NR MULEY TAGS IN NODAK

As of this a.m. (03/09/09) there were still about 250 NR ANY DEER tags left in Bismarck.

These are the ones that allow NRs to hunt Muleys in the restritcted units ... only about 1,200 or so issued this year, and FC/FS ... online is possible ...

If whitetail is all y'all want, those are unlimited, and available at any time ... it's the muley tags that disappear perty fast ...

Merely mentionin' ... in case anyone is interested ...

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

O:
 
Thanks for the post!
 
What part of ND are you from?  I'll be going through ND in May and September on my way up to Manitoba to hunt spring black bear and whitetails in the fall.
 
I normally stay in Fargo or Grand Forks as a rest stop before heading across the border.
 
You can also PM me.
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

Hey O!
I wish you would PM me details on this. NR price, season dates, location of hunt land, etc. For the Mulies and WTails...If you don't mind.
 
I would appreciate it!
 
Kent

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

NAHC-L, NRA

O,
 same for me. dates, fees,etc.
 thanks a bunch

Hunt Hard, Hunt Safe and enjoy what you got in life
Paul Snyder
LM NAHC,NRA,SCI,DU

HOLY COW!

OK ... rather than pm, I'll put it here ... then mebbe I'll figger out pm later ...

Archery season in Nodak opens Sept. 4 (that's not "official" yet, subject to approval by Gov., but that'll be the date) this year ... season runs continuously until either Jan. 3 or Jan. 10, 2010 ... yes, bowhunters can hunt with a bow during rifle season, but they gotta wear orange ... that's Nov. 6-15 ... also might hafta wear orange during MZ season, not sure, that's Nov. 27-Dec. 13 ...

NR can buy a "regular" tag at almost any time, go thru the ND G&F webpage is the easiest, I'm sure ... I fergit the cost, becuz I've never bought a NR tag ... $100-150-200? I'm thinkin' it's less than $200 but more than $100 ...

A bow tag is good anywhere in the state, for any deer, EXCEPT ... Muley bucks in certain restricted areas can only be taken by NRs with an "ANY DEER" license, as described in the opening post of this thread ... I'd say a goodly number of the ones I mentioned this a.m. are already gone ... but ... only one way to find out ...

there's ONE "guide/outfitter" outfit listed with this UOA gang, their ranch/operation is about 80 miles or so from where I live ... (Beulah, ND -- about 80 miles NW of Bismarck) ...

Other than that, there are a fair number of other G/O outfits that specialize in turkey and archery deer hunts ... one of 'em that's quite nice (imho) is about 25 miles from here, and I'd recommend it, if it's in your budget range ... good facilites, nice folks and ... well, I fergit the food arrangements, but I think that's part of the deal ...

EVEN IF YOU DON'T GET AN "ANY DEER" TAG, you can still hunt whitetails ... and we've got some areas where there are some perty decent ones ... 140-150 is not unusual, and 150+ to 165 class are there, if you're lucky, and patient ...

There's no "two weeks and out" to the bow tags, AS FAR AS I KNOW, as is the case with upland or waterfowl tags ... if you wanna hunt the early velvet-horns ... you can ... then you can come back in late October, and if you're still not filled out, you can come back after Christmas ... no "date juggling" or anything else ...

The nicer thing about that is ... you can juggle pheasant/grouse or waterfowl into your archery time, and mebbe even snag a fall turkey tag (spring tags are not available to NRs, but fall ones, after the first couple rounds of drawing, become available ... also, a hunter can purchase up to eight turkey tags, if wanted, and can find 'em still available in the proper unit/area ) ... also, NR "regular/gun" licenses are always available, even after the third round of drawings, however those will be only doe tags ... NR buck tags for the rifle season are limited to one percent (or two percent?) of the prior year's number in that unit, so some NR opportunities are kinda slim, and buck tags are even scarcer ... but ... we do have priority point systems on first-choice misses ...

Access into Nodak is ... OK ... but a bit pricey if flying in ... not many flights to Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks or Minot (or the smaller airports) ... (smaller is misleading ... Hector in Fargo has, I think, about six gates ... Bismarck has basically two gates, same with GF last time I was there ... so airlines flyin' in here charge more ... it costs us about as much to fly from BIS or FAR to MSP (Twin Cities) as it does to fly the rest of the way to Ireland ...

You can do it, but driving MIGHT be cheaper ... and you'll have your own huntin' vehicle to drive when you get here ...

BEST WAY FOR YOU TO CHECK ON ACTUAL LICENSE COSTS AND SUCH, is to go to the ND G&F website ... sumbuddy put that up in a NICE page, for all the states and provinces ... somewhere on this site ...

If that's not handy, merely g00gle North Dakota Game & Fish Department, and you'll find the webpage ...

I think our regs are fairly simple, compared to MT, CO, NM, AZ, WY and some of the others which I've examined ...

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

O:
 
Thanks a ton for all of the information!
 
Also, I sent you an E mail to the E mail address you used to sign up as a member of our Talk Forums.  Be sure to check your junk folder as some E mail programs filter certain E mail.
 
Thanks again!
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

O,
 
thanks for the PM and all this info. I am always looking to DIY, but a little friendly "guidance" always helps!
 
good luck this year!
 
Kent

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson

NAHC-L, NRA

You, sir, should look into being a booking agent with all that information!!!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Nah ... even tho the Lege this session is (or has) decided that "booking" or "referencing" or "connecting" hunters with G/Os does NOT require that person to be a "licensed/registered guide" ... gettin' into the bidness would be a bit more than I wanna take on ...

I'm comfortable enuf with the time I get to spend afield, and the places I have to hunt, so that I don't mind sharin' some of our bounty & liberal (imho) allowances (altho I'll admit that some of the time-limit aspects of our current setup don't seem to be very hospitable, if a NR wants to stay longer and spend more money) with decent and honorable folks of the Nimrod persuasion, even tho they happen to have a voting residence outside the state ... (and that's unlike a fair number of Yingyangs I could mention, who seem to think that their Fargo/Grand Forks/Bismarck/Minot Zip Codes make 'em superior to me, or my kids, or my grandkids ... sum of them wanna keep it all fer their ownselfs, when I figger we've got plenty enuf to share ...

So ... I merely mention the conditions and opportunities to anybuddy who seems to be a reasonably civilized Human Being, and won't be a slob hunter when visitin' ...

Some folks who've become best friends were strangers when they drove into the yard with a foreign license plate ... tho I gotta say, others of those best friends have vehicles with a dealer sticker on the back that sez they came from those same four biggest towns in Nodak ... it ain't the geography ... it's the attitude ...

And I've never had near the amount of "problems/issues" with them with an Area Code other than 701, that I've had with sum others I could name ...

SORRY ... got on my high pony here again ... DO NOT WANT to start an argument ... that's part of whut drove me away from a couple of other sites ... them whut badmouth folks merely becuz they seem to think a NR will take away some of their "hunting opportunities" ... yeah, there's some negative aspects ... but I've long gotten past that part of the deal ...

I like the company here ... and I really don't have any idea where y'all happen to be from, until I check your profile page, or note a mention of your hometown area ...

Decent, openminded conversations ... and sharin' huntin' stories and other interests ...

That's whut's fun ... bein' able to brag a bit about whut we've got here, and doin' a lot of it based on memory of stuff learned, instead of needin' to g00gle to find an answer to a question (except when my old brain fergits, then I like to check the details, so as to not be misleadin' in my data output ... )

THEREfore ... if I merely mention a few of the chances, and sumbuddy takes that info and enjoys the bounty of whut we've got here, I'm OK with that ...

Also, I've seen whut "organization" and "collective guide services" can do to an area, or a group of neighbors, or a community ... and I don't really like it much ...

Commercialization is here to stay, and I won't begrudge an individual (or group) for enhancin' their cash flow by takin' that route ... but I'd sooner exchange Christmas gifts, and some social time @ the pub or even in my own home, than merely take a check for not huntin' myself becuz I've got a JOB to do ... keepin' the CUSTOMER happy ...

Dang ... din't mean to get all philosophical on this ... it's an old song, even tho most folks here haven't heard my version before ... so I don't really need to practice the lines ...

Bein' neighborly? Whutever ...

OTOH, sure ... someday, I might be interested in "trading" my "suggestions" for a similar favor in some other locale ... but with my work/life/age/finances, that's not too likely ... I've got more huntin' to do around here than I've got the time to enjoy ... heck, I don't even get to the range as much as I'd like to ... let alone drivin' 500 miles or more and spendin' 20 or 30 times as much money for a license to do it ... Yeah, I had a GREAT time chasin' elk in Mon

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 noticed in the last few minutes, that the forum clock does not seem to have managed the time change for DST ...

NBD, merely observin' ...

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

You are so right about all the property being leased out nowadays by folks, especially outfitters, but there is not much you or I can do about it, so I just work a little harder at finding good places.  These hunting forums are a super place to meet folks and make friends for life.  I was on the "other" site and simply asked a question in the ND Forum on how the birds were doing out in the sw part of ND.  I got a very nice response back from btr, who lives in Mandan.  Some time passed and I saw a post he had placed in the Wyoming Forum asking for information on elk hunting possibilities there with his 3 PPs.  To make a long story short, he applied where I told him and I will be taking him on a two week bow rut hunt the last two weeks of September with another freind of mine who drew a tag.  We will have a ball with those big bugling bulls!!!  What is really nice is that it turns out that btr has 1000 acres south of you that I can do some bird hunting on in October as I head out to Wyoming on our annual hunt for mulies.  If he doesn't fill his tag with his bow, he may even come back out with his rifle during that season with us.  I also hit it off with another member, who is also a member on this site, and I've been invited on a packin mulie hunt with muzzleloaders in the Gila of New Mexico in 2010.  Two other guys have invited me on fishing trips on Lakes Huron and Michigan this summer, while right now I'm trying to help another guy finalize his plans to hunt deer and antelope out in Wyoming.  I did the same thing for a member last year and he went out with his wife and came back to Illinois with three antelope!  That is what being on these types of sites means to me.  It is great fun to meet and help others who enjoy the outdoors to the point where maybe I should have been the Booking Agent, LOL!!!   Have a good one and I hope to meet you and hunt birds a day or two this coming October with you---MIKE

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

I think mebbe y'all are correct, Mike ... YOU should be the bookie ... um ... well, y'all know whut I mean ...

Nah, that's right ... it's meetin' folks, however it happens, and developin' a new friendship ... and mebbe gettin' the chance to share some new adventures with 'em ...

And ... for me ... it's gettin' another cadre of folks who have never heard all my huntin' stories ... HAR! ... My Bride has been takin' up the slack in that area the last few years, becuz my kids have heard mostly all of 'em ... more than several times ...

Did I ever mention the time when ... ? (Y'all gotta either shut down or shut me down, about the third time I might say that ... really ... for yer own good ... )

Whut y'all describe with all those "connections", Mike, is a mere shadow of whut I'd hope might happen with me ... if I only had the time! ( ... well, money, also ... )

I guess that's why I like to share Nodak with folks ... since it's unlikely I'll ever visit them, mebbe they'll visit me ... ? ? ?

OH!

A minor question ...

I have a foto of my Montana deer ... it's not outstanding, but it's decent ... only thing is, I've "added" to it with some copy ... and that copy is sorta sumwhut an advertisement/endorsement for the store where Son #1 werks ...

Would it be bad manners to post the (ad version) of that pic? (I don't remember where I "filed" the original, and I don't know how to delete the copy ... did I mention that I'm not real accomplished at 'pooter skills?)

Yeah, enjoy your adventures ... HOPE that y'all will be able to add a bit to your itinerary this fall, by visitin' the northageness from your usual Pheasant hunt area ... I'd like to see you here ... and, I'm NOT sayin' we've got "better" huntin' here ... merely that it's good-to-great enuf that I don't need to travel a bunch to tire my ownself out chasin' 'em ... I mean ... why drive 200 miles merely to get there, when I can drive that same 200 miles over three days and hunt 'em here? (that's a rhetorical question ... ) Sure, I take the scattergun along on deer and prairie goat hunts, but I prolly get one pheasant and/or grouse every three to five years, and I've bagged mebbe two ducks in 30-some years in the same area ... but I take it along, in case I run out of tags for furry critters ...

As to that idea (matchin' up our schedules) ... I'm finding that my autumn schedule is gettin' to be QUITE crowded ... with bow deer/goat seasons, a couple of weddings, a trip to Ireland and deer gun season and MEBBE a moose tag ... oh, yeah, and work, of course ... toss in a few days on the lake for the walleyes & snakes ... it's a full-time play schedule, fergit the werk!

That's another thing ... this "partial retirement" plan of mine isn't workin' out as I'd hoped ... I keep makin' too much money (for new ordnance for the arsenal, and ammo & gas and such necessities, mostly) ... but I try ...

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'm hoping I can get some time this fall to make it up your way. Runnin your own business its hard to take the time you want off when you want it off. Sounds like you got some pretty good huntin up there! I'm livin in Charlotte,NC and there's not a whole lot around these neck of the woods (really no wooods around) LOL!! gotta drive about an hour or so to get to the country.
Thanks alot for the PM and I'll let you know what happens here in a little while.

Hunt Hard, Hunt Safe and enjoy what you got in life
Paul Snyder
LM NAHC,NRA,SCI,DU

Whutever/whenever, Duck' ...

Lemme know or remind me along about mid-June* or so, and I'll be able to tell you more about whut's goin' on, and the latest on rules changes anent NR hunters, and mebbe units to look for, and such ...

*unless you're interested in a deer-gun season Buck tag, the only possible chance for that would be to apply by the June 3 deadline ... otherwise, mostly everything else, includin' deer-gun doe tags, would be perty much still available or wide open ...

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

OK ... so I figger it's easier to do this now, than to rely on memory, or look it up if sumbuddy asks, or try not to forget to remind NRs about stuff ...

So ... here's the semi-official dates for Nodak, for the rest of the year ...

Keep in mind that some openers (waterfowl, pheasants, other?) may have slightly different rules for NRs ... also, some seasons are Resident Only (moose/elk/bighorn/pronghorn gun), and others might start that way, but become open to NRs after the licenses for Residents are filled, and the over-the-counter FCFS sales open up -- fall turkey is the only one of those that I can think of now ... but ... allow me to make an error or two ... if y'all are interested, and don't see it ... ask ...

MARCH, 2009
14: Spring crow hunting season opens
15: Fish house removal deadline
15: Darkhouse spearfishing season closes
15: Falconry special extended season for resident species closes
16: Public fisheries meeting, Williston, Community Library, hosted by Upper Missouri Chapter of United Sportsmen, 7-9 p.m.
17: Public fisheries meeting, Devils Lake, Lake Region College, hosted by Lake Region Anglers Association, 7-9 p.m.
18: Moose, elk, bighorn license application deadline RESIDENTS ONLY, UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPEND $35K FOR THE SHEEP AUCTION TAG, OR WIN THE RAFFLE FOR MOOSE/ELK TAGS
19: Deadline for public comments regarding Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l. Pk. Elk Management Plan.
31: Beaver and raccoon hunting, trapping, and underwater cable device seasons close (Open year-round - officially from April 1 - March 31)
31: Red fox, gray fox, coyote, and badger hunting or trapping seasons close (Open year-round - officially from April 1 - March 31)
31: Mountain lion hunting zone 2 closes (Note: zone 1 automatically closed February 13 after harvest quota of eight animals was reached).
April 2009
1: Fishing season opens - new license required
1: Beaver and raccoon hunting, trapping, and underwater cable device seasons open (tentative) (Open year-round - officially from April 1 - March 31)
1: Red fox, gray fox, coyote, and badger hunting or trapping seasons open (tentative) (Open year-round - officially from April 1 - March 31)
11: Spring turkey season opens
26: Spring crow hunting season closes
May 2009
1: Paddlefish snagging season opens
3: Beaver and raccoon cable device on land seasons close
3: Muskrat hunting closes
10: Spring light goose season closes
17: Spring turkey season closes RESIDENT ONLY
31: Paddlefish snagging season closes - (Note: The season may close earlier if the paddlefish quota is reached).
June 2009
3: Deer gun and muzzeloader application deadline BEST/ONLY CHANCE FOR NONRESIDENT GUN/BUCK TAG HERE ... WEIGHTED LOTTERY, NO PURCHASE OF PREFERNCE POINTS, GAIN POINTS ONLY BY MISSING YOUR FIRST CHOICE, BUT YOU CAN STILL GET YOUR SECOND/THIRD/FOURTH CHOICES, AND NOT LOSE POINTS WHEN YOU DO. LATER ON, AFTER THE THIRD ROUND OF DRAWS, NR TAGS ARE PRETTY MUCH AVAILABLE OTC/FCFS, AND NR PRICE GOES DOWN TO $50 EACH AFTER YOUR FIRST TAG, NO LIMIT ON NUMBER OF TAGS YOU CAN GET, IF WE HAVE ANY DEER LEFT AFTER THIS WINTER ... WE WILL, THEY'RE STILL ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ...
6-7: Free fishing days
July 2009
1:Fall turkey application deadline RESIDENT ONLY. NR CAN LIKELY GET A TAG AFTER SECOND OR THIRD ROUND OF DRAW AND OTC/FCFS SALES START ... LIMIT OF EIGHT TAGS
24-Aug 1: Game and Fish site at ND State Fair
August 2009
5: Pronghorn gun application deadline RESIDENT ONLY
7-9: Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshop
15: Fall crow season opens (tentative)
19: Swan permit application deadline
September 2009
1: Mourning dove season opens (tentative)
4: Deer and pronghorn bow seasons open (tentative) NR CAN PURCHASE THESE MOST ANY TIME, $215 EACH, APPROXIMATELY. ONE PER SEASON?
4: Elk bow only season (Units E1, E2) opens RES. ONLY
4: Antlerless elk season (Units E3, E4) opens RES. ONLY
4: Any elk September season (Unit E3, E4) opens

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