Anyone out there

D

DonC

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Just joined the forum yesterday after poking around on it a few weeks. Been hunting quite a few weekends all south of 94 both sides of the Missouri. Not seeing any birds in ditches in the mornings (4/5 weekends since opener i think it's been) and haven't had much luck on public land except one stellar day of flushes where the public land was across from a corn harvest in progress...but was windy and a lot of wild early flushes so only got two in a group of 4 guys 1 dog.

Most of my time in the field has been solo with my 3 yr old english cocker though. Evenings though, i've seen more birds in ditches but i've been running out of steps along with the dog to stay out sunup-sundown and we've been on our way home by then. My username says 2 cockers...I have a 5 month old also who's been doing very well with training and has a good nose. He's a little "softer" than our older dog and is going to take a little solo training to bring up confidence and just lessen distractions during training (he likes to chase his big brother...but makes for easy training some commands). I'm excited for next year's hunting prospects having two dogs in the field, although i'm certainly enjoying hunting with the 3 yr old this year...he really gets it now and it's a joy going hunting for both of us.

Now to find the birds, been doing a lot of scouting using google earth. Have multiple layers showing: plots, wma, wra, crop layers, and wetland data. They have helped but I know there's been a lot of pressure in great looking cover spots i've tried...lot of vehicles driving with hunters past me while i'm hunting spots even. My goal has been to find a lot of good public land spots and then eventually figure out my "hotspot" regions where asking landowners makes sense. Going to try all new spots this weekend to get more "huntable" spots marked on my phone...last year we were seeing more birds but i've seen good numbers this year...just has been while i'm driving. Sorry so long, but there's my ND intro to me.
 
i was out south of 94 east of bismarck. over oct 31st weekend. 4 guys shot between 4-10 each day. I notice a lot of really young birds for this time of year, anyone else seeing a lot of young birds?
 
pheasanthunt said:
i was out south of 94 east of bismarck. over oct 31st weekend. 4 guys shot between 4-10 each day. I notice a lot of really young birds for this time of year, anyone else seeing a lot of young birds?
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Yep, same here in SE part of the state. Very late hatch.

My lab just about caught one that could barely fly yet. Not sure what the deal is. It was wet spring but shouldn't have warranted a real late hatch for that bird.

All birds shot so far have been barely full color - hardly any sign of a spur indicating first year bird.

Corn is just about all off. Possibly heading out tomorrow. Weather is looking good.
 
Agreed for sure going out this weekend but not sure if starting at first light or a bit later and for sure heading north of 94 to try my luck. We'll see though gotta get out tonight and keep the dogs in shape to make the full days of hunting happen.
 
Did OK in SW NoDak. Not as many birds as touted be previous reports. One day did not get a limit.

 
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Nothing to show for my weekend of hunting, but plenty of birds. Pulled up to a field where on the far other side hunters were walking...looked like wind blowing the CRP but there were just that many birds moving around. Was amazing to see really, went back the next morning to hunt it and tried to block off the birds but they were wild flushing like crazy and far out. Only one flushed in range and missed my shots. I bet I'd say a good 100+ I saw. A lot of birds in the area NW of Bismarck, just not much huntable land :mad:
 
Private land will always hold more birds.

Some landowners simply do not allow hunting or hold land for holiday relative visits ... those places can look remarkable as you pass by.

I went by one spot where I had to slow down for the roosters on the road ... they ran or flew 25 feet. Looking out into a dried cattail pond ... more roosters simply sitting there feeling full from a morning feed in the adjacent corn field.

Same time - public land birds are chased relentlessly.

Birds do disperse and redisperse as a result of weather, hunting pressure and the seasons.
 
k9healthclub said:
Yep, same here in SE part of the state. Very late hatch.

My lab just about caught one that could barely fly yet. Not sure what the deal is. It was wet spring but shouldn't have warranted a real late hatch for that bird.

All birds shot so far have been barely full color - hardly any sign of a spur indicating first year bird.

Corn is just about all off. Possibly heading out tomorrow. Weather is looking good.
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imo. we had an easy winter so Hens were ready to nest earlier than usual. and in our part of ND we had a wet spring with cold temperatures till about June 5th. So i think there was a lot of mortailty in the first nesting. the wet along with the cold did a lot of damage to the chicks that hatched prior to June 5th.

i think this is why we are seeing a lot of really young birds.
 
Saw a lot of birds yesterday. Headed out with the boy. He's young so not a lot of walking for us. Got 1 for our efforts. Used the trip to scout out more than anything. Big trip over Thanksgiving weekend coming up.

Heading out to western ND in 2 days to hunt with family friend.
 
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