My 13 year old son and I are making our maiden voyage to North Dakota. Our goal is to duck and goose hunt first and fill in with some pheasant hunting. Since we've done primarily pot hole and stream hunting here in WI we're looking for some general info on field hunting. We're coming out the 20th of October and hunting through Sunday. In a field spread with two people how many goose and duck decoys does one need? I'm assuming you can put out both and draw in either geese or ducks. Do you have to modify your water duck deeks or are they ok sitting on the ground. We do have a lucky duck. How far apart should we spread our decoys? The ducks and geese together or apart. How far away should we park our truck? So many question! Sorry, we just want to be prepared. One last question. We've been told securing permission to hunt shouldn't be a problem? What are your thoughts?? It worries me a bit.
Newbies to N. Dakota - Need advice
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If you scout a lot and fine some birds then a few dozen goose shells will do fine for the 2 of you. A dozen or so mallard floaters will work in the field too. Just put them on the ground supported by some stubble so they are upright. Park the truck as far away as possible. Permission usually isn't a problem. I would say 9/10 will let you hunt unless they are saving it for someone.
good luck
good luck
Thanks for the info Shu - It's appreciated.
Sorry for inconveniencing the other fellow. I realize that many of these topics have already been touched on. I also thought that by making an initial post it may spawn other conversion. Doing something for the first time is part of the fun, sure we're a bit ignorant of the topic, as you probably are of hunting whitetails in the heart of a cedar swamp in NW WI. Learning is part of hunting, trying new things. I'm asking questions to learn. I somehow think the people of ND will be more pleasant than yourself, at least I hope so, because first impressions can go a long way.
Sorry for inconveniencing the other fellow. I realize that many of these topics have already been touched on. I also thought that by making an initial post it may spawn other conversion. Doing something for the first time is part of the fun, sure we're a bit ignorant of the topic, as you probably are of hunting whitetails in the heart of a cedar swamp in NW WI. Learning is part of hunting, trying new things. I'm asking questions to learn. I somehow think the people of ND will be more pleasant than yourself, at least I hope so, because first impressions can go a long way.
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Wow...easy there. I was trying to help and be nice too. it was no inconvenience at all. I was simply eluding to the fact that there are people that will blast a person for asking questions like yours and I was attempting to help. You took it wrong because you haven't researched this site at all.xcleox said:
I was helping you, you just didn't know it. Do not judge by first impressions until you know what you are judging.
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It may depend somewhat on where you are hunting in the state. Much of it is pretty dry right now. I'm in the eastern 3rd and we have had significant rainfall this fall. Right now I am having decent success in flooded fields so your floaters would work out great. Right now a couple dz Canada decoys will get you birds. A few more would help toward the end of the month. If you have S&B decoys bring them. They seem to be a bit earlier this year so there may be significant numbers when you get here.
I ran into a couple of WI hunters last weekend. Nice guys. We were scouting the same field and they offered to hunt it together but I already had another spot picked out as my primary.
I ran into a couple of WI hunters last weekend. Nice guys. We were scouting the same field and they offered to hunt it together but I already had another spot picked out as my primary.
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These are great questions. Here is what I have found in my experience.xcleox said:
1. Be able to move to where the birds are. Meaning, as you scout, if you don't find birds in a particular area, move on to the next (within your license zone limitation).
2. Scout, scout, scout....if you find a decent field that birds are using, you do not need a ton of decoys. I think most would agree that scouting is probably the biggest factor in having a successful hunt.
3. Water decoys can work in a field. As said before, try to prop up the decoys or push them into the dirt to avoid them from tipping over.
4. Seperate duck decoys and goose decoys by about 20 yards. If it doesn't seem to be working, readjust your decoys. Try your lucky duck at the base of your duck decoys. If there are more geese than ducks around, turn off your lucky duck. Geese don't seem to like roto ducks.
5. Permission should be fairly easy. Most land is unposted (try to find the owner). The land that is posted often times has a name on it to call. Also, look for yellow triangluar signs that say PLOTS. These are fair game to hunters as long as the crops are harvested (which by 10/20 most will be) However, you can not drive on the land ("walk in access only").
6. Some other things you might want to bring is camo burlap and a good set of binocs.
I am by no means an expert but I think that will get you started. The nice thing about ND is the options are huge in terms of both birds and hunting ground.
As with any trip, the first trip will be a great fact finding mission. You will learn more about hunting in one week than you think. It sounds like you are going to have a fun trip full of new hunting experiences (area, ducks and tons of snow geese that will make your boys head spin).
Good luck and have fun. Please post any follow up questions that you may have.
And also post up some pictures when you are done.Thanks guys for the info. That is really helpful and eases my mind in terms of locating hunting ground. Here in Wisconsin private grounds can be difficult to get access to. We are really looking forward to the trip. Like you say the first go around is going to be a learning experience. If all learning experiences could be so fun! All the info has been helpful and I'm sure I will come up with some other questions before we leave. Thanks again and good luck to all the other hunters. I will be sure to post pictures.
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I use floater ducks for my field spreads. You can either prop them up by the stubble, dig the keel in or if you have water keels you can drill a small hole in the middle and put a small dowel in it to raise it off the ground.
Also ducks will come to just goose decoys and a lucky so if you can take that into consideration if you run out of room packing.
What part of WI you from? My wife is from Forest Jct which is by Appleton.
Also ducks will come to just goose decoys and a lucky so if you can take that into consideration if you run out of room packing.
What part of WI you from? My wife is from Forest Jct which is by Appleton.
We're from the Rice Lake area. Farther west, not such a long drive to ND! Good news about the decoys. Space can become limited in a hurry. We are planning on doing some pheasant hunting too. How are the bird numbers in the central part of the state? I've been going to Iowa the past many years and they took an absolute beating there with ice.
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We've found that if we are doing the waterfowl seriously, we can't do the pheasants seriously, at least in the area we hunt. We spend 3-4 hours scouting almost every day. Of course that's part of the fun!! :beer:
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Heres my advice:
1. scout scout scout (success lies in the field, not in the dekes, if your where the birds want to be, the number and style of decoy used matters little)
2. hunt small water if you must
3. stay off the roost
Glad your showing interest in the field hunt. :beer:
Oh yeah, good lucking fitting it all in. Seems waterfowling takes up alot more time than it used to. Plus, I think most landowners are more protective of their commie ditch chickens.
1. scout scout scout (success lies in the field, not in the dekes, if your where the birds want to be, the number and style of decoy used matters little)
2. hunt small water if you must
3. stay off the roost
Glad your showing interest in the field hunt. :beer:
Oh yeah, good lucking fitting it all in. Seems waterfowling takes up alot more time than it used to. Plus, I think most landowners are more protective of their commie ditch chickens.
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Actually I managed quite a few "bonus" sharptails while scouting for ducks. I'm not gonna pass up birds that get up in front of the truck and land in a field only 50-100 yards away. It doesn't cut into the scouting that much. Not to mention if you pick the right field you May fill on your birds by 9 or 10 AM and have a few hours before you have to scout.
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it would seem to me the point of a talking forum is to talk.
quit complaining when someone posts a question that has been posted by someone else.
if you dont want to respond, dont.
:withstupid:
quit complaining when someone posts a question that has been posted by someone else.
if you dont want to respond, dont.
:withstupid:
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I see where this was needed! :eyeroll:Sportin' Woodies said:
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I have have not seen as many sharpies this year and I think it is because a lot of the crops haven't been harvest yet.[/quote]
It must be different in each part of the state b.c this weekend I saw tons of sharpies all over. It goes to show you how different areas can produce different numbers, regardless of species.
It must be different in each part of the state b.c this weekend I saw tons of sharpies all over. It goes to show you how different areas can produce different numbers, regardless of species.
It must be different in each part of the state b.c this weekend I saw tons of sharpies all over. It goes to show you how different areas can produce different numbers, regardless of species.[/quote]Gooseguy10 said:
Yeah I think your right because I hunt north of Devils lake and haven't seen a lot there but I have seen a lot in other areas as well. I saw a nice covey the other night but it was in unharvested crop so I left them alone, I think if they get the soy beans off there will be more of them around the place I hunting south of grand forks, ND right now is surrounded by unharvested crop as well...
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