Ratboy
Elite Refuge Member
Nobody ever said politicians or G&F were smart...
NR Zone Changes
- Thread starter Crew_ChiefND
- Start date
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Ratboy
Elite Refuge Member
It really surprises me that a NR can buy multiple upland licenses and they want to crack down that hard on NR waterfowling. Most farmers say shoot as many ducks and geese as you want, but leave the pheasants alone.
jpallen
Elite Refuge Member
Ummmm, Prioritizing quality hunting opportunities for the residents of the state over the Non-residents. I encourage all states to put residents first for all outdoor activities.
ND already did this before the change. I’m not opposed to the change, just sayin.
Outlawing waterfowl outfitting or outlawing allowing outfitters to lease land for hunting would help residents more. That’s as much or more of a problem as non residents.
jpallen
Elite Refuge Member
Allowing 26,000 Non-residents to hunt waterfowl in North Dakota is a far cry from prioritizing North Dakota residents first. Guides and outfitters are a huge issue too. You can't win every battle but this rule change is a win for your average North Dakota resident waterfowl hunter.
The multiple licenses thing is a bit of a head scratcher, but I would guess it (and the fact we're not seeing crackdowns on NR upland - yet) is due to the nature of upland hunting and that birds aren't concentrated in big groups where 1 section might have 95% of the birds in a township, and obviously hunter concentrations mirror that. Not to mention the season is nearly 3 months long and fairly consistent throughout, again spreads out pressure. Plus, if you have access to decent habitat you could hunt the same quarter section a dozen times or more and do well.
I agree, but I don't see that ever happening. Telling landowners they can't make money off their land would go over like a lead balloon.
prairie hunter
Elite Refuge Member
Plenty of ND hunters shoot their pheasants on opening weekend. Plenty of ND hunters shoot pheasants both road hunting and spotting birds from the road and pursuing them. Plenty of leased and closed (posted) land in SW ND pheasant country, but statewide the leasing of waterfowl land has been more problematic in part because outfitters lease a lot of land.
I often say we rarely hunt (other than opener) the same ponds or fields (or even same townships/counties) year over year ... waterfowl in ND move around. Weather patterns (rain, hail, drought) all influence fall flight staging.
Typically ND outfitters do not control what farmers plant and they do not control where waterfowl decide to congregate and feed in the fall. Yes there are areas that are good year over year, but it does vary and most often will change over a decade or two. Thus waterfowl outfitters in ND often lease wide expanses of land to ensure they have it covered for their clients. There is often large feeds on leased land that residents can only watch ...
This is vastly different in the mid-South and Gulf Coast where outfitters have a set property and many often modify the land ... flooding, moist soil management, etc... to attract and keep birds on their land. Mid-South and Gulf Coast waterfowl hunting on private property is most often from pits and blinds.
I often say we rarely hunt (other than opener) the same ponds or fields (or even same townships/counties) year over year ... waterfowl in ND move around. Weather patterns (rain, hail, drought) all influence fall flight staging.
Typically ND outfitters do not control what farmers plant and they do not control where waterfowl decide to congregate and feed in the fall. Yes there are areas that are good year over year, but it does vary and most often will change over a decade or two. Thus waterfowl outfitters in ND often lease wide expanses of land to ensure they have it covered for their clients. There is often large feeds on leased land that residents can only watch ...
This is vastly different in the mid-South and Gulf Coast where outfitters have a set property and many often modify the land ... flooding, moist soil management, etc... to attract and keep birds on their land. Mid-South and Gulf Coast waterfowl hunting on private property is most often from pits and blinds.
prairie hunter
Elite Refuge Member
There was a newspaper article (years ago) that outlined how houses in many small towns in middle ND have been purchased by nonresidents. I believe Gackle was highlighted as having more nonresidents owning more homes than locals. While I suppose fishing and ice fishing small lakes for perch or walleye is a draw, the main reason they ended up there was for their 14 days of waterfowl hunting ... now 7 days. If you figure most share the house or rent it to friends ... these houses likely had hunters staying there for 5+ weeks straight. The new rules will lower the number of hunter days by nonresidents in particular areas.
Crew_ChiefND
Senior Refuge Member
I can believe that. Here is the other side of that trend that some aren’t looking at. The NR argument/reasoning is that they pay taxes, utilities, lawn mowing, cleaning services, I get it, as do I, minus the lawn and cleaning. As these towns age out and more houses in theory are bought up, less locals live there, then what.
Do we have towns where there are very few year round residents and only houses used 2 months out of the year? Then what? Who runs the town? Only young people staying around are the family farms and that isn’t population growth enough to sustain. How about the schools? Gackle-Streeter graduated 4 seniors this spring. Do I see that school shuttering in the near future, possibly. Then what? Can ND small towns continue with that trend? ND small towns have been in decline for decades, so this is nothing new to us. What happens when we have a couple of dry years or longer?
These are questions that we ask but others from outside the region have no clue about.
