North Dakota

mnmthunting

mnmthunting

Banned
Had a chance to spend a little time, drive back roads with a rancher friend in ND last week. He had said Pheasants Wintered quit well in the area. SURE DID!! We saw many roosters with 3-4 hens and birds were in sight almost constantly.

Now, with a decent hatch, gonna be tons of birds in that area.:10sign:
 
That's encouraging to hear. With a little luck and some optimum weather through June, things might turn out pretty well.
 
ND Loaded with Pheasant

Most birds I have ever seen was in SW ND some years ago. The stubble was short and sparse and you could see them in the middle of every stubble field during feeding times.
 
BritChaser said:
Most birds I have ever seen was in SW ND some years ago. The stubble was short and sparse and you could see them in the middle of every stubble field during feeding times.
Click to expand...

This is very similar to my first experience in SW ND as well. I couldn't believe the "cover" they were using, it just amazed me. You could see them everywhere. Sometimes as many as 500 in a single field.
 
The amount of CRP in the SW is what has allowed the Phez to flourish. They are basically devoid of wetlands so CRP and shelter belts are key to their success more so than anywhere else in the state. The other thing is that normally the snow fall in that part of the state is not what it is in the eastern half so milder winters are more common (but not always).

Wheat being the main crop in that part of the state and being that it is normally harvested before the season starts, it's not uncommon to see lots of birds out in the open.
 
Wherever you see lots of birds in the stubble in that country. You can be sure there is stuff you can't see from the road. Like coulees, creeks and good Winter cover.
Would take a heck of a nice Winter for birds to survive in stubble.
The ranch I [used to]hunt does not look "birdy" from the road. coulee zig-zags for a couple miles through the stubble. Wild rose, wild plum makes a pretty good tangle. Catttails in the wet area along with a good bit of this stiff cane type grass.
a cattle feeding area with some good wind break. Makes for some good pheasant country.
 
mnmthunting said:
Wherever you see lots of birds in the stubble in that country. You can be sure there is stuff you can't see from the road. Like coulees, creeks and good Winter cover.
Would take a heck of a nice Winter for birds to survive in stubble.
The ranch I [used to]hunt does not look "birdy" from the road. coulee zig-zags for a couple miles through the stubble. Wild rose, wild plum makes a pretty good tangle. Catttails in the wet area along with a good bit of this stiff cane type grass.
a cattle feeding area with some good wind break. Makes for some good pheasant country.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've hunted the Mott area for the better part of 20 years and the first time I hunted out there I thought to myself "This doesn't look like Pheasant country". But there is or was a ton of CRP and that combined with a run of mild winters has allowed the SW to flourish. Now that many of those CRP contracts will be expiring in the next year it will be interesting to see what happens. There are a lot of pay to hunt operations out there so it will be interesting to see how much will actually be re-inrolled into another contract.
 
That area sure has gone to hunt for fee. I don't know what's going to happen.
They do pretty well for a month or two, from the pheasants. Probably more $ in raising crops.
Cost per hunt will probably go up on fewer areas to hunt.
 
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