Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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You don't hear much in the way of hymns from a congregation of alligators, which is the name for the reptiles when they're found in a group. Likely, you don't turn to a shrewdness of apes for advice as they'd most likely be chasing you off, especially if they are of the bigger varieties. Society has come up with a number of odd names for when animals get together, but the common ones and those seen most frequently in our neck of the woods are easy to remember: a flock of geese, a herd of deer,...
A few words come to mind this past week up here on Devils Lake: snow, wind, cold, warm and Covid. Yes, I said the bad word – Covid - and while it has not hit me, we have had a few groups cancel on us here as of late due to Covid. So, if you are looking to get a day or two in here in January, I do have a few random openings. The other word I mentioned was snow. If you are concerned about getting around the entire Devils Lake region, you should be. Plan on utilizing vehicles with tracks or w...
My uncle and I go pheasant hunting a couple times each year. We usually hunt over our labs in Montana and during the holidays in Minnesota. He has a couple catch phrases that will undoubtedly be said during each hunt. The first is said upon seeing other hunters out in the field he wanted to work, "Do any of these SOB's work anymore?" His other saying happens at the end of the hunt. After the dogs are put up, he'll crack a beer at the tailgate and say, "It ain't easy being a sportsman." My...
They're out there under the ice, scattered throughout North Dakota's slough country; jumbo perch that just a couple of decades ago were limited to major reservoirs in the Peace Garden State along with the noted population in Devils Lake. With the onset of the wet cycle experienced in the upper plains since the mid-1990s, sloughs that were either entirely dry at one point, or were mere potholes of stagnant water expanded and connected, forming lakes with depths that went over 10 feet. With the...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *Remember to keep fish caught in 25 feet and deeper; they rarely survive coming up from deep depths. Tournaments: *Jan. 29: Devils Lake, 6-Mile Bay. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 11: 1,447.5 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,447.13 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1...
In college, at the local grocery store, was one of those old-timey scales from the 1930s or 40s with a large dial at the top displaying weights from 0 to 300 pounds. Each time I'd step on it, I'd watch the needle zip up to the high 200s, then back down to 100, then up to 220, then back down to 180, before settling in the mid-190s where I was most of the time. It provided a fun sort of gasp-and-sigh moment before displaying my real weight and was certainly more of a process than the immediate...
It certainly amazes me how fast word travels these days when it comes to catching fish. Modern technology, without question, is a huge factor in this. Text messages, Snapchat, instant messaging, pin drops, etc., all factor into word of a bite and spots being discovered extremely fast. We have found this to be the case so far early on here up on Devils Lake. I'm sure some of you slough anglers also find this to be true. It certainly can be a good thing to help each other out especially in my...
The traditional image of a hunting dog on the prairies of the upper Midwest may suggest the statuesque shorthair holding point over a covey of grouse, or the staunch vigilance of a chocolate lab watching the skies from the cover of a duck blind. A growing number of hunters, however, are taking to the field after furbearers and more dangerous big game, such as mountain lions, on the heels of their trusted hounds of varying breeds that don't typically come to mind when field dogs are mentioned....
The whir of wings on the far side of the stand of pines caught my attention, as my hardworking lab sniffed out the row’s only resident. From the sound and the urgency, I guessed it was a pheasant as we had put three hens up on the walk down the valley, before turning our backs to the wind and wandering up the hillside. While I never saw it, my mind was comfortable on this final walk of the year in presuming it was of the fairer sex that seemed to exclusively inhabit the near side of the w...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *It’s illegal to chase or harass wildlife with snowmobiles or tracked vehicles. *Remember to keep fish caught in 25 feet of water or deeper; they rarely survive coming up from deep depths. Tournaments: *Jan. 15: Lake Ashtabula. *Jan. 29: Devils Lake, 6-Mile Bay. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Jan. 4:...
Winter anglers reminded to clean up ice Winter anglers must clean up the ice after fishing. This not only applies to trash, but fish as well. It is not only unsightly, but it is illegal to leave fish, including minnows used for bait, behind on the ice. According to state fishing regulations, when a fish is caught, anglers must either immediately release the fish unharmed, or reduce them to their daily possession. It is common practice for some anglers to fillet fish on the ice, which is allowed, as long as fish entrails and other parts are...
Well between fixing starters, putting tracks on, having to get a skid shack, thawing frozen pipes, fixing zippers on shacks and so on, we have actually been fishing during this massive deep freeze on Devils Lake, and surprisingly some days have been pretty good! The first thing we are finding is that some areas on Devils Lake and beyond are getting extremely difficult to get around. The snow has blown some access points shut. It has also created some drifts out on the lake that are causing guys...
This autumn, upland hunters found good success where habitat remained intact because it congregated birds in those locations. In places throughout the state which received little rain and stands of grass grew shorter and sparser than normal, upland birds such as pheasants and sharptailed grouse were harder to come by. Add in the fact that emergency haying for livestock was authorized in the extreme drought conditions, many areas where much of the cover was mowed on a parcel hunters found their...
Outdoor notes: * Be prepared for heavy snow along shorelines and bring shovels. Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. Tournaments: *Jan. 15: Lake Ashtabula. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Dec. 28: 1,447.17 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,447.14 MSL. *Lake Sakakawea elevation: 1,828.33 MSL; 16,000 cubic feet per second average (...
6 OUTDOORS Calendar The 2022 North Dakota OUTDOORS calendar is available for ordering online at the state Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. The calendar features outstanding color photographs of North Dakota wildlife and scenery, and includes season opening and application deadline dates, sunrise-sunset times and moon phases. Calendars are also available via mail order. Send $3 for each, plus $1 postage, to: Calendar, North Dakota Game and Fish Department, 100 N. Bismarck Expressway, Bismarck, ND 58501-5095. The calendar is the...
I’m a Christmas carol guy through and through, which generally makes coming out of the holidays a little hard on my psyche. The satellite radio stations that I’ve been listening to since the day after Halloween are all returning to their regularly scheduled programming for the next ten months. The last scraps of wrapping paper I picked up from where the cat had them stashed in her corner of the living room from Christmas Eve, are signs the season of joy is quickly coming to an end. All we...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *Dec. 31: Missouri River Canada goose zone and light goose seasons close. *Jan. 2: Pheasant, grouse, partridge, High Plains duck, goose, merganser, and archery deer seasons close. Fishing: *Devils Lake elevation, Dec. 21: 1,447.1 feet above mean sea level (MSL). *Stump Lake elevation: 1,447.08 MSL. *Lake...
The cold snap has finally hit the northern portion of North Dakota and it has allowed us to finally start venturing around on area lakes. While it’s still not safe thickness for truck traffic yet, ATVs are starting to get around on many of the lakes in the upper half of the state. I still tell everyone to be careful and proceed with extreme caution. When you get these hard cold snaps like we are finally getting, you can expect cracks and pressure ridges that can create some major issues and h...
If you've ever watched the top of a tip-up spin after a pike has taken the offering below, be it frozen smelt, herring or perhaps even a hot dog, you often wonder when the metal circular blur is going to stop. Sometimes the process takes well over thirty seconds before the whirring T slows down and the force of nature on the other end takes a break from its underwater jaunt. That's because pike are creatures of speed, sprinters capable of blasting across a short distance at an incredible pace...
It starts with countless hours of scouting, days sitting in the stand or miles of boot leather burned. It is late nights and cold early mornings with family and friends. It is moments when, if everything goes to plan, a shot rings out and the deer dies quickly. And it then is moments throughout the next year of healthy delicious meals. It's a great tradition that the deer hunter engages in. One that our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents participated in. One that supports our...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *Keep hunting dogs away from ice on wetlands and lake shorelines with possible thin ice conditions in many areas yet. *Go to the N.D. Game and Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov) for information regarding North Dakota’s new electronic posting regulations and assistance. *Check area U.S. Fish and Wil...
Give me an expanse of cattails in December, with a little snow on the ground and a lot of pheasants scattered throughout it, and that's about the best gift the outdoors can provide. Even in those years where I did not yet have a dog, I can recall serving as my own flushing machine, stomping over the three-toed tracks of pheasants weaving through a frozen slough. My buddies were often content to hug the edges, but I enjoyed the sweat-inducing, high-kneed tromp through the crackling reeds and,...
Unbeknownst to many, Pheasants Forever (PF) operates under a unique local model that allows for an even bigger impact to be made for our wildlife and lands. That model puts our grassroots efforts on a pedestal, and by "grassroots" I am referring to our local chapters in small and large towns alike across the country, and not all in prime pheasant or quail territory, either. North Dakota is home to 25 chapters on the national roster that retain complete control over the funds they work hard to ra...
Outdoor notes: *Ice is never completely safe. Avoid areas with vegetation, moving water, pressure ridges, and springs. Check conditions as you go along on the ice and don’t move around at night. *Keep hunting dogs away from ice on wetlands and lake shorelines with thin ice conditions in many areas yet. *Go to the N.D. Game and Fish Dept. website, (gf.nd.gov) for information regarding North Dakota’s new electronic posting regulations and assistance. *Check area U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Nat...
The ice fishing market has exploded in the last twenty years. Where once only a couple of companies dominated the auger, fish house, and sonar categories when I started this column detailing the annual advancements in on-ice technology, now hundreds are present, creating better competition across all hardwater product classes, and a free-market economy that would make Adam Smith proud. This year sees that continued expansion with new products such as the growing electric auger market, and...
