Honkers

[Trip McNeely]

ifish i understand your beliefs but imho there are valid counter points to all your points. 1. there are generally plenty of birds all winter long on mild years. should we hunt them in march too because there are still 100k on the river? 2. the guys that work shift work hunt wednesdays if late flights become an issue. 3. if a guy truly knows what they are doing they could potentially kill a limit every day of the week, even when its cold. it comes down to how u scout. i get some peoples frustration with not liberalizing late season but be thankful for the balance and opportunity we have. if the season is more liberalized with longer days it will become what our early season has become. over run with nonresidents and difficult to decoy birds. 10 years ago when they upped the limit to 8 i predicted it would happen and it has. late season would be ni different. not trying to pick a fight but seriously consider what you are asking for...... look what happened to snow geese when they started lifting regulations. snows have become such a weary bird overall hunter success is dependent on juvie hatches.... be careful what you wish for. we have a pretty good setup now so leave it alone. hunt smarter.

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to expand on another point of yours fish, i personally would like to see two things happen to waterfowl season in nd.1. instead of adding a week on to the late
season i think the ndgf should move the entire season back one week. across the board. from resident opener move it all back a week.keep all the framework the same, just "poof" slide er on back a week. at least for the high plains zone. this will do a few things. 1) itll obviously add a week onto the end of the season. 2) itll give ducks and resident geese a slight break from early season and youth. imo this will allow field birds to get back into the fields and should make field hunting better early on. it will also potentially help to stop early migrants in nd. birds draw in more birds. if there are birds around to help gather early migrators it may also help improve the early hunting in oct until
the push happens.

 

[snowkiller]

Killed limits on thur and fri.Thursday was though as i found no geese in the fields on wed.Lots of migrating geese early thurs morning so set up in a pea field they were flying over.It was a long cold day but limited.The lake was frozen but lots of geese on the ice.Scouted thurs evening along the river,saw one bunch go into a pea field but there were thousands on the river but didnt come out.Fri set up in the peas by the river about 1030 and was done by 1130 they were coming out heavy.GREAT last day

 

[USMCDI]

ifish i understand your beliefs but imho there are valid counter points to all your points. 1. there are generally plenty of birds all winter long on mild years. should we hunt them in march too because there are still 100k on the river? 2. the guys that work shift work hunt wednesdays if late flights become an issue. 3. if a guy truly knows what they are doing they could potentially kill a limit every day of the week, even when its cold. it comes down to how u scout. i get some peoples frustration with not liberalizing late season but be thankful for the balance and opportunity we have. if the season is more liberalized with longer days it will become what our early season has become. over run with nonresidents and difficult to decoy birds. 10 years ago when they upped the limit to 8 i predicted it would happen and it has. late season would be ni different. not trying to pick a fight but seriously consider what you are asking for...... look what happened to snow geese when they started lifting regulations. snows have become such a weary bird overall hunter success is dependent on juvie hatches.... be careful what you wish for. we have a pretty good setup now so leave it alone. hunt smarter.

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to expand on another point of yours fish, i personally would like to see two things happen to waterfowl season in nd.1. instead of adding a week on to the late
season i think the ndgf should move the entire season back one week. across the board. from resident opener move it all back a week.keep all the framework the same, just "poof" slide er on back a week. at least for the high plains zone. this will do a few things. 1) itll obviously add a week onto the end of the season. 2) itll give ducks and resident geese a slight break from early season and youth. imo this will allow field birds to get back into the fields and should make field hunting better early on. it will also potentially help to stop early migrants in nd. birds draw in more birds. if there are birds around to help gather early migrators it may also help improve the early hunting in oct until
the push happens.

Agree 100% on moving everything back a week, putting a cap on NR's would be even better, 5000 tops and raise their license prices a shitload. We can thank the democrat Hoeven for no cap on NR's.

 

[zoops]

Doubt it was just one politician that kept it from happening and I really doubt it will ever happen in this day where the dollar is put above all else.

 

[dean nelson]

ifish i understand your beliefs but imho there are valid counter points to all your points. 1. there are generally plenty of birds all winter long on mild years. should we hunt them in march too because there are still 100k on the river? 2. the guys that work shift work hunt wednesdays if late flights become an issue. 3. if a guy truly knows what they are doing they could potentially kill a limit every day of the week, even when its cold. it comes down to how u scout. i get some peoples frustration with not liberalizing late season but be thankful for the balance and opportunity we have. if the season is more liberalized with longer days it will become what our early season has become. over run with nonresidents and difficult to decoy birds. 10 years ago when they upped the limit to 8 i predicted it would happen and it has. late season would be ni different. not trying to pick a fight but seriously consider what you are asking for...... look what happened to snow geese when they started lifting regulations. snows have become such a weary bird overall hunter success is dependent on juvie hatches.... be careful what you wish for. we have a pretty good setup now so leave it alone. hunt smarter.

- - - Updated - - -

to expand on another point of yours fish, i personally would like to see two things happen to waterfowl season in nd.1. instead of adding a week on to the late
season i think the ndgf should move the entire season back one week. across the board. from resident opener move it all back a week.keep all the framework the same, just "poof" slide er on back a week. at least for the high plains zone. this will do a few things. 1) itll obviously add a week onto the end of the season. 2) itll give ducks and resident geese a slight break from early season and youth. imo this will allow field birds to get back into the fields and should make field hunting better early on. it will also potentially help to stop early migrants in nd. birds draw in more birds. if there are birds around to help gather early migrators it may also help improve the early hunting in oct until
the push happens.

One flaw in that argument is the birds didn't become harder to hunt because of the loosening of the regulations the regulations were loosened instead because the birds have become harder to hunt and thus manage. As for moving the season the high planes unit already gets 23 extra days over the rest of the state spread out over almost an additional month so you're not likely to see another week being added too easy. I would however be just fine with losing another week off the early season if we can add it to the end like they did last time.

 

[USMCDI]

Doubt it was just one politician that kept it from happening and I really doubt it will ever happen in this day where the dollar is put above all else.

Yeah but he was the dipshit that put his signature on the proclamation, George Sinner used to send it back. They can make the same amount of money from NR's, soak them hard if they want to hunt here. We don't need out of state money to keep small towns alive, I live in a town of 250 and we would be better off without them.

 

[Trip McNeely]

One flaw in that argument is the birds didn't become harder to hunt because of the loosening of the regulations the regulations were loosened instead because the birds have become harder to hunt and thus manage. As for moving the season the high planes unit already gets 23 extra days over the rest of the state spread out over almost an additional month so you're not likely to see another week being added too easy. I would however be just fine with losing another week off the early season if we can add it to the end like they did last time.

thats possible but it may become a chicken or the egg type of argument..... at any rate its like a runaway truck now.... birds harder to kill-loosen restrictions add more pressure...... birds become harder to kill again- loosen regs increase pressure.... rinse and repeat but it doesnt reduce the population enough. it just breeds smarter harder to kill birds. i finally think we have one farmer convinced on the best way to actually kill these birds. let them rest...... yep let them get comfy in a field for a week.... then pick the best day(wind) to kill them. get 5-10 crack shots and lay waste to them on your terms... letting every sconi and minne on
during the week only scatters birds and wisens them up quicker....

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and the legth is the same of days for canadas for high and low plains. its the ducks that have 23 days didference. dec. 31st vs. dec.3. by moving the season back u arent changing anything except the start and stop date. so itd be jan 7th-ish for high plains and dec 10thish for low plains..... i venture a guess there are still plenty of ducks to hunt dec 10th. esp in years like this.....

 

[zoops]

Yeah but he was the dipshit that put his signature on the proclamation, George Sinner used to send it back. They can make the same amount of money from NR's, soak them hard if they want to hunt here. We don't need out of state money to keep small towns alive, I live in a town of 250 and we would be better off without them.

Not trying to argue with you but not quite sure what you mean by signing the proclamation? We never really had a NR cap, well 30,000 for a little while but that's hardly a cap.

 

[Account Deleted]

I don’t like being soaked when I go to the other states to hunt so I certainly don’t want to soak guys for hunting here. I can live with a cap.

 

[Fly Carpin]

One flaw in that argument is the birds didn't become harder to hunt because of the loosening of the regulations the regulations were loosened instead because the birds have become harder to hunt and thus manage. As for moving the season the high planes unit already gets 23 extra days over the rest of the state spread out over almost an additional month so you're not likely to see another week being added too easy. I would however be just fine with losing another week off the early season if we can add it to the end like they did last time.

“High planes”

 

[Kurtr]

Hunt them all day here and they are killing the shit out of them in Pierre. The only place you can get otc tags for waterfowl in Sodak.

I agree with ghost I don't like being soaked when I go out of state to hunt. Blaming out of state people is short sighted and a cop out

 

[snowkiller]

LEAVE THE SEASON OPEN LONGER.PLEASE;:;bowdown

 

[Trip McNeely]

Hunt them all day here and they are killing the shit out of them in Pierre. The only place you can get otc tags for waterfowl in Sodak.

I agree with ghost I don't like being soaked when I go out of state to hunt. Blaming out of state people is short sighted and a cop out

says the guy from a state that limits nonresident waterfowl hunters.

 

[Account Deleted]

He’s just saying we don’t need to squeeze every last dollar out of a NR just because they are on the wrong side of an arbitrary line. Limiting numbers of hunters is different than over charging for the same critters.

 

[jdinny]

LEAVE THE SEASON OPEN LONGER.PLEASE;:;bowdown

honest to god snow killer we need to be careful what we wish for.
I have had the opportunity to hunt the river zone from my college days in 2003 up until now and like to hammer late season honkers as much as anyone. but liberalizing limits and extending season are only going to attract outfitters and guides to set up shop. plain and simple. think about it coupe bad years of crops/ag and you throw some bucks at these guys and the land owners we once all hunted it locked up.
this is coming from a guy who works up in those communities along the river and is a text/call away from a dz or so landowners.
I have to agree with trip more isn't always better.

 

[dean nelson]

Except E calls in the fall for snows because I want damn it! ;:;rofl definitely puts us at a disadvantage when they come out of canada having been hunted with them for over a month!

 

[zoops]

honest to god snow killer we need to be careful what we wish for.
I have had the opportunity to hunt the river zone from my college days in 2003 up until now and like to hammer late season honkers as much as anyone. but liberalizing limits and extending season are only going to attract outfitters and guides to set up shop. plain and simple. think about it coupe bad years of crops/ag and you throw some bucks at these guys and the land owners we once all hunted it locked up.
this is coming from a guy who works up in those communities along the river and is a text/call away from a dz or so landowners.
I have to agree with trip more isn't always better.

Very good point on the extension/liberalizing of seasons (and limits). And you're never going to make everyone happy on season dates - open the season later and the teal/wood duck guys or guys who want to hunt with little kids would complain or if we get a year where we have a foot of snow in October everyone would be up in arms about having no birds around for the last 60 days of the season...I love hunting the later migration but realize that's not everyone's cup of tea, nor is it probably the best way to get younger hunters involved with the cold.

I'm in favor of an NR cap but realistically I don't know how much good it would do. Bird habits have changed; heck I haven't seen a ton of birds while scouting for even resident-only opener the last few years. Definitely would be in favor of a later-season NR cap or closure (say once deer season opens) but that's just me dreaming; not a realistic idea. Not to mention the only bills that seem to get anywhere in the legislature are ones that loosen restrictions for NR.

 

[Kurtr]

says the guy from a state that limits nonresident waterfowl hunters.

not in pierre there are still 699 license available . They pretty much made it so it is otc down there

 

[jdinny]

zoops your are correct you will never please everyone. I think the majority of us agree we wish it was open later. under the federal frameworks you just can not add days to the season. I for one would be willing to give up another week of early season in the river zone for an added week late season. or trips idea of moving it back an entire. week. somethings gotta give if it changes though.

if the river zone guys got a consenus going I bet if enough voices are heard from the river guys you might be able to see some changes being made. most likely would be cutting the early season 7 days shorter and adding it to the end of the late season.

august days do not count against the federal framework so the august season is fine but when the calendar hits sept those days start counting.

 

[zoops]

zoops your are correct you will never please everyone. I think the majority of us agree we wish it was open later. under the federal frameworks you just can not add days to the season. I for one would be willing to give up another week of early season in the river zone for an added week late season. or trips idea of moving it back an entire. week. somethings gotta give if it changes though.

if the river zone guys got a consenus going I bet if enough voices are heard from the river guys you might be able to see some changes being made. most likely would be cutting the early season 7 days shorter and adding it to the end of the late season.

august days do not count against the federal framework so the august season is fine but when the calendar hits sept those days start counting.

That (the part I bolded) does seem like a no-brainer, but I guess it's possible it's not the majority. I believe the August dates do not count, so they'd just have to cut a week off of the September part. I suppose it could be a case of balancing landowner (resident geese eating crops) and hunter complaints.