Resource use. Just a bad idea in general. I do not think that this is the end of the world for hunting yet, but it causes me a degree of concern over what may be in the near future. It should also cause some concern to all in state residents. It seems rather silly to argue about what state has the best type of fishing or hunting and declare that you will never go there. The U.S.A. was built on the idea of open borders to out of staters in order to bolster everyones economy. I hope that in the future anyone from ND who wants to experience the best walleye fishing in the world can come to Lake Erie in Michigan and not feel like they are being taken advantage of. There is a huge country out there with everything offering different experiences and I hope to experience as much of it as I can. Hopefully it does not become off limits to me because I am from a different State. It is not at that point now but time and time again once something starts moving it is more likely to pick up speed than to stop.

I am in no way angry about these events but I am definitely concerned as an outdoor enthusiast.


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## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

Try being an outdoor enthusiast who's watching the quality of hunting in our state go down the crapper the way of TX, CA, LA, AR, MD and other such states. Yes it's still better here than in most places, but the trends of data and observations tell us we're right behind. With the huge spike in demand and that demand coming from areas we haven't seen before and the explosion of outfitter-influence, there is no reason to believe we won't trend all the way through this time.

A couple of things to remember when trying to compare hunting to fishing that someone reminded me of the other day. Because almost all fishing is done on public waters, "exclusivity" can never be obtained, and to a certain extent, you can deal with over-use through stocking. Not so for hunting. Also, when over-pressured, fish may stop biting, but they can't just pick up and go. Waterfowl can and do, and unchecked demand will mean less bird-days spents in the state. Also not good for anyone interested in the resource.

It is spiriling demand, not a stick-it-to-you attitude, that has caused most nonresident restictions in most states, I suspect. So to here.


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## shawn114 (Aug 22, 2003)

I read that you cannot hunt waterfowl on PLOTS or ND state owned land if you are a non-resident because of pheasant hunting. Only 11-17th of Oct.


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