Ellendale, ND

C

chuckkasie

New member
has anyone hunted in the Ellendale area this year. Just wondering what the bird numbers were like. Thanks:cheers:
 
Birds everywhere and no posted land, Go get'em, but keep your head low for all the deer hunters.
 
I just got back from the Ellendale area. Birds were spotty. We did a lot of walking. Some of the Plots areas were very hard hit. Stay near the edges of cattails for the best chances. We knocked on farmers' doors with mostly good results. Private land was always better. I really like the Ellendale area, the people are very friendly. I got my limit, mostly due to my dog's good work. We usually hunted all day, with the evening hunt being the most productive. Good luck on your hunt, it's always fun.
 
Well here goes. We leave for Ellendale tomorrow. One new A5, one new Brittney, a seasoned Britt, a seasoned pointing Lab and two seasoned GSP. weather looks enjoyable, (we've hunted in 12" of snow and 11 degrees) so 40 and sunny looks nice, I just hope the birds agree. Hopefully I can post some video when we get back. The 11 degree day of video from 2010 can be seen on youtube at "oodlesofpheasants"
 
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Well....we are back from 4 days hunting in the Ellendale Area. Six hunters and five dogs we managed only 26 roosters. No doubt the bird numbers are down. We are used to bagging 40 to 60 roosters on this yearly trip. We did seem to have an increase in rooster to hen ratio over the 2011 season, but overall we did not see as many birds. Even driving to and from locations the birds were not in the ditches or moving into or out of fields and sluews where we normaly see them. We had warm weather for this time of year, with daily temps starting in the mid 20's but rose to mid to high 40's. No snow or precip of any kind. Normally we are hunting in as much as a foot of snow this time of year. We hunt hard and put on a lot of foot traffic. Much of the sleuws are being worked for next springs planting as it is dry enough to do so. Also there seems to be a lot of grass burning in the area. Plain and simple we are loosing habitat. On an interesting note we had two short hairs and a lab lock up on a coyote in a cattail marsh. Made for some tense moments. All dogs did their part and hunted their butts off. Even the 8 month old Britt (boundless energy) did a great job and made some great points. She seemed to build more excitement in her older Britt companion. All in all a great trip with a great group and great weather(too nice)and excellent dog work, in the end I guess that's what it is all about. Till next season :cheers:
 
Not Bad! :thumbsup:
 
chuckkasie said:
Well....we are back from 4 days hunting in the Ellendale Area. Six hunters and five dogs we managed only 26 roosters. No doubt the bird numbers are down. We are used to bagging 40 to 60 roosters on this yearly trip. We did seem to have an increase in rooster to hen ratio over the 2011 season, but overall we did not see as many birds. Even driving to and from locations the birds were not in the ditches or moving into or out of fields and sluews where we normaly see them. We had warm weather for this time of year, with daily temps starting in the mid 20's but rose to mid to high 40's. No snow or precip of any kind. Normally we are hunting in as much as a foot of snow this time of year. We hunt hard and put on a lot of foot traffic. Much of the sleuws are being worked for next springs planting as it is dry enough to do so. Also there seems to be a lot of grass burning in the area. Plain and simple we are loosing habitat. On an interesting note we had two short hairs and a lab lock up on a coyote in a cattail marsh. Made for some tense moments. All dogs did their part and hunted their butts off. Even the 8 month old Britt (boundless energy) did a great job and made some great points. She seemed to build more excitement in her older Britt companion. All in all a great trip with a great group and great weather(too nice)and excellent dog work, in the end I guess that's what it is all about. Till next season :cheers:
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Great job and nice to hear about your success. :) How did you like your new A5? I plan on buying one to go with my other Brownings.
 
Well you've heard the slogan "This aint your grandpa's A5"?, boy is that true. I was raised on Belgium A5's, own a couple of Golds and now have the New A5.

It is totaly different from previous Browning shotguns in the way it operates. After the first hour I was ready to throw it in the ditch. I had only shot it through one cycle before leaving on the trip. Shells were not loading like I expected, it just didn't work like a "Browning". After a day of confusion and wondering why I just blew a lot of money on something I couldn't use when I needed it, I remembered hearing it was based on the Beneli operting system. A friend of mine on the trip hunts with a Beneli, so I asked him to load and unload it like it was his Beneli. Problem solved. Like the old Brownings you cannot just rack out the shells, you need to push the bolt latch button each time to release a shell from the magazine. Of course you can speed unload it from the bottom. I guess I went in too closed minded thinking "it's a Browning, it's works like this." Ok feeling better now. This gun mounts and swings like no other Browning I've shot, and I loved my Gold Hunter. Overall I am very pleased with it. One word of caution. Mine came from dealer loaded with oil. Make sure you clean and lightly oil the action or you will have trouble with it cycling due to the heavy oil from the factory. Once the gun was cleaned up and my brain re-programed I was extremely pleased with this gun and I would buy another. On a parting shot, it seems to be much lighter to carry than my Gold was. Good luck and enjoy.:cheers:
 
chuckkasie said:
Well you've heard the slogan "This aint your grandpa's A5"?, boy is that true. I was raised on Belgium A5's, own a couple of Golds and now have the New A5.

It is totaly different from previous Browning shotguns in the way it operates. After the first hour I was ready to throw it in the ditch. I had only shot it through one cycle before leaving on the trip. Shells were not loading like I expected, it just didn't work like a "Browning". After a day of confusion and wondering why I just blew a lot of money on something I couldn't use when I needed it, I remembered hearing it was based on the Beneli operting system. A friend of mine on the trip hunts with a Beneli, so I asked him to load and unload it like it was his Beneli. Problem solved. Like the old Brownings you cannot just rack out the shells, you need to push the bolt latch button each time to release a shell from the magazine. Of course you can speed unload it from the bottom. I guess I went in too closed minded thinking "it's a Browning, it's works like this." Ok feeling better now. This gun mounts and swings like no other Browning I've shot, and I loved my Gold Hunter. Overall I am very pleased with it. One word of caution. Mine came from dealer loaded with oil. Make sure you clean and lightly oil the action or you will have trouble with it cycling due to the heavy oil from the factory. Once the gun was cleaned up and my brain re-programed I was extremely pleased with this gun and I would buy another. On a parting shot, it seems to be much lighter to carry than my Gold was. Good luck and enjoy.:cheers:
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Chuckkasie, thanks for a great report on your new A5. I like the way the new gun looks and plan on purchasing one in the near future. I really enjoy my Golds, Silvers, and BPSs, guess I am a Browning man for sure. It is always good to get a report from someone who owns the gun before the purchase.

Again, glad you had such good success hunting in a DOWN year. Thanks again!:10sign:
 
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