The End?

G

gjw

Well-known member
Hey all, well this blizzard is a doosy. Got some mega drifts going on.

All this snow is going to stay awhile. It's going to shut down a lot of section lines and minimum maintenance roads. Not to mention other areas drifting in.

Hoping we get a melt to settle the snow
In a couple weeks to salvage the season.

Looks like the NW part of the state isn't to bad. But around here.....who knows!

Best

Greg
 
What part of ND are you referring too? I am headed up by Crosby in about a week; how much snow do they have in that area?
 
Not great in the NW . Passed on today, got beat up pretty much yesterday. Hard to tell how much we got east west roads fine north south not good. Will let the oilfield trucks clear the side roads and than hit it again. Don’t really think we got that much snow,but the wind wow. I know it is windy here but wow. Next few days are supposed to start below zero hope the wind cuts down a little. Might have to shorten the stock on a gun so I can shoulder it with all these clothes on.
 
MN guy said:
What part of ND are you referring too? I am headed up by Crosby in about a week; how much snow do they have in that area?
Click to expand...

I live in south of Bismarck, Mandan. Most of the south and central is getting hit hard. The NW isn't getting that much, you should be able to get around up there. Don't know exactly how much they got. We got about 15" about an hour ago with another inch they expect by morning.

Good Luck to you!

Greg
 
Well, the blizzard is over.....now to dig out! They updated the snow totals and for my area we got 21". The drifts are in some places massive. It's supposed to stay cold thru Thanksgiving, oh joy! Don't know how it's going to pan out for the rest of the year around here.

Stay well!

Greg
 
Saw a lot of younger birds up there just last week. Hope they pull through. Cover was really thick and tall so maybe it will help cut down on mortality?
 
Altillathedak said:
We are at 12-15 inches in the SW. Last Wednesday may have been the last hunt of the year.
Click to expand...

You may be right. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer. But just letting my dogs out to do their business is a chore for them. The snow is so deep they can hardly move around.

Unless we get a good melt, it maybe the end of the season

This just plan sucks!

Best

Greg
 
esetter said:
Saw a lot of younger birds up there just last week. Hope they pull through. Cover was really thick and tall so maybe it will help cut down on mortality?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the grass (CRP) is the first to fill with all that blowing snow. Cattails last longer if the slough is large enough.

ND blizzards come with wind and this one certainly did. The harvested and fallow fields often are wind-blown bare, but that snow has to go somewhere.
 
We got about 15 or 16 where I am at. The only good thing was that it was relatively cold and it was not a real wet and heavy snow. The season was going better than I thought it would.
 
Man , it was really dry when I was up there. My farming friends were all saying moisture was needed but not like that.
 
gjw said:
You may be right. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer. But just letting my dogs out to do their business is a chore for them. The snow is so deep they can hardly move around.

Unless we get a good melt, it maybe the end of the season

This just plan sucks!

Best

Greg
Click to expand...
Snowshoes
 
Took a short drive last night and things didn't look as bleak out there as what I feared. Saw a few birds. Some spots in fields blown almost clean and cover not completely buried. It's not going to be easy but there will be some hunting to do.
 
Yeah. If most the cover blown full, sounds like there is going to have some bird loss. Were the roads impassable...how bad was/is it? Sounds like the hunting might be cut short. Hope you have enough left to get your numbers back next season. Nothing clears out the birds like a big snow & blow, the ones that happen in the night have to be the worst, as the birds would be reluctant to try to find better cover (conifers or any stands of trees). Many trees in this area?
 
Well it went from really good to poor in flash. The wind with the snow filled in a lot of the cattails. Grass is all filled in. Birds did okay but concentrated in shelterbelts mostly farmhouses. Sloughs a week ago that had 30 birds now empty.
 
SW ND has always carried pheasant and turkey populations higher than they should because
1) that area of ND is typically a bit warmer and a bit drier
... historically western ND carries winter temps more like northern IA or southern SD
2) far more (used to be anyways) active ranch yards where pheasants hole up and survive a tough winter

Ranchers usually like pheasants, tolerate turkeys, but hate deer as they move into the yards in winters with too much snow.

Growing up in ND we would head to SW ND to hunt pheasants ... usually in early December. We had some really good places, but by far the most pheasants seen (in a really snowy winter) would be in the ranch yard shelter belts.
 
Hey all, talk with some of the Ranchers and farmers after Church today. They had to bring their cows home due to the snow from there grazing areas. Snow is just too deep. They all said that the section lines and roads are all drifted in.

+1 on what Alaskan swamp said. There will be some kill off, but they are a hardy bird. If we get a couple more storms like this......boy, who knows!

Anyway, took a couple pictures from my front steps

Here's one of the sidewalk from our house to the Church (we live in the old Rectory). The drift is about 4 foot deep

lywkfvG.jpg


Here's the snow pile after they plowed the Church/School parking lot

cRd4T9i.jpg


Another drift

k2pY795.jpg


Guess we'll just wait and see what happens for the rest of the season.

Stay well my friends!

Greg
 
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