Nodak Fessunt Forecast - 2010

Hey, Top' ... and all the rest of y'all ... 

The PF outlook report arrived today, and whut I've been sayin' and guessin' about the potential for a good-to-very good season is bein' confirmed ... 

Won't be a record-breaker, but could/should be as good as last year, which turned out to be a bit of a surprise, with the overall harvest comin' in about 30 percent higher than expected (650,000 birds) ...

Since we's on the northern edge of adequate habitat & conditions, this looks to be a good one ... I've been seein' quite a few groups and lone roosters (a lot of 'em young -- full color, but still a perty short tail) so I'm lookin' forward to a good opener ... Oct. 9, for them of y'all who might be wantin' to consider a visit here ...

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 already bought my license online last week!  I'm heading out to Wyoming with my dog a week from tomorrow and will help a friend chase bulls with his bow until the 28th.  Then I'm meeting a NAHC member to chase mulies and he also has an antelope license down south of Gillette the first two weeks of October.  When that season is over I'll be heading up to the Rapid City Airport to pick up a Michigan buddy and then on up to Regent for pheasants the second week of your season.  I may try to get up to hunt a day or two with Bryan Reinhardt, who lives in Mandan.  He is the fellow I took out to Wyoming last year and got him a 6x6 bull with his bow.  After our pheasant hunting is over, I'll be dropping my buddy back at the airport and heading down to sw New Mexico.  Another NAHC member has invited me on a 5 day packin hunt for mulies with our muzzleloaders in the Gila Wilderness.  We are taking his 10 year old daughter on her first big game hunt and it should be a blast.  Todd has a great area he has hunted before and thinks we have an excellent chance at some big bucks if the weather cooperates.  When that is over I'll head home and take in all the leaves before heading up to my cabin on 11/14 for our two week whitetail season.  I have your phone numbers in my cell phone memory and will give you a buzz if we get some free time up in NODAK!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Y'all have a LOT more planned than I do, Top' ...

Second weekend is when Son #1 & the gang will be here ... HOWever, it could be as few as two guys this year, or possibly three or four ... but the bunch won't be too large, and a couple of dogs will be plenty enuf to help us nimrods ...

I've got yer # in my speed-dial list, tho it took me three tries to remember how I'd filed it ... yer # ends with 2278, right?

Whutever ... I'm sure I'll be back on the road dept. by then, not too likely we'll be still sprayin' weeds by mid-October ... if you can give me 24-48 hours warning I might even be able to arrange a day of vac. to hunt, if you get up here on a Monday-thru-Thursday ... otherwise I should be off duty Friday-thru-Sunday ... unless we're plowin' snow off the roads and such, then all bets are off becuz OVERTIME kicks in ... 

ENNYway ... gimme a call when you're in the Area Code, and I can tell y'all how plentiful the birds are up here and the likelihood of me bein' able to get away for sum shootin' fun ...

I look forward to it ... hope it werks out this year ...

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

Yep, that's my number!  We should have camp set up down southwest of Regent at the Reservoir by Sunday night (10/17) and we plan to hunt through the following Sunday (10/24).  I have to be down to Los Lunas, NM by noon on Wednesday to meet up with Todd mand Anna and head on down sw to the Gila.  Our 5 day hunt starts on Saturday (10/30).  I hope that with a full week up in NODAK that we can get together and I'll try to give you a good 2 day heads up---MIKE

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

OK ... sounds quite doable ... the guys will be out on the 15th and prolly go home on Sunday or Monday (the 18th) ... which would sorta indicate that I'll have a normal week of werk and be off by 5 p.m. on Thursday ... and that would leave three days for me to drive to Regent (or Mandan) or you to make the trip up this way ... Not exactly sure about the mileage, but I'm gonna guess it's about a two-hour drive either way (partly sayin' that becuz I can be in my usual deer unit in 2.5 hours, and that's a bit west of Regent) ...

Merely for comparison purposes, I've made that drive frum here to Los Lunas/Belen (or the other way) in a relatively easy two days ... example: leave on Monday a.m. and arrive in the other place @ late afternoon or early evening ... and most of those times wuz drivin' a truck that did NOT maintain "freeway speed" @ any time whutsoever ... THEREfore, y'all should be good goin' frum Regent to Los Lunas in 2.5 days ... if Denver traffic isn't too bad ... of course we gnu a couple of routes that avoided serious traffic problems, even tho we went thru Denver every time ... 

One "secret" of that trip is to avoid US 85 thru the Black Hills ...  set your route to go thru Newell & Belle Fourche, then go west @ Spearfish to Sundance, cut south on WY 585 to the Four Corners (about 19 miles, IIRC), then y'all are back on US 85 (I think) but missed the thrill of the twisty turns thru Deadwood and past the exit to Terry Peak ... we'd go west @ Lusk to I-25, and then it's freeway all the way to Los Lunas ... of course the traffic frum Ft. Collins to Colorado Springs is a bit of a hassle, but not always terrible ...

If y'all get sum free time @ Los Lunas (quick hunt, or whutever) it's well worth the drive 10 miles south to Belen, for the dining experience @ a special little restaurant ... great New Mexican cuisine, reasonable prices, nice folks ... if that werks, gimme a call and I'll provide better directions ...

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'll be dropping my buddy back at the airport out east of Rapid City, so my plan is to take 79 south down to 18 at Hot Springs and then over to 85 and down to Lusk and on west to hit I-25.  That will be some new country for me, as I've never been south of Wind Cave or south of Newcastle in Wyoming.  I'd like to get you and Bryan to come down to where we hunt around Indian Creek Reservoir if you can make it because I think there will be a lot more birds where we hunt than up where you guys are.

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

I dunno ... sounds possible ... tho we've been seein' a satisfactory # of bodes lately ... kicked up eight grouse today in the ditch right beside ND 200, they flew into the WMA ... the part that's sorta "closed for safety" ... it's an old mine area, and there are plenty of sinkholes that make it kinda sorta dangerous to be out there alone ... sumbuddy lost a dog out there a few years ago, and the ... um ... "repairmen?" are dumpin' concrete/sludge down the holes even as we werk there, this "reclamation" project has been goin' on for a few years, but they only werk on the highway ROW areas, so the sinkholes are still a hazard ...

Other than that ... we'll see how it all goes, numbers up here and all related information/data ... after I said whut my likely schedule will be, I'll hafta admit that it's not beyond the realm of possiblity that I could make the trip ... 

I'll hafta have slightly better directions, but if it's in Nodak, I can usually find it ... 

We'll keep all this in mind, and as the time draws nearer, we'll see whut can be arranged ... 

If I travel to y'all's venue of choice, I'll hafta bring the dog along ... she's been waitin' all year to chase birds for real and I'd feel very guilty of neglect if I left her home ... ENNYway ... tentative entry on the calendar is to "hunt with Top' & others" ... where/when remains to be determined in about ... um ... 33 days?

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---My buddy arrives in Rapid City at 1:26PM on Saturday (10/16) and he flies back to MI at 2:04PM on Monday (10/25).  That means we will get up to Regent easily before dark that night, will have eight full days to hunt if the weather allows, and will leave by midmorning on the 25th to get him to the airport on time and then I'll head for Los Lunas.  We camp on the north side of the Indian Creek WMA right by the reservoir dam and it's about 8-9 miles southwest of Regent.  It is marked on NODAK maps and we have an A Frame camper that we stay in.  I'll give you a call the week before we get there to see what you will be able to do.  Unless you can see 100 or more birds on a normal day like we do, I think where we hunt is probably the best bet, especially if you also have a dog! 

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Don't take anythin' I say about huntin' up here to mean I'm against considerin' a trip to your locale, Top' ... merely offerin' counterpoint and/or alternative ideas for discussion/consideration ...

100 birds a day? NBD ... really ... I fergit the year fer shure, but I think it wuz '08, & when we got to the second place we usually try on the opener (with four bodes already in the box, but that's another story), the site had NOT YET been hunted ... we kicked out prolly 400 birds ... even managed to bag a few ... 

Other than that, we're a bit below average, bein' as far north as we are, but with the big lake and all the habitat around, we see whut I consider to be our share of roosters ... 

I'm merely not very familiar with the area you hunt, I know I can find it ... as to the dates, I'm thinkin' my werk sked will be on the "normal" status rather than the accelerated pace I have in the summer, so I'm off werk @ 1700, and I could prolly finish packin' up and make it down there by around 2100 hours on Thursday the 21st ... OR ... leave here early on the 22nd (or 23rd, or 24th -- all dependin' upon various commitments, responsiblities and weather, to name only a few complicationary snags) ... so, it's entirely doable, pending a decision to make it happen that way ... I'm also considerin' a side-trip on that same outing (to the Bowman/Rhame area), to do a bit of scouting for deer season ... wanna talk to a couple of ranchers and see whut's whut and so on, and this year's situation might be better handled in person, rather than over the phone ... so ... I've got tentative thots that this'll be the way to go, with two objectives reached on one weekend, rather than two separate trips ... 

Stayin' healthy and not gettin' arrested will have sum influence on my plans, but I'm thinkin' your suggestion would not be a bad idea ... 

I won't be offended if y'all remind me of such plans/idea/possiblities in about two weeks ... it'll get my mind back on track so I can see if it's lookin' like it'll happen ... 

talk @ulater

OtU

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

Oh, yeah ... the dog ... 

She's a GSP, and I consider her to be a better one than I prolly deserve ... I don't get much time to werk with her, and she tends to get a bit too far out in front, but a beep on the collar brings her back in ... one tendency I've yet to comprehend is that when she finds the bird, if it's alive, she brings it to me ... but if it's dead, she sets it down and resumes huntin' for more ... mebbe she thinks I'm capable of findin' it Moi Ownself, once she points it out to me?

Any other dogs in the group? One would hope they'd be able to werk together, and she does when Son #1 brings his GWP "Oscar" ... well, "together" is a relative term ... they each sorta go out away frum each other and don't get in the other's way perty much ...

Desi isn't real large, about 60# (Oscar is about 85-90), but she luvs to run, and FINDS ME BIRDS! (And even brings 'em to me ... sumtimes ... )

One of the reasons I got her frum the former owner wuz that he had two yellow labs (mates) and a GWP (male), and while the pointer werked well in tandem/tridem with the labs, she din't pan out as well as he'd hoped ... so ... we can see how the dog arrangements can be best utilized ...

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

 
 
 
Actually we usually see a lot more birds a day than I mentioned, but I didn't want to say that and then have a bust this year, LOL!  I would tend to think that from what you said that we should have as many or more birds where we hunt than last year and it was great!  Here is the dog I have.  He's a neutered 7 year old Deutsch Drahthaar that didn't grow his wiry muzzle hair, so he looks just like a GSP.  He's a very mild mannnered dog and there will be no probelm hunting your dog with him if and when we get together.

Attached Image(s)

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Been gone to the farm since Thursday (see the "Nodak Success" file under whitetail huntin' for part of the fun I had ... ) ... so ... not back 'til now and heinzin' on the email and stuff ...

Yah, I think it'll be werkable ... 

I wuzn't exaggeratin' about all the bodes we saw that day in '08 ... but I know it wuz exceptional becuz VERY FEW hunters wuz out and about, to break open all the good spots, and we got lucky ... I'd think it should be decent down around Regent ... BUT ... "it's on Nodak maps" ... tooken me a bit of a search to find it ... Y'all gotta tell me WHICH maps! (Found it in the P.L.O.T.S. book, includin' directions frum Regent) ... 

Yep, I'm gettin' kinda excited about a little field trip ... I'll have a couple of sessions up here already put away, and I've got that scoutin' trip to Bowman/Rhame to fit in, so it should all werk out ... UNLESS ... you hear the the Regent hatch wuzn't as good, and we've gotta fight the fessunts off with pitchforks and hammerhandles up here ... 

So ... keep the good thots, good luck in yer travels before you get here ... we'll make it, this year IMHO, to a meeting of minds, dogs, guns and huntin' together ... 

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