Tough to say

esetter

Active member
I hunted central ND for 3 days on my way home from Montana. Hit a piece of private south of 94. Corn was still on but moved birds. We missed 2. Got some points on hens that held tight and presented perfect shots (as usual). Had a couple more roosters blow out of the center of the corn. Was really windy and you couldn't hear the collars deep in the corn. Probably saw 15 . It will be an excellent place after harvest.
Moved a lil further east. Saw two roosters and two hens on a 640 ac section that usually holds many more. Hit the other spots there and moved zero. The locals are seeing way fewer grouse and pheasants than ever. This is in an area that was on the decline due to habitat loss. So , I did see birds , just down a lot overall.
 
Son and I got back from NW part of the state on Friday. Hunted Sunday thru thursday AM.
We had some wicked winds and some warm days (thursday hit almost 80) so that did hamper us a bit. Had one overnight where the winds hit 60 mph for awhile, kinda scary sitting in a 34' fifth wheel and feeling like its gonna tip over.
Hunted a mix of public and unposted private (50/50) and did well considering the drop in numbers. Son and I did limit two of the days, but we really had to work for them. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of hens we saw. Hopefully this bodes well for next year. Corn was all still standing which really hurt one of the spots we hunted, most of the birds were in it, and we could hear them cackling away.
It was dry, dry, dry there. Most of the potholes were dry, and those few that had water, had only had a few inches. Stayed off of the 2 tracks as there was red flag warnings most of the time we were there.
All in all it was a good trip. We shot a few birds, enjoyed some nice time with family, and the dogs made some nice retrieves. Numbers are definitely down, I'm sure we saw at least 60% less birds total than last year, but there was enough to keep us busy and hopefully with all the hens we saw the next couple years numbers can bounce back.
Chris
 
Fought the same extreme winds myself. With high winds and standing corn , it makes hearing the dog collars next to impossible and increases odds of loosing a dog. Glad you had some success. Im considering a return trip in a couple of weeks. If so , hopefully the weather will be much cooler.
 
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