2010 hunt?

Anyone interested in setting up a group hunt for 2010 somewhere?
Bird, big game, small game?
Any chance of a hunting camp lease we could get in on, anything like that?

I put this in the Elk forum as well, wasn't sure where to put it. Since I am an avid elk hunter, figured that was a good spot to start.

Should I take this offline Mods? Not associate it with the website?
Just let me know and I will delete if necessary?

I've heard of a couple of good places for group hog hunts
I've been involved in a group archery antelope hunt (public land)
I know of a group mule deer hunt (on a private ranch)

I don't know why this won't work - I'd be interested in ironing out some details, to see if it will come together

I'd be up for just about anything... reasonable cost of course.
Deer, bird, pig, etc...
I know there are some leases that could be done and being as its still pre-season 09, its possible to
find a decent lease for 2010 at the moment.

Most ranches, outfitters give a discount for groups of xx or more, that would help as well.

Just an idea to toss around, but we need to figure out WHAT to hunt and go from there.
I'd be more than willing.

M

Well, since sumbuddy mentioned "birds" and we've got a decent chance of havin' some good pheasant populations this fall (if the dang rain quits, so the little chicks don't drown!), and also since some/several folks here would be involved in purchase of a NR license, no matter where the "gathering" would take place and they/we hafta be willing to accept that factor as part of the total cost ... and so on ...

Group fessunt hunt here in Nodak?

I usually hunt public land most of the times I go out ... with all the water available right now (if it doesn't all dry up by October), the birds may be a bit more spread out, but should still be findable ... I've got one dog, and if Son #1 (a part-time contributor here) would/could get the time, he'd bring another ...

Dependin' upon how many, we could actually provide some primitive sleeping areas, if the motels in town are filled or too ratty or too expensive (in our pop-up camper in the back yard, and/or one on the couch and another one or two -- if they're friendly -- on an airbed in the living room) ...

Only about three weekend times that are perty much fer shure booked for me ... Moose opener (Oct. 2), Pheasant opener (Oct. 10), deer opener (Nov. 6) ... well, four -- I might get a tag for a Prairie Goat (Oct. 2), too, but if I do, I'll be huntin' moose the first weekend ... otherwise, it's perty likely that I could arrange part of my werk schedule to offer directions, pick up @ the airport (Bismarck, or locally, if anyone has their own plane) and so on ... If it's important for calculations, we're about 75 minutes away from Bismarck or Dickinson and 90 minutes out of Minot, for them who might drive ... NWA serves Bismarck and I think Minot, and United also flies their little tiny planes into Dickinson, Amtrak goes thru Minot ... Trailways crosses the state on I-94 ...

I fergit the actual prices of upland licenses, I'm guessin' mebbe around $100 for all the necessary papers and stamps ... and we've got some decent fishin' here, too ... if I ever get my little-bitty boat ready to put back into the water ... Y'all could check the ND G&F website for all the necessary info ... also a slight chance that someone might be able to get a NR turkey tag for the fall season, if there's any left after the draw (NRs can't apply before then), and in our unit ... tho the turkey population isn't as prominent as it once wuz ...

Whutever ... I din't start this idea, but it sounds fun to me ... my (small) scheduling problem would be the various commitments I've got, which would likely keep me from bein' able to go very far to get to any other get-together in some distant state ...

OH! WAIT!

This is for 2010? No moose hunt for me after this year UNLESS one of my kids/grandkids gets a tag next year ... can't say about the other outings, but the weekends remain about the same from year to year ... also can't say how the birds will survive next winter, but it'd hafta be werse than this last one to make a big cut in the inventory ...

Should be able to finagle this sorta deal if I've got 15 months to get ready ... might even have a larger camper/motorhome for sleepers, by then ...

ALSO ... I am NOT a guide, or an outfitter ... not licensed, and don't wanna be ... this is NOT a "commercial" enterprise for me ... merely extendin' an invitation, if the interest is there ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Bird hunting gets my vote and I have a great pointer!   All I would have to work out is the date as it would have to be after my big game hunts in Wyoming and New Mexico that are already planned for next year in October and early November.

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

My lab ought to be fully finished by then - that just might be a great idea!

I'm up for a bird hunt....and if there is enough interest for 2009 hunting, it can be moved up. I just put in 2010 so
that there was enough time for a solid plan and that hunters could save and plan it out.
I've seen a lot of "plans" that just go up in smoke because they get pushed so quickly. This way, if someone is serious enough, pending family emergencies and such, then it will happen if they have the time to work it in.

I've got a young pointer with a hell of a nose on her... she will be tagging along with me if this happens, even if I just put her on a 25' lead around my waist and let her get some practice in.
I'd let the more experienced dogs take the lead.


M

Who cares what year, LOL!  Heck, maybe we shoud try to start something this year and do one every year from now on!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

I'd be all for that TG....

Every year ... sounds like an excellent idea, imho ...

Whutever, on the year, for the fessunts ... y'all have already seen whut my "planned" series of commitments looks like ... Oh ... allow for a wedding I hafta attend on the weekend of Oct. 17 as well ... gotta go to TRF and take some pix for the bride (not the "formal" pix, merely candids ... but she and her mom apparently thot mine were OK when I did the same when he got married to their sister/daughter) ... dang ... October is gettin' filled up ... I'd better get a moose that first weekend, or it'll be really crowded for the next couple of weekends ...

As to this year's possibilities ...

Our gang of youngsters (and a couple of their dads) have talked for several years about them comin' back out here for a late-season bird hunt ... it happened this past season ... in whut wuz essentially blizzard conditions ... still, we got some birds and had some fun ...

A later-season gathering (whichever year) might avoid most of your conflicts with other hunts (and whutever else) ... oh ... we've got muzzloader season in there sumplace too ... opener for that is the day after Thanksgiving ... I've only got three points for that one, so I sorta don't expect one this year ... but it could happen, or it could take another year -- or four -- to draw that tag ...

Talk amongst yerselfs ... see if there's a span of three to six days when several/most/many/all of y'all could put your ordnance and body (and dog?) on the road, to meet in Nodak ...

Again -- my priorities are (by opening date, or weekend):

Oct. 2 - Moose, & Pronghorn?

Oct. 10 - Pheasant opener (the gang shows up ... sorta a tradition ... )

Oct. 17 - Wedding fotos in TRF, MN

Oct. 24 - Open?

Oct. 31 - Open? (TRICK OR TREAT!!! It's really NOT a big thing around here.)

Nov. 7 - Deer gun opener (and the next two weekends, if still tags to fill, or grandkids have not yet tagged a deer ... but that's flexible ... )

Nov. 26/27 - Thanksgiving @ SIL's. My Bride does NOT have the day after off, this year, so we'd be returning home so she could work. Or, she'd be returning home and I'd go hunt with the muzzleloader, if I draw a tag.

Nothing after that, except the obvious stuff - Christmas and such.

Pheasants (and other upland, as well as deer archery) close on either Jan. 3 or Jan. 10 ... the Third, I think ...

Pitfalls and potential problems: Weather. Could delay planes or other travel plans. And make the hunt sorta medium-grade miserable. We had about seven mild Decembers in a row, until last year ... we could have weather that's nearly T-shirt nice, or stuff that makes Thule, Greenland look good ...

Motels: We have two "small town" ones, one wuz a former Super 8 until they got dropped, and a nearby "family" enterprise bought it ... adequate ... another is similar, with a bar/lounge/pizza joint on premises, also ... adequate ... the third is AmericInn, they're kinda pricey, but if you're familiar with 'em, you know whut to expect ... OR ... bunk primitively in our ancient camper, or sleep on our sofa or air bed on the floor ...

Two dogs that inhabit our "kennel" and the space might allow room for others on a limited basis, but I'll have the chain-link fence built by then, and visiting dogs could run around a bit in our back yard ... I'll even loan out the pooper-scooper, if you're careful with it ... and our local vet is more than satisfactory in our judgement, in case of special needs for the canine crew in attendance ... and there would be room in our garage for several "sleeper/kennel" boxes ... that's where our dogs sleep most of the time, until it's too cold and they move indoors to stink up the place until spring ...

A decent grocery store, a NICE dining place, a few bars, drugstore, hardware, SEVERAL banks, no movie theatre (one in the next town over, two screens, semi-low prices, refills of popcorn or pop for 50 cents), "tourist"

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

December would be the best bet for me. It looks like it is my weekends off month. That would be this year that is. Can't say for sure if I'll be able to swing it for certain but it sounds like fun.

is the hunting any good in Dec?
I know it gets kind of cold by then

December is also the best for me because of all the big game hunting I do in October and November.  The weather can be lousy from the middle of October on, so it's really a crap shoot.  When I went out on December 7th a few years ago on a hunt I won on the NAHC BB auction, it was the coldest week they had all winter---it was -20 and several days exceeded -40 windchill.  I almost lost the right side of my nose to frostbite one morning because I didn't have that part of my face protected well enough!!!  This past season I stopped on the way home from Wyoming in early November for a few days south of where O lives.  We got hit with the big blizzard he mentioned that dumped 4' of snow up around Deadwood, SD, closed all the highways for two days, stranded lots of hunters in the Black Hills, etc.  We had to hightail it up to Dickinson just before it hit and rode the storm out for two days in a motel.  That was as bad a storm as I've ever seen (I've been in Michigan since 1962 too!) and when we went back down by Regent to hunt after it was over there was so much snow along the fencelines and shelterbelt treelines that I couldn't even hunt in snowshoes!  I think all we can do is set up the dates and pray that the weather cooperates.  I would be driving, pulling a small camper, and bringing my DD pointer.  If the weather folks predicted anything like I just described to hit on the dates we pick I would just scrub the trip as it's a long 1 1/2 days on the road.   A little snow and cold is one thing, but the two trips I just described were not fun, except for seeing thousands of pheasants bunched up trying to survive and, in fact, we were down right stupid to even be out on that first one!  Let's just make the plans and see what happens as the dates we pick get close, whether it's this year or next.  I will be there for a week this year, starting Saturday, the 17th of October, on my way to Wyoming and hope to get with O then for a day or two if he can break free.  If you guys have never hunted pheasants in the Dakotas, it is unbelievable to see the number of birds out there even in the lean years!  Let's start making a plan and for you working stiffs I can do it whenever your time allows.

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

This sounds like a great idea guys!  I'm not into bird hunting myself, but I'm glad that I could provide the arena for planning this outdoor adventure.
 
Best of luck to you all on the hunt!!
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

Pheasant make a good archery target Steve. I will be considering taking the bow myself. With a 12 gauge backup of course.

what's the matter, steve - you don't consider a pheasant a good enough reason to lose half your nose to frost-bite?

if that isn't, what is?

We din't get any frostbite in that outing during our January "last weekend" hunt ... but we got cold enuf ... We managed to get ... um ... a dozen? ... 18? ... roosters, in the miserable conditions, but even the young fellas were ready to call it quits on the second day ...

As Top' sez, all we can do is plan a time-frame, and then hope the weather cooperates a bit ...

Yeah, the huntin' is decent all thru the season, barring the happenstance of four-foot snowdrifts, of course ...

As to the other question in all yer minds ... we've had many Decembers when the weather, while chilly, and p'haps a bit of snow on the ground, were essentially "nice" conditions for hunting ... sure, layer up on the clothes, but my typical toggery of about that time/season is prolly longjohns, brush pants (as always, when doin' upland or deer huntin'), a long-sleeved "undie" top covered by a decent shirt, and then one-two-three layers of jackets or sweaters under my shooting vest ... decent boots, with heater thingies in the toes, if it's that chilly, and I don't have much trouble with the weather bein' too cold ... that's whut sittin' in the vehicle is for ...

It's quite unlikely that an early-to-mid-December hunt would encounter any sub-zero temperatures, tho on the bad days of rain/sleet, the wind-chill could drop down to a discomfort zone

AS TO LICENSE EXPENSES: I'd hafta check on this for sure, but I'm almost positive y'all could wait until arrival to get the needed permits online, from my computer (or your own, if you travel with one), and then print it out ... process shouldn't take more than about 10-15 minutes at the most ...

HUNTER SAFETY CARDS! Those of y'all born after Dec. 31, 19 ... um ... '71? ... GOTTA HAVE 'EM ... If y'all know your number, and whut state issued it, that's all you really need for an online license purchase ... you'll need a credit card to pay for it, of course, but there's NO ADDED FEE for this method ... in contrast, if you buy one over the phone, there IS an added fee ...

While I might suggest that getting your license a day or two early (online) might be a good plan, we've also got the County Auditor's office, which has all the needed tags and such, and no "vendor fee" attached to this method ... only problem with this is that the office is open ONLY from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. M-F ... HOWEVER ... since he knows me, I could prolly arrange to become a "vendor" and have all the needed papers here in the house ... this would NOT be a bad concept to arrange, merely becuz sometimes even the Auditor will run out of certain tags, at certain times of the year ... if I had a book of 10-20 licenses & stamps, we'd KNOW FOR SURE that the proper authorization paperwork would be on premises and available 24/7 ...

If I'd arrange that setup (no cost until the time one turns in the unsold stuff, and then gotta pay ONLY for whut wuz sold ... easy to deal with ... ) ... I could ALSO manage to have a few NR deer/archery tags on hand, if that'd be of interest ... can't guarantee a good place (in this area) to hunt 'em on public land ... decent, but chancey at best ... some private folks might give access (for little or no fees), but I don't have anything like that arranged at this time ...

All I'm sayin' here is that if ... IF ... any part of this idea becomes sumthin' resemblin' reality, it would NOT hafta involve y'all spendin' license fees and then not gettin' here to use the licenses ... we could do that part in our own house ...

This will only werk with non-lottery tags for various seasons ... HOWEVER ... even deer (bow) or turkey have had leftover tags after the lotteries, and then these become OTC ... neither of these options are for sure, but each is likely ... turkey unit here may be sold out of leftovers, same with deer rifle (but y'all won't be here for that season), but the deer/bow tags are unlimited, even to NRs, except for the "ANY DEER" in some units ... so ... that's th

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Two other thots about the above info:

If someone is leery of trusting the airline with their beloved firearm, I've got a few ... um ... "spare" ones that a person could use, and avoid the apprehension of trusting airline luggage handlers with precision machinery ... and avoiding the potential theft of same, en route ...

and ...

I do not take credit cards ... for license fees, or any other type of deal ... since this is only an arrangement I'd be doin' for incoming "special" folks, I'd need cash for that part of the deal ... I'm the guy who put the "K" in Konvenience Store, and that's whut this would be ... ("vendor fees" are limited to 50 cents per license/stamp/permit/tag, so being a license seller is NOT a major source of financial security ... merely sayin' ... ) ...

Besides which already ... if y'all pay cash, you're already here ... so you'd have whut y'all paid for in hand ... it's not as if you'd be sendin' me money, and hopin' I'd remember your name when you knock on the door ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

I could see it now -

knock, knock

I'm here!

who are you?

I'm the guy who sent you the $!

what money?  I've never heard of you - get outta here before I call the cops!

... um ... actually ... I know the chief here in town, we both belong to the gun club nearby, and another friend is well-placed in the sheriff's department ...

Merely sayin' ...

BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA