# Who's in NoDak



## mbatson (Oct 10, 2010)

6hrs out who's there or just returned and how'd you do?


----------



## MallardMaster (Nov 17, 2003)

Leaving for Manitoba in the morning!


----------



## lefty421 (Dec 7, 2012)

My group is already back. You should have a good time. Lots of water and lots of birds this year. We saw more mallards this year than we have the last couple. Lots of teal too.


----------



## Buckshot556 (Aug 10, 2016)

North Dakota?


----------



## wavie (Feb 2, 2004)

Bring sun tan lotion. It's really warm north of you. Seriously my face got sun/wind burn today.


----------



## cronkdre (Sep 11, 2012)

We're around 3.5 hours out.


----------



## TNL (Jan 6, 2005)

Do yourself a favor and get a pheasant license. They're everywhere this year. Best in nearly a decade. 

If you find corn coming off, hunt it. Ducks were in there last week like Rosie O'Donnel to an Old Country Buffet. 

Good shooting and take some pics!


----------



## DUCK LAB JAKE (Mar 6, 2004)

Wish I was


----------



## lososjoyride00 (Mar 2, 2011)

Just got back this weekend, lots of birds ,got into some real stud mallards in the bean fields, gotta put your time in scouting but the reward is well worth it! Second the pheasant license too!


----------



## lefty421 (Dec 7, 2012)

We didn't shoot any pheasants, but did manage to bag a single grouse. We were out scouting ducks and kicked him up so we decided to let the dogs out to get some upland work in.


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

You mean that all the reports on the DU app of no birds and tons of hunters and posted signs aren't accurate?! Lol glad to see yall are doing good out there!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## fowlpursuit (Jan 20, 2012)

How do you guys hunt out there? With a guide or free lance? Is there public land to hunt out there or do you obtain permission ahead of time? 
Just curious
Thanx


----------



## cronkdre (Sep 11, 2012)

We're out here right now. Lots of pheasants and okay duck numbers. We shot 6 the first day then limits of mallards everyday since but we put in 4+ hours of scouting a day. 
Almost everything is posted this year but farmers that have let us hunt years past have been giving the green light.


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

cronkdre said:


> We're out here right now. Lots of pheasants and okay duck numbers. We shot 6 the first day then limits of mallards everyday since but we put in 4+ hours of scouting a day.
> Almost everything is posted this year but farmers that have let us hunt years past have been giving the green light.


That's what it takes, I suspected the bad reports were from those not willing to work at all. Keep it up good luck guys!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## cronkdre (Sep 11, 2012)

fowlpursuit said:


> How do you guys hunt out there? With a guide or free lance? Is there public land to hunt out there or do you obtain permission ahead of time?
> Just curious
> Thanx


Free lance I would never hire a guide for Nodak. There are a bunch of wpa's which are mostly sloughs and lakes. A plat book and lots of driving/door knocking is your best bet. Last year I put 1200 miles on my truck just scouting the week we were out there.


----------



## fowlpursuit (Jan 20, 2012)

Awesome thanks! I'm hoping to do an outa state hunt soon but I have a young family and funds are limited. 
I trying to decide if a snow goose hunt under a guide for 175$ a day is worth it 
Or if I should try an adventure in NoDak


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

fowlpursuit said:


> Awesome thanks! I'm hoping to do an outa state hunt soon but I have a young family and funds are limited.
> I trying to decide if a snow goose hunt under a guide for 175$ a day is worth it
> Or if I should try an adventure in NoDak


Not to get too far off subject but...

I'm addicted to snows I love hunting them and we do well some days and some are slow. We always have fun. BUT if you choose a guided hunt there are 2 Important things to know so you won't be disappointed:

There's a 99% chance that you will not be shooting birds like YouTube or TV, don't expect 100 birds a day or even 50.

Do your research on guides, there are a TON of them.

If you keep that in mind you will have a great time, I just hate to see people be disappointed because they thought they were gonna shoot 100 a day. It happens but it's not the norm especially on guided hunts

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## BFG (Mar 4, 2005)

fowlpursuit said:


> Awesome thanks! I'm hoping to do an outa state hunt soon but I have a young family and funds are limited.
> I trying to decide if a snow goose hunt under a guide for 175$ a day is worth it
> Or if I should try an adventure in NoDak


Take this for what it is worth...I have done the spring snow goose thing, and unless you are going to travel AWAY from Missouri and Southern Illinois to chase them, I wouldn't recommend it. 

Go to NoDak....it's on my list too.


----------



## fowlpursuit (Jan 20, 2012)

BFG said:


> Take this for what it is worth...I have done the spring snow goose thing, and unless you are going to travel AWAY from Missouri and Southern Illinois to chase them, I wouldn't recommend it.
> 
> Go to NoDak....it's on my list too.


Care to explain the reasoning?
I did a free lance hunt in Missouri for snows in 03' ended up shooting 3 in as many days..
I'm not looking for 100+ birds a day just some decent steady action at birds within 40 yards. I've seen some videos where guys just "spray and pray" at mile high flocks which I'd like to avoid. 
I understand it's hunting and there's to garuntees but I'd like a chance at decoying birds. Missouri is close enough and $175/day and a $40 lisence is cheap enough.
Last year on Facebook There was an outfitter offering a 3 day hunt that seemed cool
1/day field hunt
1/day water hunt
1/day jump shooting
Seemed pretty cool but can't remember who it was


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

Yikes...jump shooting is usually busting a roost which means you're screwing everyone else I would avoid that outfitter like the plague, in my opinion.

There's nothing really wrong with the way most snow guides operate, they set 1 spread and hunt it for weeks. I have a friend that guides this way and we do pretty well and he's the only guide ill hunt snows with BUT in my experience my buddy works 10 times harder on the spread ans blinds than most other guides. I think the point being made by BFG would be that this tactic is far less effective in the "popular" well known areas like missouri. The birds probably can literally see 10+ spreads when they can see yours. 

Like I said, they aren't doing anything wrong and it can be effective in the right area, it's how I hunt them in the spring but you gotta be careful. Especially if you're looking for decoying birds...the average shot for many guided operations is probably 40-50 yards especially with high adult to juvy ratios. That's just my guess so that it for what it's worth

The videos you see of people shooting let's day 50+ a day consistently are usually chasing the X and doing it for TV. Most guides don't do this for 2 reasons 1) it's not cost effective it's a ton of work and 2) you will likely get burned and not shoot a bird several times minimum before it works out in your favor and clients don't like that

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## BFG (Mar 4, 2005)

fowlpursuit said:


> Care to explain the reasoning?
> I did a free lance hunt in Missouri for snows in 03' ended up shooting 3 in as many days..
> I'm not looking for 100+ birds a day just some decent steady action at birds within 40 yards. I've seen some videos where guys just "spray and pray" at mile high flocks which I'd like to avoid.
> I understand it's hunting and there's to garuntees but I'd like a chance at decoying birds. Missouri is close enough and $175/day and a $40 lisence is cheap enough.
> ...


Everybody wants birds within 40 yards, but my experience (as well as that of my friends who continue to go) is most of the shooting starts at 40. Why? Plenty, and I do mean this...plenty of guides hunt the exact same field day after day after day. If the migration is slow, the same birds are seeing the same spread day, after day, after day. It goes against everything waterfowlers know and routinely do....but it is what it is. Picking up and moving is a PITA, and in all reality most of them have fresh hunters rotating in and out every 3-5 days so it really doesn't matter in the big picture. 

On top of that, the guides have the thankless job of trying to provide decent gunning opportunities for the entire group, so that means waiting until the majority of the flock is over the top of everybody, which often means that the guys on the far right of the spread (back end of the swing) are going to be shooting at butts. Can't help it...but if you have the opportunity to do so, jump in the blinds on the far left when you get to the field. 

The guides with whom I have hunted were all running traffic. They set up on the highest hill they could find and tried to intercept the birds on the way to their feed. You'll get to watch a lot...and by a lot, I mean thousands, of snows fly over your head. 99% of which have no interest in where you are laying. Our guides "don't hunt the feed because that just makes them jump to the next field.." So they run traffic with big spreads, and by big I mean like 1,200 or more decoys. 

Unless you have 6-8 in your group, you are likely to be party hunted with others. I don't know about you, but I don't like when that happens. I can trust the guys that I know, I cannot trust someone that I don't know. 

A friend told me a long time ago about hunting snows in the spring: On a three day hunt, you will have one good day, one below average day, and one day that sucks. He was right.

On one of my trips, our groups was asked to help move the decoy spread. We spent almost 3 hours during the afternoon moving the decoys. You get what you pay for when it comes to guides, that's all I can say about that. 

Would I do it again? No. Was it fun? At times, yes. One morning I went through 3 boxes of shells in less than 90 minutes. We had a couple tornados above us, which was an awesome sight to see. We ended up with 62 snows for 8 guys that day. 

Having said all of this, the convenience of paying someone to have everything set up for you plays a big part in the decision. As mentioned above, the internet has created very un-realistic expectations in regard to snow goose hunting. Our guides were ecstatic when they got to double digit kills for the day. Think about that for a second....


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

Very accurate info from what I've seen.

The biggest thing in there is you get what you pay for. It sounds like you're on a fairly tight budget, if you're looking for a cheap snow hunt you're gonna be disappointed. Even at that you're at $175 plus tip plus hotel. If you go self guided in nodak take at least one friend you will be at less than $50 each per night for lodging, then all you need is food and gas. You may not do great your first year but last year was our first year and we did well on ducks when we weren't getting our butts kicked chasing snows. Even if you have limited success you will learn for next time and tell cost will be lower. In your shoes I would go to nodak and wait on the snows, but that's just my .02.

Not trying to make things sounds bad with spring snows but I don't like to see people disappointed. Our first snow hunt we killed 23 in 3 days. We had a blast because of the company we were in and our guide made the experience. Another group they had we saw them at dinner and they were flat out mad that they only shot 35 in one evening. If you go, just go knowing you will probably see tens of thousands of migrating birds, it's a sight to see let me tell you, and take people with you that you will have fun no matter what. If you do that it will be worth it and any birds shot are a bonus

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

way more horror stories about snow goose hunts than not. would never go IMO. easy to chase in the fall in nodak if you really want to shoot snows that bad.

guides booking multiple groups and then putting 1 group in good field one day then cycling them to bottom of selection order the next to get his over booked other groups into some shooting makes everyone get mediocre hunting. such a poor system. be wary.


----------



## fowlpursuit (Jan 20, 2012)

W


Shiawassee_Kid said:


> way more horror stories about snow goose hunts than not. would never go IMO. easy to chase in the fall in nodak if you really want to shoot snows that bad.
> 
> guides booking multiple groups and then putting 1 group in good field one day then cycling them to bottom of selection order the next to get his over booked other groups into some shooting makes everyone get mediocre hunting. such a poor system. be wary.


Which brings up another important ? .
Should I decide a noDak or Missouri snows or ducks what's the rules on access to land?
I know in Missouri In 03' I was told and my group operated under the " if it's not posted you can hunt it law" so we'd drive the afternoons sometimes stalking birds in unposted fields or returning in the morning darkness and setting up our 24 white garbage bag spread and letting my johnny Stewart snow goose cassette call blare... we're we legal? Is it still this way?


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

That's the rule in nodak. I don't believe that is the case in Missouri however I could be wrong?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## mihunte (Nov 23, 2014)

fowlpursuit said:


> Awesome thanks! I'm hoping to do an outa state hunt soon but I have a young family and funds are limited.
> I trying to decide if a snow goose hunt under a guide for 175$ a day is worth it
> Or if I should try an adventure in NoDak


Can't speak to the snow goose hunts but if you like adventure, seeing and hunting amazing lands, scouting hard for your hunts, and seeing species you may rarely see in MI, then nodak may be for you. If you want to go on a hunting vacation where you shoot limits of Greenhead's and drake pintails each morning, followed up by relaxing at camp all day with someone else taking care of everything, nodak may not be for you. Several on here have much more experience than me with it, but that's my takeaway after a trip out there.


----------



## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

mihunte said:


> Can't speak to the snow goose hunts but if you like adventure, seeing and hunting amazing lands, scouting hard for your hunts, and seeing species you may rarely see in MI, then nodak may be for you. If you want to go on a hunting vacation where you shoot limits of Greenhead's and drake pintails each morning, followed up by relaxing at camp all day with someone else taking care of everything, nodak may not be for you. Several on here have much more experience than me with it, but that's my takeaway after a trip out there.


this is pretty accurate.

nodak is no cakewalk. still have to work for birds and access but freelancing is still possible there. snows can be had if you know timing out there and plan. I don't chase them but i've hunted ducks and had 100,000 snows flying over me at 70yrds all day long going to and from feed. They just don't do it for me, not really interested. They are very finicky birds and hunting them takes a different breed of hunter IMO.

not sure on the MO access rules.


----------



## craigrh13 (Oct 24, 2011)

I hunt with Tony Toye of Big River Outfitters and have always had a good time. Two years ago we shot 170 or so in 3 days (134 one day) and the other trio we shot 165 in 5 days. It can be very hot or very slow. Snows are very dependent on a lot of things. You need sunny days and south winds to move them. 

Spring snows is some of my favorite types of hunting. It's an absolute blast shooting 40 plus geese out of a decoying flock with 6 guys. Emptying your gun (9-10 rounds) on a flock is unreal. I love it.


----------



## Spartazoo (Jan 28, 2004)

mihunte said:


> Can't speak to the snow goose hunts but if you like adventure, seeing and hunting amazing lands, scouting hard for your hunts, and seeing species you may rarely see in MI, then nodak may be for you. If you want to go on a hunting vacation where you shoot limits of Greenhead's and drake pintails each morning, followed up by relaxing at camp all day with someone else taking care of everything, nodak may not be for you. Several on here have much more experience than me with it, but that's my takeaway after a trip out there.


This is very accurate. One reason why I don't go to ND every year. I go so hard chasing kids after travel baseball, travel gymnastics, Boy Scouts, and very other kid activity I find traveling 200-300 miles a day scouting too much. I want to relax when I'm away from home. 

But that's just me. There is no right or wrong way to do it. It's about what you want and how much coin you have to spend. There are spectacular things to see out there.


----------



## stackemup (Oct 31, 2011)

I am here, for 2 more days of hunting. I would guess most of the birds we're hunting are locals. We have only had one day of only shooting a couple of ducks. We haven't shot a 3 man limit yet, but we have gotten into the birds pretty good. 

This is my first year hunting out here, and I would say it's a good bang for the buck. Like some have said before on this forum. If you're splitting gas money for scouting, you can do this for $1000. That includes the license. I will be back.


----------



## mikecatt13 (Dec 16, 2014)

stackemup said:


> I am here, for 2 more days of hunting. I would guess most of the birds we're hunting are locals. We have only had one day of only shooting a couple of ducks. We haven't shot a 3 man limit yet, but we have gotten into the birds pretty good.
> 
> This is my first year hunting out here, and I would say it's a good bang for the buck. Like some have said before on this forum. If you're splitting gas money for scouting, you can do this for $1000. That includes the license. I will be back.


Good to hear, keep it up hope the rest of your trip is great.

Our trip last year was in line with your costs. Depending on your lodging, fuel mileage and group size $1000 total cost each will get you 7-10 days. We shot a 3 man in 40 min our first evening, 7 another evening, and 20 something 1 morning on ducks. We got distracted with snows the rest of the time lol

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## BWaterfowl (Oct 1, 2016)

Just got back from a week trip to Nodak lots of sheet water up north towards Lakota and there's a bunch of birds hanging around Michigan area. We started south and found little water but a bunch of birds on the big sloughs near valley city and down towards Verona . don't be afraid to drive birds are spread out, need some cold weather bad, an yes but the pheasant tag lots of them around saw close too 20 didn't have a tag though


----------



## lososjoyride00 (Mar 2, 2011)

cronkdre said:


> We're out here right now. Lots of pheasants and okay duck numbers. We shot 6 the first day then limits of mallards everyday since but we put in 4+ hours of scouting a day.
> Almost everything is posted this year but farmers that have let us hunt years past have been giving the green light.


What we ran into was ppl posting property which we suspect was illegally, scouted all week and would watch birds in a field at night, then watch someone post the field jug style with a posted sign on it. We think they were guiding hunts without a license, posted most of the fields around the area we were hunting by the end of the week.


----------



## TNL (Jan 6, 2005)

We were seeing a bunch of those new metal orange signs that are a heck of a lot more permanent than the paper ones stapled to some cardboard or propped against a 5 gal bucket. Most landowners want to know who's out there, so if you just call or stop by, they're usually good with it. However, there are those that have their reasons for posting and you have to respect it. Believe me, everybody in these small towns know who the bad actors are. Word travels very fast. So be respectful and courteous - it will help all of us out there.


----------



## wavie (Feb 2, 2004)

North of the border it was 54F at the farm today. Drops to low 30s at night but nothing cold forcasted for the next 7-10 days. Absolutely crazy weather.


----------



## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

TNL said:


> We were seeing a bunch of those new metal orange signs that are a heck of a lot more permanent than the paper ones stapled to some cardboard or propped against a 5 gal bucket. Most landowners want to know who's out there, so if you just call or stop by, they're usually good with it. However, there are those that have their reasons for posting and you have to respect it. Believe me, everybody in these small towns know who the bad actors are. Word travels very fast. So be respectful and courteous - it will help all of us out there.


Steve there is a bad character that got chased out of town few years ago. I hear he is back but 10 miles north of town And he's blindly posting other farmers property. Using age old guide tricks. He's a dog trainer from Alabama. Posts fields then sends his clients to hunt next morning.


----------



## TNL (Jan 6, 2005)

I also heard that some Missouri hunters that stayed at our place the week before we did last year got popped for trespass. Apparently, there was some land that wasn't posted every 880'. It was posted on one end and the other end, but not in the middle, so they hunted it thinking they were good. I guess it was a landowner known for posting his land and not letting anyone hunt it. He was watching them the whole time. I think they shot geese in the pm too. Ended up with big fines and loss of hunting privileges for 3 years. I heard this from another farmer we have permission from. We hoped people in town didn't associate us with those guys just because we stayed at the same place, albeit a week later.


----------



## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

TNL said:


> I also heard that some Missouri hunters that stayed at our place the week before we did last year got popped for trespass. Apparently, there was some land that wasn't posted every 880'. It was posted on one end and the other end, but not in the middle, so they hunted it thinking they were good. I guess it was a landowner known for posting his land and not letting anyone hunt it. He was watching them the whole time. I think they shot geese in the pm too. Ended up with big fines and loss of hunting privileges for 3 years. I heard this from another farmer we have permission from. We hoped people in town didn't associate us with those guys just because we stayed at the same place, albeit a week later.


sounds like they were hunting scott gainers place. he don't like people in general and i can totally see him doing this. 1st year i hunted there, i pulled in his driveway to turn around and he came out on porch with a gun. lmao


----------



## cronkdre (Sep 11, 2012)

Saw a bunch of the signs on jugs this year too. Made friends with someone in town a few years ago and he made some phone calls and got to the bottom of it. Ended up that the farmer had a farm hand posting them for him and he gave us permission.


----------



## MallardMaster (Nov 17, 2003)

I just got back from Manitoba and I think I know where all the birds are. Problem is, there is SO much water in Manitoba and with the mild temps I don't see anything leaving for a week. The other half of our group went onto NoDak after Manitoba and they were proud to announce that they shot (2) ducks. It is going to be a tough week if you are there this week. If they get some cold temps and wind they might push south for next week.


----------

