Deer hunting around Finley, Cooperstown

fly2cast · Oct 24, 2017

I drove back from Grand Forks to Bismarck last week and took the scenic route through Finley and Cooperstown. Just from driving on the highway, one thing that stood out to me is that I saw very few 'no hunting' signs and it looked like great deer country. I got to thinking that maybe next year that I might take my daughter out hunting in that area since it's kind of half-way between Grand Forks and Bismarck. She goes to school at UND.

What's it like in that area during deer season? Does it get posted pretty heavy right before season starts? Is there a good population of deer in that area? To me it looks great.

KDM · Oct 24, 2017

OMG!! I'll wait a bit to find out if this is a serious post or just boredom run amok. ;:;popcorn

fly2cast · Oct 24, 2017

It's a serious post. Sorry. I've never paid attention to anything related to hunting in this area. Completely new to me. I guess I live a pretty sheltered life hunting my whole life around my fathers farmstead.

KDM · Oct 24, 2017

OK. I'll try to help. First of all, it's a fairly large fopah to dime out a hunting area as being "Open" on the internet. Especially for deer as deer are the main reason posted signs go up. I'm pretty sure I'd be less than pleased to read that the area where I own land or my hunting area will soon be overrun with pheasant, duck, goose, and deer hunters who mine the outdoor websites like gold. Second, that area gets posted up mostly as the harvest ends as standing crops are auto posted. Lots of corn still up and the beans aren't finished yet. If you take a drive on the gravel roads you will see the signs. Third, much of the land adjacent to the highway have fences around them and thus only need a posted sign at the gate, which is probably NOT next to the highway, so might give the appearance of being "Open". Fourth, and probably most important, asking to hunt up there is no more difficult than asking to hunt in any other part of ND. Good Luck!!!

fly2cast · Oct 24, 2017

Sorry KDM. Sounds like this is a touchy subject for you. I was only looking for a spot closer to Grand Forks to possibly go hunting with my daughter next year.

From what I saw, there was very little fenced land and very few 'no hunting' signs. Made me think that maybe there was an area where the farmers didn't care much about letting a guy hunt the land. Most of my relatives don't post their land and they don't care if it gets hunted. I know there are areas in North Dakota where the farmers are like this but it's becoming rare.

I guess I miss the days in the past where there wasn't so much posted land and a guy could just go hunting without having to look so hard to find areas to hunt without tracking down the landowner.

Wirehair · Oct 24, 2017

KDM,

Thank you! Hunt and own a small piece of land in the area. You are oh sooo correct. Wish folks like this thread originator would give a little more thought (and research) prior to declaring an area "great and lacking posted signs." Understand that fly2 may be simply asking a question, but could have done so without 'subjective observations.'

Thx!

Go Bison... Go Carson Wentz!!

Duckslayer100 · Oct 24, 2017

It gets posted up thicker than frog spit about a week out from deer opener. It's also a tough unit to get a deer tag for. Then again, what isn't??

fly2cast · Oct 24, 2017

Wow. Guess I will have to really, really research a subject before I ask a question on here so that I don't offend anybody.

Wirehair, I'm sorry to have offended you. In my uneducated mind, I didn't think that making an observation was equal to declaring it as fact. But I guess I am wrong because you say so. Thank you for setting me straight.

Thank you Duckslayer, that's all I was looking for.

Jigaman · Oct 24, 2017

on a side note, was out for a cruise around Pembina county yesterday and there were pheasants everywhere and very few posted signs. Might be worth checking out.

KDM · Oct 24, 2017

fly2cast said:
Sorry KDM. Sounds like this is a touchy subject for you. I was only looking for a spot closer to Grand Forks to possibly go hunting with my daughter next year.

From what I saw, there was very little fenced land and very few 'no hunting' signs. Made me think that maybe there was an area where the farmers didn't care much about letting a guy hunt the land. Most of my relatives don't post their land and they don't care if it gets hunted. I know there are areas in North Dakota where the farmers are like this but it's becoming rare.

I guess I miss the days in the past where there wasn't so much posted land and a guy could just go hunting without having to look so hard to find areas to hunt without tracking down the landowner.

No worries fly2cast and it's not a touchy subject for me. It's just kind of an unwritten rule among hunters. Good fishing spots change daily, but good hunting spots are precious gems and internet shout outs on areas tend to be unpopular. I think the same thing every time I read about ND in a national outdoor magazine. The few thousand acres recently leased for pay hunting in my hunting area drives that home better than any posted sign ever could. As far as the posted signs and tracking down a landowner, it's unfortunately the name of the game nowadays. I too fondly remember the days when posted signs were rare and respect was the norm. My family used to hunt everywhere within 10 miles of the house and never gave it a thought as to whose land we were on and it didn't matter one bit. For what it's worth, Farmers generally don't care if respectful folks do a little hunting on their property. Depending on individual circumstances, most landowners just want to know WHO is going to be on their land and WHAT they are doing. Which is why I mentioned that asking to hunt isn't any more difficult to do there, than in any other part of ND. When talking to landowners who post their land, I'm amazed at how few times they get asked by hunters for permission to hunt. Most hunters assume a posted sign means keep out, stay away, nobody bother to ask, when in reality it means the landowner just doesn't want a free for all on their property. Good Luck Again!! I hope you find a spot, you both get a tag, and you have a great time with your daughter chasing deer.

KJS - ND · Oct 24, 2017

If it's a place you think would be a good area based on the location of your hunting party, it would probably be a good idea to try to spend a day driving around that area during this deer season - see how much is posted, looking for PLOTS areas/wildlife refuges/etc, maybe meeting a few landowners if possible.

As stated by plenty before, most landowners will allow access - especially after the first weekend of craziness and double especially if you have a couple of doe licenses. I have no idea how hard it is to draw a buck tag in that unit, but unless you both have a couple points, might be tough.

If this is what it took to spend a day or two hunting with one of my kids in the future, I would do what I could to see if I could make it happen and make it enjoyable.

Plenty of good spots out there - finding them should be an enjoyable part of the hunting experience. Good luck.

FishSticks · Oct 24, 2017

Hey - if your daughter can make the time to hunt with you while in college you should definitely look into it...We hunted up there for several years, there are spots that are not posted and some public land. After the first week or two of hunting farmers are usually pretty open to allowing access (be nice, bring a bottle of something) or buy them a few drinks at the bar. We have not hunted there in a long time, deer numbers fell off a cliff and couldn't draw a tag...So my dad and I changed gears a bit and got more into more archery / birds.

Deer hunting around Finley, Cooperstown

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