RSSCategory: ND

2011 Compiled Ruffed Grouse Forecast

2011 Compiled Ruffed Grouse Forecast

Last year we did this and it was a super-popular post, so here it is again. This is a compilation of info from newspaper reports, info from Paul Fuller/Bird Dogs Afield, the Ruffed Grouse Society’s (RGS) forecast and the forecast in the autumn issue of The Upland Almanac – plus a little anecdotal info we’ve […]

September 23, 2011 | By | 2 Replies More
Should Bird Forecasts Be Banned?

Should Bird Forecasts Be Banned?

Part 1 We get it. We get why everyone likes to read bird forecasts: We all want to know how good the hunting is going to be. Yep good, not bad. We want to be psyched. So there we are, stoked about the season, sitting in our rich Corinthian leather chairs (anyone remember that commercial?!), […]

September 16, 2011 | By | 1 Reply More
ND Pheasants Down But…

ND Pheasants Down But…

…Still In the 6 Figs Along with Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, North Dakota has now officially joined the list of major pheasants states where this year’s pheasant population is forecast to be down. The state said that its roadside pheasant survey in late July and August “suggests poor production this spring, meaning a […]

September 13, 2011 | By | Reply More
No ND Sage Grouse Season Again…

No ND Sage Grouse Season Again…

…Habitat Story Like Quail North Dakota won’t have a sage grouse season for the fourth year in a row. Maybe not the worst thing in the world, but the story there and elsewhere is one of increasingly fragmented habitat, the same problem faced by bobwhite quail. We’re not getting fewer Americans with fewer needs/wants, so […]

August 25, 2011 | By | Reply More
Chukars Getting Established in ND?

Chukars Getting Established in ND?

Anyone seen chukars running around in North Dakota? According to a recent article in The Bismarck Tribune, these fun birds are there for the seeing…and hopefully one day hunting. Excerpts: > The other day my friend, Jean, and I were walking our dogs near her house by Sleepy Hollow when this silly little bird about […]

July 26, 2011 | By | Reply More
Last Day To Help Pothole Pheasants, Ducks

Last Day To Help Pothole Pheasants, Ducks

Take 5 Seconds to Send an Email Pheasants Forever is asking hunters to send a quick email to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help conserve pheasant and duck habitat – and today is the last day you can do it. Brief FWS overview: The Service is proposing to establish the Dakota Grassland Conservation […]

July 25, 2011 | By | 1 Reply More
Tip: Map Books to Find Public Land Pheasants

Tip: Map Books to Find Public Land Pheasants

Even if you followed Pheasants Forever’s recent Rooster Road Trip – in which PF staffers hunted only public land – you may have missed this great follow-up video. In it, PF’s Andrew Vavra talks about the reference books/atlases he and his pheasant-busting compadres used for finding the spots they hunted, and where to obtain said […]

December 21, 2010 | By | Reply More
Interview With the PF Road-Trippers, 2

Interview With the PF Road-Trippers, 2

Here’s the final part of the interview with Pheasants Forever’s Bob St.Pierre, Anthony Hauck and Andrew Vavra re: their rooster odyssey: driving 2,200 to hunt five states in 6 days (that’s Serious!) – aka the 2010 Rooster Road Trip.

December 15, 2010 | By | Reply More
Interview With the 3 PF Road-Trippers

Interview With the 3 PF Road-Trippers

Part 1 Who says you can’t find pheasants on public land? After Pheasants Forever’s recent Rooster Road Trip (RRT), the answer should be “nobody.” In case you missed it, the RRT was PF staffers Bob St.Pierre, Anthony Hauck and Andrew Vavra driving 2,200 miles in 6 days to hunt five states: North and South Dakota, […]

December 14, 2010 | By | Reply More
Short Rant: Why Are There Pellet Injuries?

Short Rant: Why Are There Pellet Injuries?

Check Out This Video We were surprised to read about how many “hit by a pellet” incidents there were in the opening week of pheasant hunting in North Dakota. Not a ton, but any more than zero is disturbing. With a lot of hunters in public hunting areas – particularly when it’s the first time […]

October 28, 2010 | By | Reply More
2010 Compiled Ruffed Grouse Forecast

2010 Compiled Ruffed Grouse Forecast

Woodies Too! Obviously we love hunting for ruffed grouse, “the king of all gamebirds” (long live the king!), so we chase down as much info as we can about these birds. Enough info to fill a book…. Pheasants Forever does a good job with its annual pheasant forecast. But since ol’ ruff seems to have […]

September 17, 2010 | By | 4 Replies More
PF’s 2010 State by State Pheasant Forecast

PF’s 2010 State by State Pheasant Forecast

Pheasants Forever’s state by state (not all states) Pheasant Forecast for 2010 is out. Some of the state info is helpful, some not. Would be great to have it in graph form to see trends. Anyhow, here’s the overview plus the links for each. “Pheasant numbers appear to be holding steady in the Dakotas, Kansas, […]

September 13, 2010 | By | Reply More
ND Ruffies May Be Up But…

ND Ruffies May Be Up But…

Don’t know why the Associated Press is covering ruffed grouse, but a few news outlets picked up an AP article about North Dakota ruffed grouse populations looking good. But there are a few buts: > This is based on drumming counts, which don’t exactly correlate to fall hunting. > The increase isn’t that stellar, and… […]

July 19, 2010 | By | Reply More