2026 Upland is out for us.

Skadergen said:
Wow, try to help someone and it bites you in the ass. That sucks for you, but unfortunately also for the decent people you may have had the opportunity to help going forward, since most prudent people would lean towards not making that mistake again.
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Yep that was a big mistake telling those two guys about that place. I suspect they will be back there every fall.
 
Nonresident hunting influx is an issue because many stay longer than they used to. Some lease land where leasing is uncommon. Others flood public land or camp in front of public land ... creating access issues.

The first thing states do is to jack up the license fees to capitalize on nonresident pocket books (non-voting) ... this was done first on elk and deer but has become common on any wild game. That $$ increase for the most part does not deter people so then restrictions are built into the seasons.

Montana is in part copying other states.

ND lets their residents hunt 7 days before the nonresident waterfowl season opens. If you throw in Kids/Military weekend ... nonresident opener is two weekends later. ND also forbids pheasant hunting (all hunting actually) on ND owned and leased (PLOTS) land the first seven days of the pheasant season.

SD has a resident only weekend. Does not create much fuss because the crop harvest has barely begun at that time.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Kansas are being somewhat run over by nonresident waterfowlers (to various degrees) ... each state or province is trying to address this ...

Wisconsin lottery for wild turkey heavily weighs residents ... in fact I am not so sure WI even lets nonresidents win a wild turkey season A or B tag. My son has 6 preference points and I have 5 preference points ... we apply only for A or B seasons ... curious on if/when one of us will be drawn.

I guess live in your preferred hunting state and the problem is solved.
 
There are actually plenty of trial dog guys that head into Montana or even western Canada before the grouse season. They train bird dogs on sharp tail grouse before the season even opens. Those guys will move elsewhere unless prohibited in that state also.
 
The law was enacted about no non resident training effective 2024 I believe. Now the question, it is being enforced, I can’t say? I live 7 hours away!
 
From what I just searched and read, training dogs on wild birds requires an inexpensive license (residents $5 and nonresidents $10) - I suppose to track how many there really are.

The training dates (nonresident September 1 - March 31) are only on public land. A dog trainer can still train in August if they buy the license and restrict their training sessions to private land.
 
BRITTMAN said:
From what I just searched and read, training dogs on wild birds requires an inexpensive license (residents $5 and nonresidents $10) - I suppose to track how many there really are.

The training dates (nonresident September 1 - March 31) are only on public land. A dog trainer can still train in August if they buy the license and restrict their training sessions to private land.
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License is a monitoring of trainer numbers. Correct.

You are correct anyone could negotiate access to train anywhere from a private landowner, and I’m sure that has been done in the past and due to private property rights will occur in the future. Legislation targeting private Land training would likely be very controversial and I’m sure full blow back by some landowners.
 
In Michigan training or running dogs is prohibited April 15 to July I believe 15 as well. Public private both. Give the young birds fawns,bunnies,ducks,bears whatever a chance to grow up a little. Good time to fish.
 
I used to hunt on the Milk River for several years. The hunting was pretty good but very pricey for private land. Really a shame. I mean I have a little money but most hunters are getting priced out of What they love. I just truly can’t get excited about it anymore. Just not worth the money time and effort for me anymore. That said to each his own. My how times have changed.
 
Dixieman said:
I used to hunt on the Milk River for several years. The hunting was pretty good but very pricey for private land. Really a shame. I mean I have a little money but most hunters are getting priced out of What they love. I just truly can’t get excited about it anymore. Just not worth the money time and effort for me anymore. That said to each his own. My how times have changed.
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Yeah I'm not going to pay these guys to hunt, but I might give them a six-pack or something like that.
 
You are right goose but most of the guys I know up that want more than a six pack. To me I have loved it and lived for it for 60 years but the best hunting by far is now in the past and will never be back. Like I said on a couple other post the golf course is where I am and will be. The time money travel and effort is not worth it it to me anymore. I guess I just got old.
 
Dixieman said:
Now days about 200 per gun. Haven’t seen many places worth that have you?
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In ‘93, at 27, in my very first go around in the part of SD that I hunt, we found a field oozing pheasants, and the 2 of us paid $75/each…much more than $200 today adjusted for inflation…and I was 27, not doing too bad for myself, but still, was 27.,..I pay $160/day currently including lodging, which I figure is about $80 for each, per day…I’m great with that. If I made one trip, and had the opportunity to hunt some good habitat, especially big country that I could wander for hours, I’d pay $200..,maybe not everyday of my hunt…I also own land, pay the taxes, pay for food plots, etc…those costs aren’t exorbitant, but add up. I’m not a golfer, but a good private course exceeds $200 frequently. But I understand not everyone is amenable to paying to hunt…I also understand that habitat costs a lot of $ to create and maintain, and farmers need an incentive to keep habitat in place. I’ve spent a good chunk of $ in the past 11 days traveling twice to SD to hang out, and drive around looking at pheasants..enjoyed every second! Worth every penny! Suppose I’ve put on 2400 miles, about 120 gallons of gas…and I bring lots of goodies for the many farmers I am friends with…not huge $, by any stretch…if I just showed up in the fall, didn’t have my own costs of land ownership, didn’t make many trips in the spring and summer to visit, including funerals, graduations, weddings…and buying high priced coffee, cheese, popcorn, meat sticks, etc, supporting 4H, FFA, from kids and grandkids of my farmer buddies…yeah, I’d pay to access good land some of the time out on my trips. “If you’re not paying for sex, you’re paying way too much!”. Could be true of hunting! 😝
 
Dixieman said:
Ha! Well said and good for you. I was talking about Milk River country in Montana and that was not including lodging or food.
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Right, I did follow that. I think $200 is moderate for pay to hunt rates; UGUIDE gets about $1400 for 4 nites of lodging and 3 days of hunting…you have to have a large group for those rates…if you value the lodging at $80/day, the land access is well over $300/day. In ‘25, across all 5-6 camps, the birds harvested per hunter per day was slightly above 2. I think he provides a service that has good value…but not cheap. Again, if your Milk River ground is pretty good and pretty expansive, I’d do it if I otherwise couldn’t spend time scouting and the sort…
 
I pay a Canadian fly in fishing lodge $1200 for basically 2.5 days of catch and release fishing. That includes flying in and out,room 3 nights 3 meals plus a boat and gas. It’s nothing fancy no internet or tv. All off grid. I think it’s a great deal with the current exchange. Why should hunting be any different. It has to work for everyone to keep habitat and opportunity alive.
 
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