ND or SD

[2point]

I just turned 65 and my wife asked me what I wanted. I said nothing but next year I want to go pheasant hunting out of state. I always said there is so much land in Montana that I don’t need to go of state. Probably true but I want go out of state once for an adventure. She said great I would love to go with you and tag along. So one hunter one wife and one dog.

I live in western MT so it will be a decent drive to either state, but not as bad as what some guys do. I don’t want to hunt a pheasant farm with pen raised birds or with a bunch of guys marching in a straight line. Would like a VRBO in an area to freelance. If somebody has great land and charges a reasonable trespass fee, that is fine. Might want to do a little duck hunting but not a priority. I think SD you need to put in for a draw. I would probably be thinking October so we would have less bad roads than later, but could do November. Could somebody explain the ND electronic posting. Does onX easily let you know what you can and can’t hunt? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Bob Peters]

I always see so many ducks in SD. I mean a lot. They draw for the NR lottery right around the 4th of July. Of course if you book a house there will be a lot more options online in the next month or two vs. trying to find one in July. Good luck and I hope you have a fun trip.

 

[2point]

I always see so many ducks in SD. I mean a lot. They draw for the NR lottery right around the 4th of July. Of course if you book a house there will be a lot more options online in the next month or two vs. trying to find one in July. Good luck and I hope you have a fun trip.

Thanks Bob, that was what I was thinking about a VRBO. Plus I am the type who if I put stuff off the trip might not happen. I don’t mind to commit early.

 

[GladHunter]

ND land is open for walk-in public hunting unless electronically or physically posted. OnX does a great job of showing what is electronically posted, they do not show what is physically posted. Physically posted ground has to have signs at the corners and at entrances. My experience is that 50%ish is electronically posted and 25-35% of the rest is physically posted. Electronic posting often has a phone number provided for the poster. FWIW I have yet to be turned down when I actually track down a landowner for bird access but that's a small sample size I also hunted a less pressured area of the state for bird access. Similarly a ND podcaster has stated that much/most of the posted land is for deer season and that access is relatively easy to get if you can find the landowner. One of the owners I hunted on said he only posts his ground so he know who is there, and when.
ND is also a little confusing about state ground for the first week of pheasant season. All state managed ground is off-limits to non-residents for the first full week of Pheasant season. Private, Federal and State trust land are still open though.
Feel free to message me if you want more info.

 

[2point]

ND land is open for walk-in public hunting unless electronically or physically posted. OnX does a great job of showing what is electronically posted, they do not show what is physically posted. Physically posted ground has to have signs at the corners and at entrances. My experience is that 50%ish is electronically posted and 25-35% of the rest is physically posted. Electronic posting often has a phone number provided for the poster. FWIW I have yet to be turned down when I actually track down a landowner for bird access but that's a small sample size but I also hunt a less pressured area of the state for bird access. Similarly a ND podcaster has stated that much/most of the posted land is for deer season and that access is relatively easy to get if you can find the landowner. One of the owners I hunted on said he only posts his ground so he know who is there, and when.
ND is also a little confusing about state ground for the first week of pheasant season. All state managed ground is off-limits to non-residents for the first full week of Pheasant season. Private, Federal and State trust land are still open though.
Feel free to message me if you want more info.

Thanks I will pm you some questions

 

[CRP]

2p, you might check out some areas in MT across the border from ND, NW of Dickenson. I have a good friend living in Camp Crook that works around Sidney. He told me he sees lots of birds coming from/going to work in that general area. As for SD vs. ND, it depends on the year. It appears that eastern SD really had the birds this past season. I've hunted some private land in SW ND for many years with great results. However, this past season I shot the fewest birds ever. Not sure why, but the results are what they are.

 

[sten44]

I would likely pick central-northern portions of SD. Keep in mind that if you plan on going in October, there is a good chance a lot of corn will still be standing, making some areas hard to hunt. Standing corn means cover and food. Damn things won't ever flush with one man and a dog. I have always hunted public in SD and always had some level of success. I use OnX. Just keep plugging along, if one spot sucks, move to the next. If you can find a small chunk of cover next to cut corn, have the gun ready. Enjoy.

 

[BRITTMAN]

Much of ND pheasant country is in a sea of corn too in October. Every year the corn best pushes further north (shorter growing season) and west (drier).

 

[Brentbullets]

2p, you might check out some areas in MT across the border from ND, NW of Dickenson. I have a good friend living in Camp Crook that works around Sidney. He told me he sees lots of birds coming from/going to work in that general area. As for SD vs. ND, it depends on the year. It appears that eastern SD really had the birds this past season. I've hunted some private land in SW ND for many years with great results. However, this past season I shot the fewest birds ever. Not sure why, but the results are what they are.

Sidney NE? That's a long haul from Camp Crook. What's he do in Camp Crook? I have lots of family in Harding County and cousin owns the old schoolhouse for their hunting lodge for guests.

 

[2point]

2p, you might check out some areas in MT across the border from ND, NW of Dickenson. I have a good friend living in Camp Crook that works around Sidney. He told me he sees lots of birds coming from/going to work in that general area. As for SD vs. ND, it depends on the year. It appears that eastern SD really had the birds this past season. I've hunted some private land in SW ND for many years with great results. However, this past season I shot the fewest birds ever. Not sure why, but the results are what they are.

Thanks so much for your reply. I was thinking of getting in a hunt in eastern Montana on the way there or back or both. Even a short walk with the dog would stretch my back out from
The drive. I probably will look at population predictions before I decide.

Couple questions that popped into my head.
In North Dakota if my wife went as a non hunter but wanted to walk the areas with me does she need a conservation license from ND? Also my tundra gets 18 mpg, her hybrid 40 mpg. I was thinking if I don’t duck hunt which probably will be the case. We could take everything in the hybrid. Is most of the hunting off fairly good county roads, that just regular AWD could handle. Thanks again

 

[2point]

I would likely pick central-northern portions of SD. Keep in mind that if you plan on going in October, there is a good chance a lot of corn will still be standing, making some areas hard to hunt. Standing corn means cover and food. Damn things won't ever flush with one man and a dog. I have always hunted public in SD and always had some level of success. I use OnX. Just keep plugging along, if one spot sucks, move to the next. If you can find a small chunk of cover next to cut corn, have the gun ready. Enjoy.

Thanks for your reply. I was thinking about standing corn. I listen to a ton of podcasts and on one the tourist director for Aberdeen gave good info. I guess some hunters really tore into him when they couldn’t get any birds out of the corn. That is pretty sad, I guess some people expect the birds to be cleaned and delivered to their door.

I believe he said most years it is around November 1 that corn is all cut. I might have to go listen to it again to be sure. Does that sound right to you? Thanks again

 

[2point]

Sidney NE? That's a long haul from Camp Crook. What's he do in Camp Crook? I have lots of family in Harding County and cousin owns the old schoolhouse for their hunting lodge for guests.

I think he means Sidney Montana.

 

[Brentbullets]

That makes sense. Didn't know there is a Sidney MT.

 

[sten44]

Thanks for your reply. I was thinking about standing corn. I listen to a ton of podcasts and on one the tourist director for Aberdeen gave good info. I guess some hunters really tore into him when they couldn’t get any birds out of the corn. That is pretty sad, I guess some people expect the birds to be cleaned and delivered to their door.

I believe he said most years it is around November 1 that corn is all cut. I might have to go listen to it again to be sure. Does that sound right to you? Thanks again

I think it is close. It was very wet there this year which I do think hindered the harvest. Was up the week before Halloween and not much corn was out. I think you could roll with +/- 2 weeks from that date. In a normal year though, you would have plenty to hunt in October.

 

[Alaskan swamp collies]

I hunted both this last year. Crops were up in both till late this year. Used to be I would prefer ND as there were more places to hunt, now with electronic posting along with physical posting that is not the case. Before deer season in ND any available land in ND was crowded after deer season easier to get on. Used to be that SD was more crowded but they have opened up a lot more areas to the public. Now I found less crowding in SD. As for bird numbers it can be a crap shoot. This last year there were way more birds in SD which I think generally is the case.
As for a vehicle for years I used an all wheel drive Astro van and did fine other than losing an oil pan one year.