Winter 2022/23

G

gjw

Well-known member
Hey all, just thought I'd give you my impression of this winter. It can be summed up in two words: IT SUCKS!

We're getting hit hard this year, so far the third worst winter in recent memory. We're only about 8 inches away from breaking the 96/97 winter. And guess what? We'll more than likely break it.

We've been getting storms or snow every week for the past month. Seems like clockwork. We just got over one and they are predicting another for this coming week.. The worst part of this year is not so much the snow, it's the wind and cold. With winds in that 30 to 50 mph. We have some major drifts everywhere, some 10 foot in depth. And it's been a rollercoaster with the temps also. One day 30 the next -10. Right now it's -8

Now, how will this effect the bird population. I see a major winter kill here. Most of the cover is gone, drifted in. One cattail slough I go by everyday to work is totally under snow. This slough had cattails 6 to 7 foot tall.....gone now.

The only birds I've seen are in farm yards and the shelter belts around the farmsteads. Our only saving grace.

Looks like we'll be going from winter to summer, I doubt we'll have a nice spring. This of course will effect the nesting. Of course we can only hope, pray and keep our fingers crossed.

Good luck to my fellow North Dakotans..........it's been quite a ride!

Best Regards,

Greg
 
I remember hunting the fall of 96, the snow came early and hard. Spent a few days holed up that season. Spent a few days holed up in Nov this year. It's a shame that it is happening again after the numbers have started coming back. Back in 97 we had a lot more CRP to help with too. For those of you that live there year around best wishes and a heartfelt hope that you have spring around the corner.
 
gjw, I can imagine that situation is just plain depressing. I can remember back around 2000, we had 2 back-to-back tough winters and it was hard to find a pheasant. It took a several years, but they will come back from those few survivors around farmstead/acreage windbreaks/shelterbelts. I didn't shoot a pheasant for a season and not many for a few years while they were coming back. We are about due for one of those crushing winters again. We have much better cover now and believe we will have better survival now...every year we go, our heaviest cover (cedar/conifers) are getting better/bigger. A winter like this is sometimes what it take to remind us we NEED to include the conifers in our habitat creation plans. Wishing the pheasants and all the wildlife can get back to good numbers soon.
 
I wouldn't say it's been the coldest or windiest winter (since that's pretty much a constant here in ND), but the length of it has been unusual. We're talking 4.5 months of solid snow cover since getting close to 20" of snow on Nov. 10. Luckily Jan & Feb were average to above for temps (although by most standards, average for ND in January is still darn cold) and pretty dry, but we're over 90" of snow in Bismarck for the season with this latest wet bout the last 3 weeks or so. Saw a graphic today that most parts of the eastern half of the state are over 130 consecutive days below 40 degrees, with no end in sight - wow!

I would expect some pretty significant winterkill of all species; pheasants, grouse, deer, fish. We shall see. Hopefully we can stay away from big storms the next 3-4 weeks. Still seeing some birds where I saw them last fall, they are tougher than people give them credit for. Really, it is pretty amazing that any of them survive a winter like this, sitting out in it 24 hours a day.
 
Talked to a friend near Fargo yesterday and sounds like still no end in sight.
Could be a good waterfowl production year.
 
That's interesting. Here in MN we have had a very mild winter in terms of temperature. If I'm not mistaken, we've only had 10 nights below zero all winter (Twin Cities) and the average is 21. So its definitely been much warmer.

The precipitation is a different matter though. We're at the 7th most snow all time since they've been keeping records in 1895. That doesn't even include several sizable rain events we had too. Had those fallen as snow, we'd be well over the all time record. Duluth has recorded 125.4 inches of snow this winter, good for 6th all time there.

I hate it when we go directly from winter to summer. Spring is like a month long. Not a fan at all.
 
AKSkeeter said:
Talked to a friend near Fargo yesterday and sounds like still no end in sight.
Could be a good waterfowl production year.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately probably another poor year for geese. Those nesting now will have eggs freeze and those nesting later will have eggs floating. Waterfowl biologist says he expects a repeat of last year.
Which is what happened thru much of the great plains.
 
Weimdogman said:
Unfortunately probably another poor year for geese. Those nesting now will have eggs freeze and those nesting later will have eggs floating. Waterfowl biologist says he expects a repeat of last year.
Which is what happened thru much of the great plains.
Click to expand...
But duck production? Is the drought over with in North Dakota?
From last year:
Major snow events and prolonged soaking rains this winter and spring — April had the second-most precipitation recorded in the past 128 years — recharged parched wetlands throughout the state. The abundance of water across North Dakota is excellent news for breeding ducks, and in turn, for duck hunters.
 
As I live in S.D. I can't say about N.D.

We have been extremely dry here for 2 years and duck production has been hurt accordingly. We had been wet for many years and some ducks had stopped and nested here rather then continue further north.

It is hard to say if all the snow we have had will replenish our sloughs/wetlands. The watertable is so low that we may see little change.
 
Weimdogman said:
Unfortunately probably another poor year for geese. Those nesting now will have eggs freeze and those nesting later will have eggs floating. Waterfowl biologist says he expects a repeat of last year.
Which is what happened thru much of the great plains.
Click to expand...
Definitely no geese nesting in ND yet; it feels and looks like January out there. They'll definitely be delayed, so not sure how that affects them.
 
I think that the westward spread of soybeans may have helped them get through the winter. There is almost no stubble on those fields so they have tended to open up a little sooner and allow access to some food.
 
Got more snow and wind last week. Missed the record by a 1/2". Had some drifts by the house, we got more snow by us than Bismarck. So....guess we hit the record.

Temps still way below normal. Who know when it will warm up here!

Stay well my friends!

Greg
 
Drove thru the state from MT to Fargo and back to MT.
I was surprised in central ND the ponds were iced up and still big snow banks in shelterbelt areas and its almost May.
Did not see any deer or pheasants in 4 days of driving.
 
esetter said:
gjw , curious what part of the state you are in? I hunt in the Jamestown area. Thanks for the report.
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Sorry to get back to you so late. My apologies.

Anyway, I live south of Mandan in a small farm town off ND Hwy 6.

Still have snow in the yard and off the Hwy where it drifted in heavy.

G&F did their aerial survey for deer. Down about 50% in the area where we hunt in unit 2J2. Not good

Haven't seen a lot of birds on the road. The weather is getting better. Just hoping that nesting goes well. If not, it's going to be a tough season.

Best Regards

Greg
 
gjw said:
Sorry to get back to you so late. My apologies.

Anyway, I live south of Mandan in a small farm town off ND Hwy 6.

Still have snow in the yard and off the Hwy where it drifted in heavy.

G&F did their aerial survey for deer. Down about 50% in the area where we hunt in unit 2J2. Not good

Haven't seen a lot of birds on the road. The weather is getting better. Just hoping that nesting goes well. If not, it's going to be a tough season.

Best Regards

Greg
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply and info. I find it fascinating how just a few miles can make a difference there. For instance , a few years ago we hunted on some private ground a friend has there. The part we hunted had an excellent harvest. A piece the same guy owns 4 miles to the north had been devastated by hail. I have been told many times that winter weather isn't as hard on huns and sharpies as it is pheasants. I hope this is tru because it seemed huns were on the rebound last year!
 
Sharpies can survive on buds like other grouse. Huns and pheasants are ground feeders and deep snow make it difficult to feed and gravel.
I noticed they seem to cycle together. Huns have been plentiful for us.
 
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