ND Game & Fish

[dean nelson]

I guess I'm confused by the tremendous number of deer a guy bumps out of CRP when late season pheasant hunting. If not good habitat in winter then nobody told the deer.

I've laid or sat down in beds that deer make in CRP and I'm always surprised how cozy it is. CRP makes great shelter from cold winds.

I am guessing western CRP vs eastern CRP might be different? We're talking 4-6 ft tall and lush grasses CRP in the east.

CRP os not good winter habitat if we have a real winter because the shit gets filled in with snow! This spot may be awsome 9 months of the year but its crap when the snow piles up.

 

[eyexer]

Not what I said or meant wags. I went into this draw with 9 points. Have never applied for one of the mule deer zones. For the last six years Only 3A1. So the 100% for 7 points is not correct or as I suspect they are corrupt and give tags to whom they want to have them

 

[deleted_account]

Not what I said or meant wags. I went into this draw with 9 points. Have never applied for one of the mule deer zones. For the last six years Only 3A1. So the 100% for 7 points is not correct or as I suspect they are corrupt and give tags to whom they want to have them

ah. I mis read

 

[dean nelson]

Everybody is an expert when it comes to looking in the past and what should have been done with tag numbers.

Clearly not true with this group because there is some serious hindsight blindness going on here!

 

[guywhofishes]

WTF.... Where do you guys live? In the east the CRP snow is often the only snow still fluffy and "moveable" while most other snow has been wind driven hard.

why are the deer in there in winter if it sucks?

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What habitat is "good" when we have "a real winter".

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That pic is CRP??? No friggin way ray.

 

[Duckslayer100]

WTF.... Where do you guys live? In the east the CRP snow is often the only snow still fluffy and "moveable" while most other snow has been wind driven hard.

why are the deer in there in winter if it sucks?

No kidding...tell you what, since everyone out west thinks CRP is worthless, please move all those acres to the eastern half. We'll gladly them.

 

[dean nelson]

Not what I said or meant wags. I went into this draw with 9 points. Have never applied for one of the mule deer zones. For the last six years Only 3A1. So the 100% for 7 points is not correct or as I suspect they are corrupt and give tags to whom they want to have them

So then the question is who at the game and fish hates you so much to go out of their way to make sure you dont draw and the people you know do? Also if they are so corrupt and are purposely rigging the deer Lottery coming on a public website and bitching about it is really a genius move and will definitely help you out next year with the rigged drawing!:;:deadhorse

 

[NDSportsman]

Here are the draw odds from 2016:

0 points: 0.4%
1 point: 1.2%
2 points: 2.6%
3 points: 4.5%
4 points: 37.6%
5 points: 46.6%
6 points: 77.6%
7 and above: 100%

Some of your friends are awfully lucky and others damn lucky.

Well here is the breakdown I received from GNF:

[FONT=&quot]Unit 4B had 400 mule deer bucks available, 4 went to nonresidents, 62 went to landowners. 334 were available in the general lottery. 2,281 people applied for the 333 tags.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]1 person had 10 points 1 person drawn - 100%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 people had 9 points 1 person drawn - 33%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 people had 8 points 3 people drew - 100%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]18 people had 7 points 14 people drew - 78%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]100 people had 6 points 71 people drew - 71%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]215 people had 5 points 115 people drew - 53%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]292 people had 4 points 85 people drew - 29%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]288 people had 3 points 22 people drew - 7%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]299 people had 2 points 11 people drew - 3%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]440 people had 1 point 6 people drew - 1%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]622 people had 0 points 5 people drew - >1%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
Apparently it's getting even worse to draw in that unit even though numbers are increasing. I'm apparently 1 of 29 other schmucks who "beat the odds" with 6 points. Really feel bad for the 2 poor bastards with 9 PP that didn't draw. Apparently they are some of the most unluckiest people on earth!

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CRP IS NOT WINTER HABITAT FOR DEER!!!!! If we have any significant snowfall CRP lays flat under the snow cover. Deer use CRP for rearing fawns and as cover/feed during the spring, summer and fall. Whitetails need trees and/or brush covered hills for winter cover.

All the CRP in the world wont help the deer a damn bit when its crusted under 3' of snow!

That's not always the case. I've seen deer wintering in CRP with plenty of snow. I've also seen deer unable to access treed areas because of too much snow. Some cattail sloughs are impenetrable with snow, others can be a wildlife haven in winter. Not all CRP is created equal just like other cover. The bottom line is there can never be too much habitat!

 

[Lycanthrope]

probably wouldn't change a thing. Make it that the gratis holder has to own 51% of the land in the quarter. What you have now is huge farmers that own tons of Land so dad takes gratis on four quarters and the kids take gratis on all the other quarters because they're probably listed as 5% owner or such.

That happens to an extent, but there are also a lot of people who have purchased just enough land to get a gratis every year, many from out of state...

 

[Nanky]

That happens to an extent, but there are also a lot of people who have purchased just enough land to get a gratis every year, many from out of state...

I believe if they live out of state, they can get a tag, but it comes out of the non-resident lot, so it does not affect residents at all. Believe me I've had them send me stats for non-residents and it's ugly for the normal guy. Once gratis and outfitter tags are taken out first, there's very few units across the state that a non-resident can even have a 5% chance at drawing a tag, no matter the amount of preference points.

 

[Walleye_Chaser]

That happens to an extent, but there are also a lot of people who have purchased just enough land to get a gratis every year, many from out of state...

Now THAT is a shame.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Ok, so you buy land and get a gratis tag...aren't you legally supposed to only harvest a deer off your own land?

I'm not sure what the minimum acreage is, but it's not like some NR is buying a couple hundred acres of ag land with no discernible features just to get a gratis tag. There'd be no point if there were no deer. Sounds like a huge waste of money.

 

[NDSportsman]

Ok, so you buy land and get a gratis tag...aren't you legally supposed to only harvest a deer off your own land?

I'm not sure what the minimum acreage is, but it's not like some NR is buying a couple hundred acres of ag land with no discernible features just to get a gratis tag. There'd be no point if there were no deer. Sounds like a huge waste of money.

Yeah that's what's supposed to happen. How many people do you really think are staying on their 160 acres?

 

[Duckslayer100]

Yeah that's what's supposed to happen. How many people do you really think are staying on their 160 acres?

I'm not sure. Not Internet police certified at the moment, but I'm working on it. I'd hope that the folks with gratis tags follow the rules.

Then again, what's stopping me with my 2F1 tag from crossing into 2F2 and taking a buck? Point is, you gotta ASSUME folks are following the letter of the law. If they aren't, well, I hope one of the 12 COs in North Dakota are getting plenty of good intel from folks such as yourself with RAP on speed dial.

 

[Flatrock]

Yeah that's what's supposed to happen. How many people do you really think are staying on their 160 acres?

Lots of guys hunt off their land. That's just a fact. I personally know quite a few that do but it's damn near impossible for them to get caught. Had a buddy who had a picture of a monster a few years ago and one night he's at the bar and a landowner from 15 miles away is bragging about a big buck he shot. Shows him the picture and it's the buck that my buddy had on camera. What a joke.

 

[guywhofishes]

I am staying on ours! The game warden in my area keeps a close eye on the area - I'd be nervous about shooting one standing even 10 ft off the wrong side of the fence. Mostly though because I learned early in life that "cheating" just sucks the fun out of just about anything I cheated at, gave me a gut ache feeling like a douche later.

Cheating is for chumps.

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Also - most gratis tag owners don't have to cheat. It's practically cheating as it is. Hee hee hee.

 

[johnr]

I hunt with guys that farm the land, and have gratis tags. They seem to stick to their land pretty much exclusively. Three neighbors, they hunt together, but seems like they don't shoot anything until they are on their land. Not sure if that is breaking any rules, but they are honest with the gratis tags.

 

[ndlongshot]

Whats this talk about outfitter tags?

 

[Nanky]

Whats this talk about outfitter tags?

At least for non-resident tags, gratis and allotted outfitter tags are taken out prior to the general lottery, so many times there are not any tags left in units for the regular applicants. I'd assume the same is done for the regular resident drawing as well, but I'm not sure as I've only asked for non-resident numbers.

 

[ndlongshot]

At least for non-resident tags, gratis and allotted outfitter tags are taken out prior to the general lottery, so many times there are not any tags left in units for the regular applicants. I'd assume the same is done for the regular resident drawing as well, but I'm not sure as I've only asked for non-resident numbers.

I wasn't even aware "outfitter tags" existed. Why the hell are they entitled to a pocket full of tags to sell to the highest bidder?