Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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With a record number of lakes stocked with walleye fingerlings in 2020, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) is not resting on its laurels. According to NDG&F Director Terry Steinwand, the trend of stocking more lakes with more walleye fingerlings than ever before will likely continue in 2021, satisfying the growing demand for the state's most popular angling target in the coming year. With many new lakes stocked with walleyes last season, thanks in part to a wet 2019 which expanded...
Here and there the frozen trickle of the creek bed shown through in the little draw. The last remnants of a dry summer and fall, it was fueled in places by tiny hillside seeps which were almost invisible, save for the change in density and variety of vegetation growing around them. The golden grasses with just the slightest trim of white from the dusting of snow the night before created small pathways winding up the valley. In those spaces the trails of four-toed tracks would weave and merge in...
Despite the cold weather season descending on North Dakota in earnest this week, the Badlands Bass Bandits are looking to keep the open water action rolling with the organization's new winter tournament series which kicked off in December and will run through March on Nelson Lake near Center, N.D. The impoundment, formed by the installation of the Minnkota Power Plant which utilizes the water for cooling purposes, stays open all year with winter temperatures frequently in the sixties, and with...
Like so many other outdoor activities, ice fishing offers up some incredible opportunities at dawn and dusk and even late into the night for crappies, walleyes and other fish that forage in low light or even in times of complete darkness when a hot bite can materialize out of the depths. As a result, having the right lighting system both for the individual and for a shack will help make things easier to see during set-up and takedown, travel around a set of hot holes, and in those moments where...
The depths of winter and the long dark nights can often trigger a lot of indoor time. Whether it's a weekend outing cancelled by a blizzard, or just the hum-drum routine of not seeing the sun after five o'clock for a few weeks, time spent inside is a frequent occurrence in the coldest months of the calendar. That time, however, can be very productive in terms of getting set for the fishing seasons to come. From those first openwater opportunities where panfish flood the shallows after ice out,...
It isn’t fair to compare hunting dogs, not among friends or fellow hunters, or even among the different ones owned throughout a person’s lifetime. It isn’t fair, but we do it anyway. I was spoiled with my first lab, Gunnar, who lived for 15 and a half years and hunted for 13 of them. He was an adept field companion who trained me more than I trained him. He’d creep up on a scent line and drop his head so low to the ground when he went on point that he nearly disappeared into the grass. His rig...
It might seem like pheasant numbers are down in certain areas as the season approaches its end, and people may be inclined to assume that by not hunting roosters in these final weeks that they may be helping preserve populations for next season. That’s likely not the case, however, and to the contrary, removing some of those late season roosters now may be good for next year’s populations. So, if you’re thinking about holding off on hunting the upper Midwest’s favorite upland bird because they s...
In the first installment of this two-part series celebrating the start of the ice season, it was pointed out that the last half century has been an amazing ice age for hardwater anglers. From tackle to tech and the advanced tactics both allow for on the ice, these options have opened a world of better fishing to those who have followed along. As a result, considerably more fish are caught each winter than the season before, ice fishing has become its own booming industry, and the pastime has...
Even as one of the last waters in the state to totally freeze up, Devils Lake remains one of the first places people think of when it comes to ice fishing in North Dakota. With abundant walleye, perch and pike populations, even in off years, mni wakan or “spirit water” as it is known in indigenous lore, also embodies the spirit of the state’s ideal destination for hardwater angling each winter. Walleye Watch With a reloading walleye population and abundant young fish available, anglers will...
The first morning of muzzleloader season arrived clear, cold, and calm. With just the faintest bit of dawn edging over the eastern hills, I ventured down to the southernmost stretch of a favorite piece of public access land and followed the flags along the hillside break to the final mark on my GPS. The grass coming up from the cottonwood stand on the riverbank was well-traveled and along the way I noted sign and scat in the beam of my headlamp that suggested heavy doe traffic, perfect for the a...
In the blink of an eye which has been human existence, we've gone from living in caves to designing skyscrapers that touch the heavens. Where travel by horse and carriage brought messages from east to west over a period of weeks, electronic impulses now carry them in seconds. In the fraction of that blink has existed the modern age of ice fishing, where in just 50 years or so, we've gone from hand augers and hope for a bite to suitcases full of finesse lures and specialized rods and electronics...
I can still hear the whisper from my left and sense Gene leaning in as the deer emerged in the first tree line below our position on the top of the hillside along the Sheyenne River valley one temperate November evening in 2008. It's a moment I relive each time I'm in the field this time of year and a bobbing set of antlers appears above a pair of dark, wary eyes on a deer. "Nick...there's a buck..." It was a moment that changed my life and my mentor helped ignite a fire in me for deer hunting,...
In post-to-post fashion, the Bismarck State College Clay Target League (BSC CTL) team took the USA College Clay Target League's (USA CCTL) Conference 1A-1 Fall National Trap Title with dominant shooting performances from its team members competing in just their first season for the Mystics. "I am tickled to death with the results of our inaugural season," said head coach Darryl Howard, "BSC will be a force to be reckoned with for seasons to come with our state's caliber of shooters," he added,...
There was nothing subtle about the way the buck came into the cut bean field where the growing herd of does and fawns were working diligently, heads down, to scrape up the remnants of a harvest from two months ago. He charged the nearest one like the intoxicated BMOC hitting on a cheerleader at the local watering hole in any small university town on a Friday night. Apparently, he used the wrong line, and she scampered off to the far edge of the sloping hill which led down to my vantage point in...
With the anchor-like weight of a deer tag becoming more and more tangible in the right leg pocket of my camouflage hunting pants and that heft spurring much of my recent outdoor activity, I catch myself thinking ahead, beyond the quiet morning sits and windy sneaks through the countryside as I wait for a buck – at this time, I'd take any buck – to magically appear in front of me. As I do, I listen to the winged world around me as chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and other birds of the cre...
In the fall of 2019, the southeast corner of North Dakota received significant rain which not only complicated the hunting efforts of many in the region, but also filled up sloughs, lakes and wetlands to the highest point seen in recent years. This occurrence resulted in the creation of unstable ice which caused local agencies to restrict access to certain bodies of water, including Jamestown Reservoir, and excessive snow limited access to a number of fisheries over the winter. However, the...
Those days when overcast conditions settle in well before dawn provide a unique time to be outdoors, particularly during deer season. The lack of the pinks and oranges streaking overhead from the eastern horizon and lighting up the sky early makes the anticipation of first legal light even more excruciating, despite the moment being governed by the time on my watch and not by what can be seen on the landscape. The dim grey of a foggy dawn, with clouds hanging so low you can’t tell where the s...
In North Dakota, the unit in which a sportsman hunts deer is almost analogous to one's hometown in the grand sense of things, and particularly in November for the state's firearms deer season. The response of "4B" or "2F2" to the question of "where'd you draw your tag" conjures up rugged hillsides or rolling prairie farmland respectively, and is almost as easy to identify on a mental map as the blacktop roads that surround the hunting area and the small towns which serve as outposts within it....
When it comes to trophies following a successful hunt, most people's minds turn to the antlers on the buck they just shot, or the tenderloins in the doe they just tagged; but there's one part of a whitetail deer that stands out to those hunters who also create their own lures in the winter season that follows the hunt. The tail of a whitetail deer is one of the most ubiquitous sources of material for those looking to craft jigs for springtime smallmouth bass, in-line spinners for pike and...
Don your blaze orange, secure your tag, check your scope one more time and stuff a package of handwarmers in your vest pocket because the big day is just about here. Firearms deer season starts this weekend and you don’t want to miss out on the excitement that comes with “the grandaddy of them all” when it comes to hunting. No matter how you do it, in a group of family and friends, pushing hard through a cattail slough driving bucks and does to the end of a draw, or sitting silently alone in a...
While election night and its aftermath continue to underscore the deep divide that runs through the middle of this country’s populace, one tradition exists and is growing and improving in a manner that unites all hunters from the west coast to the great plains to the southeast. According to Kip Adams, Director of Conservation for the Quality Deer Management Association, deer hunting in the United States is at an apex, and more and more Americans are taking to the field. From those late-onset h...
I often wonder what it's like, to smell a million times more than what is humanly possible. When my lab lifts his nose to the northwest gusts and cocks his head ever so slightly before upping his pace into the breezes, I try to box the experience into something my limited senses can comprehend. Sometimes I think it's as if he picks up the scent of a covey of grouse or a running rooster many yards up as some strange undercurrent in the flow of the wind, the way I detect the smell of barbecue...
While recently waxing philosophical about the power of my dog's nose, I got to wondering, and then worrying, about another well-developed sense of smell in the outdoors. As I drew to the end on my column which detailed how victory often comes in the form of trusting the nose of my dog to lead me in the direction of birds in the uplands, despite not knowing exactly how it all works, I became concerned that being on the receiving end of such a sensational scent receptor could impact my other...
Some hunting seasons bring snow, cold, winds and inhospitable conditions which we as hunters prepare for in order to pursue an oft-anticipated portion of our year, and in the end find success in the field through our efforts. These efforts may start way back in spring or summer, getting into shape through a workout regimen, sighting in a new rifle, or logging countless rounds of trap, skeet or sporting clays to feel comfortable with our physical abilities and shooting skills. The purchase of gea...
Throughout late summer and early fall, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) had received reports of dead and sick deer on the landscape throughout southwestern North Dakota. As September progressed into October, the reports remained steady and expanded throughout the western half of the state. Charlie Bahnson, NDG&F Veterinarian, confirmed the growing presence of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) on the landscape shortly after the first reports came in August. Carried by biting...
