Help me plan a trip to NoDak

AtTheMurph

AtTheMurph

Well-known member
So I have hunted in SoDak for pheasants but I have always also wanted to hunt Huns, sharptails and maybe even prairie chickens or sage grouse.

I am going to retire soon and might want to travel from Indiana, maybe with one other person but maybe alone. I was thinking of renting a camper van to have a place to sleep/cook but also rent a motel, etc and spend perhaps a 5 days to a week hunting. that would allow me to be mobile, see different parts of the state and hunt different species.

Thoughts, ideas, areas, things to know?

My gramps brother moved to Litchville, ND in the 1920s. Always wanted to check out that area. I have pictures from a family trip my GF and family made there around 1932. No idea if that's an area to hunt, but I'd like to go through.

(GF on the left, father is the little guy bottom left. Taken in Litchville @ 1932)
 

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Hello, well, first thing is you can scratch Prairie Chicken and Sage Grouse off your list. There is no season in this state, sorry.

Sharpies is another story. You can find them statewide. You can hunt the grasslands in the western part of the state. Plenty of land and birds to hunt. But, as I said, they can be found state wide.

Huns are pretty much a bonus bird. Most of the time you'll jump them hunting pheasants, but occasionally while hunting sharpies, depending on the habitat you're hunting.

Being mobile is a good idea, you're not tied down to one area.

What time of the year will you be out and with or without a pooch?

Hope this helped

Stay well

Greg
 
Wyoming and Montana are the states for Sage Grouse.
When I was young and a North Dakotan, ND did have a sage grouse season. It was usually the Monday and possibly Tuesday right after sharptail opening weekend with a limit of 1 or 2 birds. Sage habitat has generally declined in ND and sage grouse while present no longer have a viable hunting population.

Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota (and Minnesota for residents only) are the states for Prairie Chicken

ND and NE MT are 'probably" the best locations for Huns in the USA.
Huns were widely distributed across ND and in central/western ND could be a bird of focus (not just a bonus) before 1993. The 1993 and 1994 rains decimated Hun reproduction and they have never truly recovered. I would say stay west of Highway 83 (generally speaking) for your best chance at Huns. Some counties in western ND supposedly have Hun populations that now approximate the pre-1993 numbers. Huns are habitual gravel road birds first light and last light. Huns are a short grass and edge bird. Large expanses of CRP have not really benefitted Huns like puddle ducks and pheasants. Finally, the eastern two-thirds of ND has mostly become void of small grain (barley and wheat) fields. Sunflowers have also become rare ... another former Hun favorite in the eastern part of ND. So short grass prairie intermixed with small grain fields ! The classic place to see ND Huns used to be old abandoned farmstead areas, but these have been removed from the landscape at a pretty good clip.
 
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Litchville, ND is in pheasant country ... but it is not in the prime area for pheasants ... further south or west would likely be better. Let me share that the Litchville area is truly corn country. The best chance for decent pheasant hunting would be opening day and then after the corn has been harvested.
 
Maybe go a little further west to eastern Montana for mixed bag....Plentywood area .Tons of BLM land and a large Reservation to hunt if you buy their license . ND is getting tricky these day for non-residents as you have to look property up online to see if t's posted now
 
I'd agree with what has been mentioned here; sharpies are pretty much throughout the state if you have grass (which the eastern third doesn't have a lot of in most areas). Huns more in the western third but seem like they'd be tough to specifically target, but I know guys do it. My grandfather had a group of 6 or so guys who would hunt in the NC part of the state for waterfowl and upland for a week or two and was reading their journal a few years ago after he died and one year I believe in the late 80's they shot over 100 huns during their stay. You'd be hard pressed in many areas of the state to even see 100 in a week now.
 
I would probably plan a mid/late October trip.

Areas/towns to focus on would be helpful. Would be me and dog and perhaps another person, but with how I'm thinking of doing it, likely alone.
 
Sharptails get difficult to hunt come October - very tough to get close to. If you are needing a motel, mid/late October is going to be the most difficult time with that being the busiest time for nonresident waterfowl and pheasant. I wouldn't expect to be able to just call ahead a few days to get a room unless you're in a bigger town like Dickinson, Minot, Williston, etc. I don't know if anyone is going to give out "their" town to focus on, but this might help, keep in mind the counties with the higher harvests have the most hunters.

2023 Upland Game Seasons Summarized | North Dakota Game and Fish

North Dakota’s 2023 pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge harvests were up from 2022, according to the state Game and Fish Department.Upland game biologist RJ Gross said the overall harvest was likely a result of more hunters, more trips and more birds in the population.“Despite...
gf.nd.gov gf.nd.gov
I'd just start scouting public land on OnX or whatever anywhere west of Highway 83 and just go give it a try.
Also know that during the first week of pheasant season (appears to be Oct. 12-18 this year), PLOTS and wildlife management areas are closed to nonresidents.
 
Are you using the ND Game and Fish hunting atlas? If so, the orange crosshatching is for posted areas. Landowners have electronically posted the property as NOT open to public hunting. ND has unique property law concerning hunting.
 
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