North Dakota Pheasant Reports?

[ranmcc]

Anyone with real reports on Pheasants in North Dakota this year?

[BigShooter]

I might let you know after the phez season opens.

[nikegundog]

Here's the report.
http://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/duck-h ... p-slightly

[ranmcc]

Thanks for the report.

[BigShooter]

Assumed you already had read the ND G&F reports: http://www.gf.nd.gov/magazines/august-s ... ook/upland . Unlike journals who sell advertising aimed at would be hunters, the G&F dept. generally provides actual data as accurately as possible.

[cutty72]

I prefer actual on ground numbers.

Just got back from hunting a weekend in the areas of New England to Mott. Never saw the "huge cloud of birds", but as long as you were in a field that wasn't water covered, it was your own fault if you didn't limit out.

Central ND they are sparse, but can still be found if you work at it.
As the crops come off it should be easier to find them.

[uplandrsb]

Phez numbers actually seem to be good, better than years past.. saw lots more cocks then hens this year too.. on the other hand, the grouse seem to be way .. usually see large numbers of grouse.. not this year..

We were in far North West..

[deseeker]

We hunted the Bowman/Scranton/Griffin area (far SW corner of state). Due to the heavy rains right before and during the hunt, we ran into water running across 3 county roads limiting us to about only 2/3 of our normal hunting areas. There was 10 times the normal corn in the areas we hunted and none of it was picked. We saw very large groups of pheasants(20 plus at a time) but they came up wild and headed to the unpicked corn fields. The creek areas where we usually hunt the grass around it was full of water. Our productive hunting was limited to about the first hour in the morning before they got in the corn fields and the last 1 1/2 hours after they headed out of the corn fields towards their roost areas. We ended up with 14 of our 24 bird possession limits. Seemed like there was a late hatch---3 of our birds didn't have much of their rooster colors yet---only way we could tell was when they cackled after taking off(we passed up a lot of birds that were probably roosters but we couldn't tell for sure because they were still immature). In this area of the state the phez numbers seemed the same as last year. We saw fewer sharpies and huns than we usually do. Still a fun hunt and we'll probably go back around Thanksgiving(after the corn is out :roll: ) for a 2nd hunt.

[DoubleBarrel GunDogs]

I hunted the ND pheasant opener for the first time this year in the New England area. Shooting a limit was ridiculously easy. Not complaining mind you. This was a great opportunity to work multiple dogs on many birds. Several of the locals stated that the numbers were down from previous years, and 2007 was the high mark. I plan to return after Thanksgiving. Birds will undoubtedly be more experienced then, but I expect to still find them in good numbers.

Nate

[Bberry20]

the nice winter storm a few weeks back put a big dent in the birds, including the rains, and lots of un harvested fields, I would say birds are harder to come by on public lands. If you have private land than it is usually a pretty fun time.