WHITETAIL (& MULEY) TAGS LEFT IN NODAK (FIREARM SEASON)

OK ... so, I gnu last week whut sorta "first" license I got (Muley Buck), and today they sent out the numbers of whut's left ...

All doe tags, unfortunately, for those huntin' horns ... but ... plenty of tags, if anyone is interested in seein' whut the situation is like here ... ALSO ... bow tags, even for NRs, are unlimited, and good for any Whitetail (includin' bucks) and Muley does, anywhere in the state ... HOWEVER ... if y'all (NRs) wanted a Muley buck tag in certain "restricted" areas, y'all should've ordered in March, when I mentioned it ... HOWEVER AGAIN, ALREADY ... I sorta think that there are SOME areas that are not restricted on that part ...

BUT ... lotsa areas with some dandy Whitetail bucks, if one can merely find 'em ... AND ... bowhunting does NOT stop during the rifle season (but y'all gotta wear orange), if you want to combine a bow and a rifle (or muzzleloader, or handgun) hunt in the same time frame ... (rifle season is "any legal weapon" ... so y'all could use bow, rifle, MZ or handgun for a rifle season tag) ...

ONE MORE thing ... after a certain point, NRs can get tags for a mere $50 ... I dunno if they require you to have a license at the higher price before you can do that, but if y'all wanna shoot a LOT of deer, there's no limit (that I know of) on how many tags a hunter can purchase during the year ... a "first" tag for NR is $215, and any others -- at the "regular" price -- is $200 ... so ... if y'all wanted to wait and get a cheapie, you could, but might be takin' a chance that there will still be tags available in the unit of choice @ that time (usually starts in mid-September with the OTC/FC-FS basis, and the lower price for NRs)

COPY OF THE NEWS RELEASE, with units and number of doe tags left in each ... total overall shows that we've got about 50,000 tags still available ...

My home unit, where the CRP and some nice Whitetail bucks are, is 2E ... my Muley buck tag is in 4E, and I also hunt in 4F ... (yeah, that's not a misprint, 4,400 tags left in the unit back home ... not unusual ... and they even cut 500 off the list this year ... means they only sold about 1,100 in the first draw) ... some units have even more tags left, places where the deer population is WAY too high ... generally, the biggest problem is not enuf hunters, so that by the time JimBob brings home two or three, the management there sez "That's enuf!" and he prolly won't try to fill the other tags ... I had four rifle-season tags last year, and only used one -- but then, we had a freezer full of Moose meat, so I wuzn't too excited about gettin' more venison ...

Hunter success in Nodak usually runs about 65-75 percent for the rifle season, with some variations based on sex or species ... and how many tags a hunter has ... and access to areas where the deer hang out ... and poor shootin' skills ... and so on ...

Any questions, y'all know how to reach me, if the G&F website doesn't provide a clear answer ... and they have a map of the units, somewhere in the process ... look for the link to find it ...

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Deer Lottery Held, Antlerless Licenses Remain
North Dakota’s deer gun lottery has been held and individual results are available online at the state Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. Successful applicants will receive their license in the mail by August.
The first lottery application process – deer gun, muzzleloader, youth and landowner – had 94,000 applicants, the same as last year. More than 60 percent of the applications were submitted online.
Nearly 56,000 antlerless deer gun licenses remain. Unsuccessful resident applicants in the first drawing will be mailed a second lottery application. Resident and nonresident hunters who have not yet applied, or who want additional licenses, must submit a third lottery application. The deadline for submitting applications is Aug. 5. The second lottery will take place immediately prior to the third.

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

Hey O,
you always give us some great info. I appreciate the opportunity to read it. I really want to get up there one of these days, it is just so damn far for me. Have seen some of the "shows" from up your way and the country is beautiful. One of these days...

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

kwhitten:
 
Yeah, coming from SC would be a heck of a journey.  It's a darn long way from Springfield, Missouri to Fargo, North Dakota (where I ususally stay over on my way up to Canada); I can only imagine what the drive would be coming from SC. 
 
O:
 
Good info!
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve 

Hey KW....Swing by Greensboro on your way north and I will split the drive time with you.  From Greensboro to Bismarck is only 1619 miles and 24hrs.  You take 12 and I will take 12 and we will be ready to hunt!  LOL!

I actually have driven 19hrs straight to Augusta, Maine before.  Although I would not advise it.  Hehe!

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

Dave:

I once drove by my lonesome from Wausau, Wisconsin to Ft. McMurray, Alberta straight through, which equalled 30 hours and 1672 miles.  I was nearly INSANE by the time I arrived in Ft. McMurray.  I will never do that again.  It probably took a year off of my life.

Here's the Mapqest route:

[color=#0000ff size=3]http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Wausau&1s=WI&2c=Ft.+Mcmurray+&2s=AB#a/maps/l:::Wausau:WI::US:44.959202:-89.629997:city:Marathon+County:1/l::US-51;+US-51:::::45.786838:-89.710556:::2/l::US-2+W:::::47.294628:-93.698112:::2/l::US-2+W;+Highway+2+W;+57th+St+N:::::48.291358:-100.711784:::2/l:::Fort+McMurray:AB::CA:56.72718:-111.380302:city:Alberta:1/m:::::0:::::::::/io:1:::::f:EN:M:/e
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve 

I can see you arriving.  You step out of the truck, wide glazed eyes, twitching, jerking and singing Escape(The Pina Colada song) that you have had stuck in your head since Grand Forks. 

"Hi guys (twitch, twitch), my name is Steve and I (twitch, twitch) am here to hunt.  Where is all the aminals at?  "....and getting caught in the rain, I ain't much into health food, I am in to champagne...."

C'mon guys....lemme at the aminals.

Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

OK ... so I saw a few deer while back home tryin' to kill weeds on the CRP last weekend ... I know the critters are there ...

Sunday a.m. there were four that wandered outta the trees (mostly becuz I wuz there gettin' ready with the ATV to spray weeds) and when they skylined their ownselfs I could see horns on one ... this frum a quarter-mile away (din't have glass to look, Bronco broke down, another story) but I could see a rack with my naked eyebones ... of course the velvet makes 'em more visible, but he hasta be at least sorta adequate ...

The bigger guys are still hidin' out ...

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 ... a bit of an update ...

A guy I wuz werkin' with last week ... (he's been a hunter, and pursued a lot of game, particularly deer of the two main varieties ... but he no longer hunts ... dunno why, but he's nice enuf to say to me, when I ask about shootin' p-dogs ... "Any time ... " ... ) wuz werkin' in a different area than I wuz ... the other guy (my "supervisor/partner") said that Mike kicked out a deer, and it wuz ... "The biggest whitetail buck I've ever seen in my life! He looked like a TREE goin' over the hill!" ...

No pix, obviously, and unlikely in the extreme that I'll be huntin' that area this year ... but it's nice to know that there's some of the larger ones which made it thru our rather harsh winter weather ...

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