# Hunting and fishing in ND



## welkins (Dec 1, 2013)

Hello all, I am a middle aged southern boy from western KY. I am in contract negotiations for a medical position in Grand Forks and if all goes well, we will be relocating around May. I went to school at UND and look forward to coming back this time to stay. We hope to buy a farmstead with small acreage (5-10 acres) outside of town. My 2 boys 18 and 19 plan to attend either UND or Northland. We are also looking forward to walleye fishing in spring and summer, waterfowl and deer hunting in fall, and ice fishing in winter. The boys are already wanting to replace our floaters with full body duck and goose decoys to hunt stubble fields instead of wearing waders and packing decoys in to hunt. I am planning to get a boat to use on Devils Lake. I don't think a 16 ft Jon boat would be ideal and don't want to spend $40,000 for a top of the line Lund. I just want to find a good quality dependable boat that will get the job done and be comfortable to fish in all day. If any of you native North Dakotans have any suggestions or advice about hunting and fishing in ND or what kind of boat you use, it would be appreciated.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Welcome back to ND. You'll enjoy it.

Let someone else eat the depreciation. There are great buys on used boats as people sell, trade or upgrade. Devils Lake offers much protected water too, (smaller boats), as well as the big lake. That protected water offers some of the best fishing. The money you save on the used boat can go for ice fishing gear which doubles the length of your season.

And of course you need fishing dogs too.


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## welkins (Dec 1, 2013)

Dick Monson said:


> Welcome back to ND. You'll enjoy it.
> 
> Let someone else eat the depreciation. There are great buys on used boats as people sell, trade or upgrade. Devils Lake offers much protected water too, (smaller boats), as well as the big lake. That protected water offers some of the best fishing. The money you save on the used boat can go for ice fishing gear which doubles the length of your season.
> 
> And of course you need fishing dogs too.


Well we have never been ice fishing so learning how and where should be interesting and fun. I am not overly familiar with your dogs, but am going to guess German Wirehair Pointer or Griffon pointer. I'm leaning toward the former. Great dogs. You are right I would probably bring my dog also. I have a choc Lab and he LOVES to retrieve ducks and geese. He just turned 4. He loves running in hunt tests when not picking up birds in the field. Hope there will be some up there as well as HRC or AKC club to join.


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## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

You need to PM Zogman here. Don't let the user name scare you. Grand Forks is strategically centered for Lake of the Woods too and he'll steer you right. And you will be a skip and a jump from ruffed grouse in MN. Labs are great dogs all the way around.


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

Also to let you know you can find good used boats (lunds, rangers, alumicrafts, etc) for around $15000 that will be big enough for larger lakes and perfect for small ones.

Like Mr. Monson is pointing out.... That area is good so you can explore many options with fishing and hunting.... You have all that ND has to offer and a few hours drive you have Canada and MN. Plus SD is a stones throw away too.

YOu will have great fishing in ND and if you want to travel to MN. Lake of the woods is a great place to catch walleyes. I have made many trips. I live in SE MN. So if I want to travel 10+ hours. I sometimes head to ND as well. Which also has great fishing in many lakes.

Ice fishing just get the set up you see in Mr. Monson's pictures.... a Flip Clam, auger and rods. you will do just fine. ;-)


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## welkins (Dec 1, 2013)

Chuck Smith said:


> Also to let you know you can find good used boats (lunds, rangers, alumicrafts, etc) for around $15000 that will be big enough for larger lakes and perfect for small ones.
> 
> Like Mr. Monson is pointing out.... That area is good so you can explore many options with fishing and hunting.... You have all that ND has to offer and a few hours drive you have Canada and MN. Plus SD is a stones throw away too.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. I do like fishing in MN as well. I have taken my boys up to Mille Lacs on a couple of occasions and they really enjoyed it Never been to Lake of the Woods, but I hear good things about the fishing. We have been to ND once to duck hunt and Canada 4 times to duck hunt. I am really looking forward to being able to just get up early and drive an hr or so to catch walleye, northerns, and perch. Also like the idea of doing the same to hunt waterfowl, deer, and go ice fishing. Right now to do those things, I have to take off work, spend money on plane tickets, lodging, etc. We are looking forward to having all the above much more available than they are right now.


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