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Western North Dakota
The Western part of the State of ND
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Reports
Western North Dakota - Saturday, December 17, 2011
By:
johnr
on 2011-12-19 16:55:31
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Had great luck this last weekend. Because of the nice weather they werent bunched up like usual for this time of year. We did a lot of walking and had 5 dogs with, however each day of our three day hunt produced some nice sized birds with the biggest being 24 1/2 inch tail.
Over all a terrific hunt, considering the population is half what it was last yr. |
Western North Dakota - Thursday, April 7, 2011 | |
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for those of you chasing the spring snows, this is for you. since monday the snow geese have invaded the northern edge of the state. EN MASS. if calculations are what they should be give or take a few thousand birds my estimation is a couple million snows are in the air or on the ground between the minot air base and Noonan. I set my watch, counted a hundred birds passing my rig and watched for 20 min as they flew by without a break. This lasted for 6 hours with less than 10 min between flocks. It was this way for the last 3 days as the rig sits at Mohal and the geese travel west nw. access around lignite is good for public hunting if you feel up to a trip. Have fun
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Western North Dakota - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | |
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If anyone has any turkeys in the Mountrail county (zone 31) they need taken care or seen let me know, drew my first spring tag. Thank you
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Western North Dakota - Thursday, December 3, 2009 | |
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hunted hard around almont not a thing
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Western North Dakota - Monday, November 30, 2009 | |
I went scouting in Hazen, ND on Monday night and saw these 2 big deer in rut!!!!! They may be reindeer!!!!!!!!!!www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-362936 they are also on CNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Western North Dakota - Saturday, November 7, 2009 | |
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I went out opening weekend southwest of Ross about 15 miles to find some mule deer but I only seen maybe a dozen and never seen anymore so I am going out tommarow to try to find some so I was just wondering if anybody has seen any in the 3B1 area that I could shoot a mulie doe.
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Western North Dakota - Friday, October 9, 2009 | |
IN THE BEGINING
What a crazy idea, chasing antelope with a bow I mean. Geez, I have trouble getting close enough with a rifle. What possible chance is there getting into bow distance, which for me is around 20 yards. Further proof that this is ridiculous is the fact that ND Game and Fish sell the license “over the counter” to anyone who wants one, including non-residents. I can only figure they simply don’t consider bow hunters a legitimate threat. Let the knot heads have their fun while we pocket the change. What can it hurt, certainly not the antelope population. This all started back in 2006 with a simple, cheap fold out decoy partnered with naïve hope. Bowman is situated in the south west corner of the state and is command central for the next week of operations. My hunting partner is Jesse, my oldest boy, who is 10. He will be handling the decoy, I’ll be doing the shooting, that is if there is any. The idea is to drive around and use the spotting scope to locate likely looking antelope herds. When we find a buck with a group of does we do an evaluation to see if they are sneakable. Sneakable means I can crawl on my belly and knees through broken rock, scoria, dust, snakes and cactus and be in decoy range before dark. Funny thing about hope. How can an emotion this powerful and gripping disappear as fast as an antelope over the horizon. We are into day 4 of the adventure and it is going exactly as expected if you are a rational human being. Each morning we gas the truck, fill the cooler and begin the search. Same story, same pattern, same results. Goes like this, we find a nice group of antelope and from the looks of the terrain, wind, and cover we can get within 150 yards or so. Sneakable. We get ourselves in position for the stalk. Stalk is code for the above mentioned obstacle course complete with the camouflaged prickly pear waiting in anticipation for the next victim. While crawling and then sliding over the prairie the antelope begin to notice something funny is going on. Ignoring the obvious, the stalk continues until we can’t get any closer without spooking the herd. With bow ready Jesse slowly lifts the decoy into position and a small cloud of dust appears where there used to be a nice herd of antelope. Prickly Pear were originally designed by God to keep his antelope safe from would be assassins thinking they could do a sneak if they really applied themselves. They cleverly embed themselves just deep enough to cause the most pain, then when you try to pull them out they quickly break off under the skin and spend the rest of their life reminding you antelope hunting is a waste of time. When planning a hunt be sure to locate command central within driving distance of a drug store. Remember only half of your stalk will have to be on your belly crawling in the dust. The first ½ mile you can glide along on one hand and two knees. Kind of like a 3 legged cow glides across the prairie. This would be easier with all four but your other hand is needed to carry stuff like the decoy and bow. This is where the drug store comes in. You just witnessed what appears to be a vapor trail of dust disappear over the horizon and on the way back to the truck your pants keep getting stuck to your knees. That night when you get back to camp to take a shower you realize the burning sensation was cause all of the skin is missing on both knees. You now need to find the drug store in order to purchase new skin to replace the skin that was worn off while gliding across the prairie. Day four and I tell my son, “This is absolutely stupid, what were we thinking in the first place.” Hope is long since been lost in the maze of reality. Reality is we sneak, slowly raise the decoy and wave goodbye to our vanishing opportunity. Predictable, certain, every time, no exceptions, same story. Need an example, here is the sneak preview of the last stalk of 2006. We spot a very nice group of antelope in an alfalfa field and they just happen to be in a low spot. With some clever maneuvering, gliding I mean, we are able to get within 80 yards. Perfect set up, right distance, right wind, buck with a group of does, perfect. Jesse slowly raises the decoy and not a single antelope sees the event. I get the bow ready, anticipation full throttle, adrenaline surging. DUST. Good Grief, anyone with a brain can figure that if it happened this way the last 12 times it likely will be the same story next time. “This is absolutely stupid.” We begin the walk back to the truck and notice an antelope buck chasing 3 does about a half mile away. We stop in our tracks and just watch for a while. Before long they have made a half circle and are coming our way. As they run down a butte and hit the low ground I look at Jesse and say, “Why not?” They are in a low area and completely hidden, no stalking needed, we hit high gear and move straight at ‘em. We gain a couple of hundred yards and I decide this is where they would likely come out. We are still in the alfalfa field and have no place to hide. We drop to our knees, or what’s left of them, and wait. Three does show up right in front of us at 50 yards and make a quick turn to blast past us on the right. High alert, where is that buck? I catch a flash out of the corner of my eye to the left and there he is coming straight at us. Jesse moves the decoy so Mr. Big Buck can get an eye full, he continues the approach and offers a perfect broadside shot. Don’t ask me why I don’t take it. Before decisions can be made he is walking and stops next to a fence quartering to us at 20 yards. The shot is off, arrow hits and Mr. Big Buck does an about face at mach 5 and drops dead 50 yards away. Jesse and I look at each other in amazement. Can’t believe it, did you see that? I can’t believe it. How could we be so lucky? Perfect, just like we planned it. Walking back to the truck Jesse and I are giddy with joy. YES! We did it! Can’t believe it. Put it there, high five buddy. I look down and notice a piece of flint. I don’t notice things like this, in fact I have never found an arrowhead in my life. Did today, sorry about blaming you for the cactus thing God. To read other stories, fishing reports and view pictures please go to: www.ndlive.com |
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Western North Dakota - Thursday, October 1, 2009 | |
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I have to agree, me and my father in law were almost killed by an oil truck going at least 60mph on a dirt road through the killdeer mountains. These guys need to realize they don't own the roads. There are speed limits posted in hazardous areas for a reason. I am kinda disgusted in the fact that even though i drive the speed limits, i still have to worry about these high speed rolling tank trucks when i go out to hunt or scout. By the way, init4theeyes, oil is not the only job, as you may or may not know hunting can cost quite a bit of money, so guess what, almost every other hunter has a well paying job to. I don't see farmers in grain trucks running people off the road...
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Western North Dakota - Thursday, September 17, 2009 | |
Well BrewCrew, I need to just vent on you a little bit. For starters, I am an avid hunter but I am also involved in the oilfield. The "disgusting roads" as you call them in the report, put food on the table for thousands of people in western north dakota. It keeps our economy going. It also makes me think how if there wasn't an oilfield, there wouldn't be roads provided for "Road Hunters" in that area. I am not just targeting you, I am just speaking my mind about how selfish hunters think that their thrill of the kill is more important to them than thousands of peoples jobs in the area. I too run into problems on my way to work in the oilpatch during certain times of the year. I have trouble around opening bow, elk, deer, and other times with "road hunters" not watching where they are going and staring off out the windows of their pick up truck. They park in the middle of a major road and all bail out of the vehicle when they see an animal of their pursuit, and leave all the doors open with an unoccupied vehicle on the backside of the hill. Well Im running out of patience typing but I hope I can just let you know that hunting is a sport and a hobby not a life, so take it ez on us people trying to make a living. Thank you for your time. |
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Western North Dakota - Sunday, September 6, 2009 | |
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Hot day in the badlands - stalked two really nice muley bucks - got within 30 yards but the heat and the distance to drag back to vehicle made the decision for me. Really dissapointed with the number of new roads all over - took West River raod north and traveled the "oil highway" up to Elkhorn, between the inconsiderate/illegal elk hunters and the 60 mph oil workers it was a hazardous day on teh roads. Got off in the non-motorized area - hiked in for two hours and came up on two elk hunters on 4 wheelers - tried to catch up and report them but they took off. I was truly disgusted at the hunting experience changes in the badlands.
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