The ND Game and Fish Department is giving away 5 MUZZLELOADERS and 100 SAGEN SAWS for people who donate deer heads for the purpose of CWD and TB testing. The NDGF needs deer samples from the Western and NE corner of the state for the purpose of CWD and TB testing. If you hunt in units 2C, 2D, 3A1, 3A2, 3A3, 3B1, 3B2, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F and you submit your adult doe or buck heads for the purpose of CWD and TB testing you will automatically be entered in our Hunter Cooperator Drawing to win a muzzleloader or a Sagen saw.

For more information and drop-off locations visit our website:  http://gf.nd.gov/

Thank you for your assistance,

Daniel Grove, DVM
Wildlife Veterinarian
North Dakota Game and Fish Department
100 N Bismarck Expressway
Bismarck, ND 58501
Phone: 701-328-6300
Fax: 701-328-6352

I personally didn’t leave my home in Mandan until late Friday for Dickinson, and didn’t get any hunting in that day.

What I saw on Saturday was nothing short of amazing.  With the cutting of much of the CRP, and many of the draws and tree rows snowed over, herds of whitetail deer were sprinkled across the landscape, sometimes gathering 30-50 at a time.  Of course they were miles away from the main roads, and the section lines were blow in and impassible (see image above).

Even the pheasants were forced out of the cover in an attempt to get warm and find food.  After seeing literally thousands of pheasants in the fields I had to take a photo out the window. You’ll have to click on it to enlarge, but this is a small sampling of the number of birds forced from habitat due to the weather.

Now, back to the deer hunting.

We knew that to get to the deer we would have to take some chances and walk in to the back side of some hills.  But since the roads were in such tough shape, that meant walking in, and back out, all through wind-blown hard-packed snow that was waist deep at times.

But then we saw the muley.  He was standing on posted land, proud as hell, at the end of a tree row.  He was watching some does, and seemed oblivious to the traffic on the road to his west.

After debating for nearly an hour, I finally decided to call the landowner and get permission.  He generously granted us access, and less than 1/2 hour later, he was down.

At 39 years old I finally got my first mule deer, and the biggest deer I’ve ever shot.  He’s not a monster by any means, but a respectable buck for my area and North Dakota in general.

Take a look.

And yet nearly every weekend during hunting season I get lost… and love every minute of it.

Patrick McMannus wrote several stories about the art of getting lost.

You see, the best part of being lost in North Dakota is that you can only do it once in a particular location.  Our state is criss-crossed with neatly layed out minimum maintenance “section” lines, marking 1 mile units of land.  In the rare case that a landowner has plowed up a section line or the road has disappeared due to non-use, you just drive to the second mile.

And while I have my usual hunting spots and landmarks, occasionally I see that section line I haven’t been on before, and it looks like it will get me where I want to be, so I take it.  But it doesn’t always work out.

Yesterday I ended up on a road I had never been on.  And then another, and another, and another until I ended up taking a 10-mile drive to the very point I had started.

But was it worth the drive?  Yep.  First, I learned never to take that road again.  But more importantly, I saw some amazing country (unfortunatly posted) that was home to some whitetail does, a lonely coyote, a couple of rooster pheasants, and one really big snow owl.  If I hadn’t taken that little detour I wound’t have seen any of those things.

But have I ever been in danger being lost in ND?   Yes.  Hunting in the Badlands of SW North Dakota, I got caught in a freak snow storm.  The day started out at 60 degrees and we were hunting turkeys.  The hunt took us about two miles from the road and then the temp dropped and it started to rain.  And then it started snowing. Not “normal” snow, but that huge-flake, stick-to-anything type of snow.  And within minutes the entire countryside was covered with a sparkling blanket of fresh snow.

For a moment, I was pretty scared.  I tried to find the vehicle, or the road, or anything that might give us a hint on how to get back.  No luck, so I had to scramble up a clay butte, not an easy task carrying a shotgun and in fresh Badlands mud, and start looking.  Minutes went by as I scanned the countryside with my binoculars, and then I saw it… a telephone pole.  That had to be by the road, so I scanned right and saw another, and then a few more, and after a few moments I saw what looked like two tires.   My truck had been completely covered with the sticky snow, except for the tires and a small spot on the windshield.

We started the 2-mile hike back to the truck, got in and got the hell out of there.

That was scary, and could have been life threatening in a more extreme circumstance.  But it illustrates the best part of being lost… the story.  If you don’t get lost, you don’t have any stories.

So go ahead, get lost once in a while.  You might see someting interesting, and you’ll have something to talk about next time you and your buddies get together.

The Bismarck Tribune is reporting

Tony Dean (pictured) was the host of several television and radio shows, and also contributed to numerous websites and magazines, including TonyDean.com and Dakota Country Magazine.

He was a champion of the North and South Dakota sportsmen, and a staunch defender of conservation.  His mellow voice will be dearly missed on tv and radio, and his biting intelligence will leave a void in the defense of the welfare of habitat and wildlife.

I’ve always said that Mr. Dean had it figured out.  Somehow he managed to figure out a way to make a living hunting and fishing the Great Plains.  It seems unfair that his life was cut short by something as trivial as an appendix surgery.

Dean won more than 160 regional and national awards for his programs. He also served as a press secretary for former South Dakota Gov. Frank Farrar.

Godspeed Tony Dean.  You have enriched the lives of so many, and will live on in our memories.

Below is a link to Tony’s last Dakota Backroads audio show from 10/3/2008.

I was drawn this year after five years of being rejected in the North Dakota license lottery, and it looked pretty bleak.  Last weekend was 80 degrees with 30-40mph winds.  All of the pronghorns were stationed on the sides of hills in the middle of sections, and hunting pressure was heavy.

This weekend blew in a fall storm, complete with 30 degree temps, rain and then snow.  The antelope went into hiding and we didn’t even see a herd in the “normal”areas until about mid-day, when we saw a really small buck running with about 15 does.

Out of desperation we went to a new area, where we thought we would at least fill our limit on pheasants since we only had two to go.  I missed that chance with a horrible couple of shots on semi-tough shots and we proceeded to drive around a while looking for the last herd of the day.

Out of jest I turned to my hunting partners, Tucker (a five year-old Britanny) and my father and asked where did all of the goats go?  Less than a minute later, I answered my own question with “Right there!” pointing out the windshield to 20 pronghorns running across the section line.

I turned the truck around and drove to a different corner of the section, but the antelope ran back behind again.  You know, turning a ’94 Suburban on a country road is no easy thing.

I saw where the pronghorns were running, and I exited the vehicle, .270 ready to fire and ran up the field to cut them off before they got too far behind a rise.  Too late, I ran back down to the road and got a good look at them about 150 yards out.  They were running full bore and I picked out the buck, always last.  I led him about 4′ and squeezed off a shot.  I didn’t hear anything, the pronghorn didn’t jump or stumble, and he definately didn’t just fall down.

After about 50 yards he reached the road, heading off into posted land.  He seemed to stumble a bit, but I wrote it off as just mis-stepping at the road.   But about 100 yards into the posted field, the pronghorn reared up on its hind legs and fell over backwards.

Huh.   Guess I DID hit him.  At full speed running right to left.  Ta-da!

I put the gun in the vehicle and walked out into the field to retrieve the animal.  Perfect shot through the lungs.  Didn’t hit any guts, didn’t ruin any of the head or shoulders… just a lung-er that blew all the way through and he just took a while to know it.

Well, I’m hooked.  That was the most fun I’ve had hunting in years.  Only one thing went wrong the whole weekend.  When it came time to snap a photo, my camera malfunctioned and we had to rely on a screenshot from a video camera.

Oh well, a nice 12″ pronghorn (updated measurements – 13 1/2″ horns and 6 3/4″ base.  Much bigger once I got a tape on him!) for my first time out.  Not a huge trophy by any means, but I’m mounting him anyway.  Who knows how easy it will be to draw another license.  Here’s to pronghorn hunting!  Now, I can concentrate on ring-necks and my muley tag.  God I love the fall!

Last week I was driving around the SW North Dakota countryside with windows rolled down, short-sleeved shirts on, and sweating like crazy.  It was 80+ degrees and I was out crawling for pronghorns. 

Fast-forward to the upcoming weekend.  Same area.  Same hunting season.  Same hunter.  Forecast is for 30 degrees, snow mixed with rain (up to 12″ of snow in some areas), and 30mph winds.  Global warming my a$$!

But just 150 miles NE of the storm in Bismarck/Mandan, ND, where I live, the forecast if for 50 degrees and rain.  That mans that somewhere between here and my hunting area there’s going to be a wardrobe change.  Where that boundry is, no one knows, but now I have to pack tons of extra clothing just to chase a dog-sized “big game” animal around, and a colorful chicken?

Damn right I do!  It’s October in North Dakota.  Upredicable weather and hunting season!  It just doens’t get any better than this (copyright Old Milwaukee Beer).

Dunn County Deputy Glen Gietzen says the family was hunting during the state’s youth pheasant season when the shooting happened about 5:30 yesterday afternoon, north of Gladstone.

Authorities say Dillen Bloomgren was pronounced dead at Saint Joseph’s hospital in Dickinson, of a gunshot wound to the head.

Please extend your thoughts and prayers to Dillen’s family and friends. And please be careful out there eveyone.

The new bridge was constructed over the last couple of years and should be finished some time this month, allowing the destruction of the rest of the bridge.

I know this doesn’t really have anything to do with hunting or fishing, but it was cool to watch anyway.  Here’s a video of the destruction from the Bismarck side of the river.

First, I saw a skinned animal, minus a head, lying in a non-posted field. Some idiot had shot what I was guessing was a buck pronghorn, caped it out on the spot, and left the body to rot less than 200 yards from the road. This took place Friday night or early Saturday morning, as I was in the area around 5pm Friday night, and around 10am Saturday morning.

Less than an hour later, I saw a white pickup driving through a field with two hunters, I mean criminals, in it. They were too far away to get a license, and when they saw me stopped, they high-tailed it off the land and out of the area.

Both of these took place NW of Scranton, ND.  Click HERE for a map location of the crimes.

I know that whoever did either of these indiscretions won’t be affected by me posting them here because they can’t read (at least a proclamation) and probably don’t think they did anything wrong, but if I can ask the rest of you to take a few moments and think of the hunting community as a whole before you do something stupid.

The anti-hunters and some landowners are just looking for this type of behavior to give them a reason to reduce your sporting opportunities. The skinned pronghorn was lying on some property that is traditionally posted for deer season, but the landowner has always allowed my hunting party and others access. Things like this could significantly jeapordize access to this great piece of land.

Play by the rules, bag your game in a safe, sporting manner, and support the heritage and opportunity provided by the state of North Dakota and the generous landowners who allow us access, and all of us will be better off.

As for the guys who did this? I’m taking my video camera with from now on, and if I see it happen again, video evidence will be used in a court of law.

Sorry for the long rant, but I had to get this out. If anyone has more details on who may have committed these crimes, please report them to the proper authorities.

In North Dakota contact R.A.P. (Report All Poachers) at 1-800-472-2121.

I’ll be in that group for the first time ever. After applying for years, I was finally drawn for my first “any pronghorn” tag in the states tight lottery.

And it’s the most excited I’ve been for a hunt in years. I still get anxious for the deer opener, and my dog Tucker and I shake uncontrollably on the morning of the pheasant opener, but this is different.

I’ve been doing more scouting, sighting in of the rifle, research on the internet, and dreaming of antelope hunting than I’ve ever done for deer or pheasant. I’m absolutely positive, at least in my mind, that I won’t shoot at anything short of a 13” pronghorn, even though I know “ground shrinkage” is very common with pronghorns.

So I’m making last-minute preperations for my gear and buying the food for tomorrow’s start. And I’m not expecting to get much sleep tonight as I dream about sneaking across the prairie towards that monster buck, still ½ mile across open grassland.

So stay tuned Blast & Casters. I plan on documenting as much of the hunt as possible on Twitter, in part to laugh at my thoughts as I look back, but also to provide some insight into an eager first-timer out seeking that trophy pronghorn.

Follow BlastAndCast on Twitter and keep up with the hunt!