Going Solo In 2021

[Elmacho]

Going to make a long drive from SoCal in 2021. At almost 50 yo never made the trek to the promise land with my dogs. Need to get a few seasons in before its too late.

Any and all tips and pointers welcome. Primarily looking for pheasant and sharpies and would love the opportunity to hunt ducks! Maybe even throw in a whitetail tag too.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

 

[Tom_Nguyen]

Live to hunt when your Heath still allows you to hunt!

 

[Sytes]

Time does not discriminate. Every minute that passes is another our mortal bodies will never have again. Make the most of it. Best to you and your hunt endeavors.

 

[JLS]

What time of year are you thinking?

 

[rocky15]

Early fall, mid fall or late season?

 

[ntodwild]

Early fall, mid fall or late season?

I have made a handful of solo hunts/trips over the past 5 years since retiring early. Of course I have been running solo in the mountains of Washington for half my lifetime backpacking and other outdoor activities. What is your specific concern/concerns?

 

[ntodwild]

Going to make a long drive from SoCal in 2021. At almost 50 yo never made the trek to the promise land with my dogs. Need to get a few seasons in before its too late.

Any and all tips and pointers welcome. Primarily looking for pheasant and sharpies and would love the opportunity to hunt ducks! Maybe even throw in a whitetail tag too.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Sorry My previous post was meant for Elmacho, not for Rocky.

Anyway was asking what your (Elmacho) specific concerns were?

 

[OntarioHunter]

Going to make a long drive from SoCal in 2021. At almost 50 yo never made the trek to the promise land with my dogs. Need to get a few seasons in before its too late.

Any and all tips and pointers welcome. Primarily looking for pheasant and sharpies and would love the opportunity to hunt ducks! Maybe even throw in a whitetail tag too.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Every fall I drive Hwy 2 through ND on my way to Montana to hunt birds for six weeks. I would suggest staying east of the "oil patch" (east of Devils Lake). Lodging and fuel are expensive in the oil patch and more hunting pressure. Also those oil field truck drivers are damned offensive. For that reason I try to avoid going through Williston except in the middle of the night. You will probably find better hunting further south although waterfowl habitat is great around Devils Lake. I remember from waterfowl hunting Lake Sacajawea back in the eighties that there were very few pheasants in the area due to severely cold winters. Huns were abundant though.

 

[Elmacho]

Thanks guys! Just back to this.

I am looking to go whenever, but probably late October or early December. Really looking more toward upland hunting, but if there is an outfit for waterfowl, would be open to it. (I shoot ducks at home- looking toward sharpies, pheasant and huns.) I will be a one-dog man on this trip. My lab is almost 12 and showing it....My other draht is crippled...

Appreciate your pointers so far.

 

[Labman]

Went back to ND in Dec and the birds have rebounded slightly in the Mott area. Easy winter so far. Could be great in ‘21 but doubtful it will be like the golden era. Too much habitat lost. Only 5 more months to decide that fate really.
Go as late as you can, weather will be better for the dogs and there won’t be as many people. Typically you are much more likely to get permission to hunt later in the season than early (after deer season). Approx 10-20 miles either side of Highway 21 from Flasher to Regent is the pheasant belt in ND. The further away from there you get, you will probably encounter fewer people. Also there will be less pay to hunt operations. You can only shoot 3 a day, but if you want to see hundreds of birds a day stay closer to that band. If you are ok paying for access you should be done by 8:30 every morning. There are places in ND that have great pockets of birds that resemble that stretch, but not on that scale IMO. Harder and harder to knock on doors and find a place to hunt but with persistence it can be done. Going solo will help. Use OnX and google. Lots of the landowners still have landlines. This year we scored big by hitting up the phones with out of state landowners to secure permission. 100% chance when you ask permission they will ask where you are from. If you lay claim to having grown up or lived in any other state in the union I would consider sticking with that place vs saying California. Unless you say “unfortunately CA” and state your reason for being forced to live there, then you may have a glimmer of hope. Bring a crockpot, you can’t take ‘em all home with you. Good luck!

 

[Elmacho]

Went back to ND in Dec and the birds have rebounded slightly in the Mott area. Easy winter so far. Could be great in ‘21 but doubtful it will be like the golden era. Too much habitat lost. Only 5 more months to decide that fate really.
Go as late as you can, weather will be better for the dogs and there won’t be as many people. Typically you are much more likely to get permission to hunt later in the season than early (after deer season). Approx 10-20 miles either side of Highway 21 from Flasher to Regent is the pheasant belt in ND. The further away from there you get, you will probably encounter fewer people. Also there will be less pay to hunt operations. You can only shoot 3 a day, but if you want to see hundreds of birds a day stay closer to that band. If you are ok paying for access you should be done by 8:30 every morning. There are places in ND that have great pockets of birds that resemble that stretch, but not on that scale IMO. Harder and harder to knock on doors and find a place to hunt but with persistence it can be done. Going solo will help. Use OnX and google. Lots of the landowners still have landlines. This year we scored big by hitting up the phones with out of state landowners to secure permission. 100% chance when you ask permission they will ask where you are from. If you lay claim to having grown up or lived in any other state in the union I would consider sticking with that place vs saying California. Unless you say “unfortunately CA” and state your reason for being forced to live there, then you may have a glimmer of hope. Bring a crockpot, you can’t take ‘em all home with you. Good luck!

Thank you Labman. Great info. I appreciate you helping me shorten the curve a bit.

 

[NPO_Aaron]

Birds had a great winter spring in north central ND. Best of luck! I saw more sharpies around last year than the last 10 seasons combined.

 

[Elmacho]

Thank you NPO! Looking forward to some bigger birds.....I hunt a lot of quail down here. Havent shot a wild pheasant in 30 years......damn