[GeorgiaDuck]

Any of you guys located around the Devil's Lake or Jamestown area? I'm flying up with a buddy of mine next week to do some scouting, and would be interested in having a local show me around. Otherwise, we're just going to fly over some areas I've heard about and scout from the sky. I'll be in ND mid-morning Friday the 8th through late afternoon on the 9th. Anyone who would like to show me around, gets a free dinner and if you show me the ducks - you get beer too. Thanks...

:beer:

 

[H2OfowlND]

I must say, that there is NO such thing as a free lunch in my book. Show you around?? Come on, get out and scout like the rest of us have been doing...by putting on miles and seeing things from the ground. Scouting for ducks from the AIR??? You probably won't get much help from people on this site if your not willing to put in some hard work yourself, and scouting from the air is not how its done. Scouting is meeting people face to face, shaking their hand and not by BUYING them off.
My .02 cents!!

H2OfowlND

 

[nodakoutdoors.com]

You gotta admit though H20, a plane for scouting would be nice. When I used to work at the Coal Creek Station in Underwood I would go up there every morning at 9 am to scout the countryside with my binos. It's tough to beat the birds eye view.

I've got softball state this weekend, so I won't be able to help.

 

[prairie hunter]

uke:

Question: Would someone with this amount of time on their hands and this amount of excess money - simply attempt to lease or buy what he finds?

Why come all this way to scout for a freelance trip? Better to fly and scout the day before you hunt?

Scouting road trips in ND in early August can be a fun diversion if the fish are not biting, but I have found they do little to predict where the birds will be come fall.

A lot can change (rain, late summer drought, etc...) between now and Ocotober.

 

[GeorgiaDuck]

H2O - I wasn't trying to indicate that I wasn't going to be doing any scouting from the ground or that I wanted anyone to show me their honey hole. Problem is, since I'm from Georgia I don't have a lot of time to travel all the way to North Dakota and then aimlessly drive around the area. We plan to do all of our aimless driving (I mean scouting from the ground) when we come up in October

The scouting from the air is the best way for me to narrow my 'aimless driving/ ground scouting' down to a smaller area, so we can make the most of our trip in October. I was hoping I could meet a local or two and shake some hands on this trip to help make that trip a success.

Thanks anyway.

 

[GeorgiaDuck]

Guys, it seems fairly evident that I'm not getting the response that I was hoping for. I assure you that I'm not coming up to buy or lease some land, we're just tired of the few number of birds that come through Georgia. We tried Arkansas the last two years, and the birds hadn't moved in yet. Therefore, we've decided to pack our toys and drive 1500 miles one way to their breeding grounds. The other thing we really liked about ND, was the fact you didn't need a guide. If I had money, I'd simply call one of those guys up and not worry about scouting or trying to learn how to hunt ducks in ND. I've done a fair amount of research on this forum, read some book on hunting ND, and feel fairly confident that we will be successful - but you can never underestimate the power of meeting someone face-to-face and talking to them. The idea behind the FREE dinner, was simply to get someone to read the post and thank them for their time.

Anyone that would be interested in meeting up, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, we'll see y'all in October.

Thanks...

 

[H2OfowlND]

I wasn't trying to smash you down, the way you came off seemed like you wanted someone to lead you around and look for ducks/geese. Like a previous post said, Aug. is a very tricky month to scout if you won't be back till Oct.
I was out this weekend and a lot of small sloughs are drying up and even the big ones are starting to go down, WE NEED RAIN!! The whole game can/will change in a 2 month period, it has happened before! I don't do a lot of water hunting unless i can't find a decent field feed, so a slough now with 100 lil ones on it might be dry or void of any ducks come your opener. If you did your fly over in about mid Sept. then that will yield you much different results. More crops will be down and the patterns will be starting to form, but right now there are still way too many variables that come into play.

H2OfowlND

 

[GeorgiaDuck]

H2O - fair enough. I completely understand that where the ducks are this week/month, may not be where they are next month. Heck, in Georgia we will see drastic changes over night based off hunting pressure. As no one in my group has ever seen the great state of ND, I'm coming up to look for a general area to hunt and/or concentration of ducks. Even, look for areas where there is more farmland. The idea behind meeting up with someone, was to help answer some of our questions about hunting ND (i.e. how do we gain access to land are their plot books for each county? do you just drive to the closest house? should I avoid any areas like PLOTs?) and see part of ND up close and personal vs from the sky. Thanks again for the insight...

 

[H2OfowlND]

No offense but you just answered your own questions about ND hunting...yes go to the nearest house, yes there are books for each county(atlas works good too, I have 3 of them), PLOTS need not be avoided. Just because its public land doesn't mean its pounded hard...every guy driving by might say that too, and there maybe a dozen roosters in it or 50 mallards tucked into a slough, ya never know! If it looks good to you, its unposted(if its posted get permission), get after it and walk it/hunt it. The biggest key to hunting ND is be ready to move at a moments notice. Don't tie yourself down to one slough or one field, mark it and move on, if nothing pans out come back to it. I've hunted the same area for 15 years now, and I'm still finding spots every year I didn't know exsisted, and I don't go more than 12 or so miles from "home base".

I'm going to sound like a real smarta$$ on this one..but the whole state of ND is farmland(except for parts of the Badlands)!!!! If you still fly up here you'll know what I'm talking about.

H2OfowlND

 

[Field Hunter]

Georgia,

H2O knows what he's talkng about. I've found that if you make a decision to hunt a specific area that has a good population, that would be just about any area of ND that shows many small water areas on the atlas, that you will find most every species you are looking for. You might have to move camp slightly to adjust to local water conditions but not much. I'd stay away from the areas that are perceived to be the "hot spots" because although some might say there is enough water for all, they get VERY heavy pressure. I personally would rather sit in a slough in an area with little pressure than argue with other parties in the predawn about who found the area first.

 

[Old Hunter]

Welcome GeorgiaDuck Its seems your reception was a little cool in the begining. We locals are a little gun shy meaning that we see our hunting traditions and opportunities changing very quickly. Honestly I had a vision of you flying over in a King Air leaving a vapor trail of 100 dollar bills. This is happening and thank you for not being part of it. If your scouting from the air I think the best thing to do is look for large north south drainage systems. By this Imean long lines of sloughs and lakes. Think like a duck migrating. Your flying south and you want some water and rest. You wont drop down for a couple of sloughs but a huge line of them will draw you in eventually. It will be mind boggeling because you may see water everywhere. But your efforts should pay off. There is room for most everybody if we dont lease or use guides. That will kill the hunting for the residents and the non residents alike . Hope you have a great time and Good Luck