ND Road Hunting

Awesomeness

New member
Hello everyone, I plan to head up to ND towards the end of October and I have a few questions. I like to do a fair bit of road hunting and I was wondering what the laws concerning road hunting are in ND (Specifically SE ND). I would assume they are much the same as SD or IA laws, but I want to make sure before I head out. Thanks for your help!
 
not an expert, but I don't think you can road hunt in ND...however, if you have permission on the private land that abuts the road in that situation, then you can...but get clarity from an expert...I just know a guy who got his ass chewed for road hunting...chewed by a farmer...knowing that land has to be posted to keep you off, maybe you can hunt a ditch if the land isn't posted...i suspect that is the case...so, if it is posted or standing crop, then you can't ditch hunt/road hunt...again, experts chime in!
 
BB is correct, you cannot hunt the ditch if it is posted unless you have permission. You can hunt the ditch if the adjacent land is not posted or if the land is public. It is much different than SD.
 
like the others have said I think you have to have permission from the land owner to road hunt in ND. I have been going out to the SW part of the state now for about 5 years and I have very lucky to have access to a crazy amount of land out there to hunt so I don't hunt any ditch's unless I have permission for the land next to it. You will find that about 80% of land is posted and about 95% of good looking pheasant hunting spots are posted. Most farmers out there charge to hunt ( not because they are greedy farmers ) but because they just want to keep the numbers down. Hope this info helps I will be going out in early Nov.
 
https://www.agweek.com/business/agriculture/4597956-house-passes-trespassing-bill-major-changes

No major changes for 2019-2020 season.

The bill that passed the House would make few changes to existing law. It would allow landowners to ask people to leave their land, even if the landowner had chosen not to post it for no trespassing, would prevent people from going on private land for reasons other than hunting and would prohibit people from guiding or outfitting on private land without permission. It also would make entering posted private land without permission a noncriminal offense for a first incident and a Class A misdemeanor for a second or subsequent incident.
 
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not an expert, but I don't think you can road hunt in ND...however, if you have permission on the private land that abuts the road in that situation, then you can...but get clarity from an expert...I just know a guy who got his ass chewed for road hunting...chewed by a farmer...knowing that land has to be posted to keep you off, maybe you can hunt a ditch if the land isn't posted...i suspect that is the case...so, if it is posted or standing crop, then you can't ditch hunt/road hunt...again, experts chime in!

Wow, I am definitely glad I asked! I will plan on finding some public land then. That is a major bummer to me.
 
BB is correct, you cannot hunt the ditch if it is posted unless you have permission. You can hunt the ditch if the adjacent land is not posted or if the land is public. It is much different than SD.

So as long as the land adjacent is not posted, ditches are free game?
 
That is correct. I would try to ask permission first if possible but legally you are fine. I would not expect to find great hunting on unposted ditches though.
 
In ND the landowner owns the land to the middle of a township or county road. Thus the interpretation that the ditch is posted if the adjacent land is posted. This also holds true for section line trails. Section lines and section line trails are considered posted if the adjacent land is posted.

The ditches along ND State and Federal highways are owned by that government and most are considered open to hunting. That said, these ditches are most often mowed extremely short from edge of road to field / fence line.

It is amazing the differences in trespass rules between MN, IA, ND and SD.
 
10 years ago before so much land got posted up in the Garrison area and before the drought decimated numbers, road hunting was a LOT of fun. Birds were everywhere early morning and late evening drying off or scratching gravel along the roads. You could bag a lot of birds with short exciting walks. Now, with so much land posted (including the ditches that go with them) and low bird numbers, this is my first year since 2002 I am skipping North Dakota. Very sad actually.
 
10 years ago before so much land got posted up in the Garrison area and before the drought decimated numbers, road hunting was a LOT of fun. Birds were everywhere early morning and late evening drying off or scratching gravel along the roads. You could bag a lot of birds with short exciting walks. Now, with so much land posted (including the ditches that go with them) and low bird numbers, this is my first year since 2002 I am skipping North Dakota. Very sad actually.

That's what I was thinking. I worked in Sargeant County for a few months and holy cow I have never seen so many roosters! (Grew up in SW Iowa and have lived in the brookings SD area for the last few seasons) I still plan to head up to ND next weekend for hopefully some decent results. When I worked in ND I would talk to co-workers who said they had also quit hunting in ND as well due to low numbers. Maybe it's all perspective?
 
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