[Professor]

What are ya'lls best guesses on the proposed legislation on OOS duck hunters? My wife and I came to ND, duck hunting, for the first time last October, and it was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever taken (after the 1600 mile drive). We were planning on coming back this October as well. I'd certainly hate to get messed up on getting a license.
What's the water situation look like? We hunted around Harvey and already have motel reservations there for this year. From what I saw, I'd guess that area stays pretty wet generally, right?? There were some pretty big potholes that were fairly deep, as well as the smaller, "more huntable" potholes.
BTW, we were not associated, nor do we even know, the SC hunters that were busted with 300 plus ducks. We're ashamed to admit these rogues were from our state. :******:
Professor

 

[KEN W]

Hello Prof...glad to see you made it over from the Refuge.Moisture is very unpredictable here.A nasty snowstorm or a bigtime prarie thunderstorm can change things overnight.
As far as licenses you'll have to wait and see what comes out of our legis. over the next month.We don't know what's going to happen either.

 

[prairie hunter]

Many of those bigger deep lakes were dry from 1991 - summer 1993. Many wetland areas were actually farmed, others were alkali deserts. Wind would create white outs from the blowing alkaline salt.

It took many consecutive years of drought for those large ponds to dry.

Most everyone knows that drought will return to the prairie and it is actually an important part of the wetland cycle. Most hope that the drought will impact the smaller wetlands on an occasional yearly cycle, but not last long enough to allow what happened 10 - 20 years ago.

As Ken said localized winter snows or summer storms can create areas that are water rich other parts of the pothole region that get missed can dry up.

One problem with many of those larger lakes is : as the lakes dry, the distance between vegetation and the waterline can become wide - creating tougher conditions to find the right place to set up and still have close shots.

 

[nodakoutdoors.com]

Welcome to the site Professor,

Those guys pretty much nailed it, as we are headed towards a drought (if not in some areas already). Not much snow here, but I keep waiting assuming it'll hit sometime...

As far as legislation, my assumption is that the NR liscenses will be available in June or July, but what "rules" apply could be suttle or dramatic....and unfortunetly, that's as best of description I can give considering how many bills are in the making right now.

Keep an eye on what goes on the next month and a half if you want to stay ahead of everyone else if you need to change your reservations.