Planning first North Dakota Pheasant trip.

[Dries]

My Dad and i are looking to try out North Dakota this Year for Pheasant. We are wondering how the birds are this year? was it a rough winter on the birds? Did you all get hit with the ice storm? We have been going to South Dakota for many years along with a short stint in Iowa. All of this has been hunting public areas and Roadways. We are quite intrigued with what we are hearing about North Dakota and the Opportunities out there in the WPA and the ability to hunt a bit more public acces areas in North Dakota. Any advice would be much appreciated. we have a few areas we are considering as some of my buddies worked the oil fields a few years back.
Thanks.

 

[pburtman]

I'm in NW ND, and the birds came through a hard winter pretty well. Sad to say but we could still get snow storms before it's over. Plus weather during the hatch really can be make or break for pheasants up here. Also the treaspass laws may change this year and that could make access tougher. So bottom line is you may want to wait till June to make a decision for ND

 

[NDGuy]

Few things
-Watch the storm coming through tomorrow. That could affect some of the birds. At minimum it's looking to be a very wet year so the hatch might not be great
-Pay attention if SB2315 passes. This law may reverse ND law that unposted private land is accessible to sportsman. We are mostly private land here so this will affect your access if it passes. If it does really research the area you want to go towards and know that public lands will be completely bombarded with people even more than they are now. I would suggest trying to get a hold of some landowners ahead of time.

 

[jhim]

I am not a statistician or biologist but I put on a lot of miles in north west ND and I feel like I have been seeing a decent amount of birds. As stated above the weather during the hatch will be super important.

 

[Dries]

Thanks for all the info. I will watch the bill and see if it passes. I plan on looking at roadside brood surveys to find an area to go to.
Again thanks for the info it is much appreciated!


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[NDGuy]

Thanks for all the info. I will watch the bill and see if it passes. I plan on looking at roadside brood surveys to find an area to go to.

It didn't pass for now..

 

[Okhotnik]

It didn't pass for now..

That’s good news! I hunt ND every year. Hunting can be good but takes a few years to figure out productive areas. Hint: hunt around the waterfowl management areas. Can always find birds around cattails

 

[pburtman]

Sounds like they are trying to bring SB2315 back

 

[NDGuy]

Sounds like they are trying to bring SB2315 back

Of course they are, only a matter of time till it will pass.

 

[Blue Skunk]

I haven't heard much about that. We rent a place in Harvey for a week every Fall. Definitely seen more land posted over the years, but there is still plenty of Public Lands around.

 

[ktnelson5]

There's still a good amount of birds in the west. They're not spilling out of every bit of cover like they used to be. Just have to work a little harder and battle the standing crops a bit.

 

[lak2004]

Talked to my dad the other day and they got hit hard by baseball size hail in the SW. He's not sure how the birds faired, but that kind of weather usually takes a hard toll on them. I'll be up in November for deer and pheasant, but don't have my hopes high for many birds.

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