By Mike Peluso Things have really ramped up when it comes to late fall walleye angling on the Missouri River near Bismarck, and the fish are also going excellent up on Lake Sakakawea. As far as the Missouri River is concerned, the fish are on the move north and starting to feed heavily.  When you…

By Nick Simonson Hit by a lack of habitat in the east and a resurgence of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) in the west, North Dakota’s whitetail herd is headed into an important season – the rut.  While historically hunters have pointed to a number of factors that set the whitetail deer’s breeding season off –…

By Nick Simonson This summer’s greatest discovery for our household wasn’t a new lure, some outdoors equipment, or even a new piece of hunting or angling technology, rather it was a plug-in nightlight for the cabin called a Zevo.  While I’ll avoid the appearance of sponsoring or championing this ultraviolet emitter with a flypaper insect…

By Mike Peluso This is without question my  favorite time of year when it comes to walleye fishing on the Missouri River!  I wish I could slow it down and freeze time, as fall fishing always reminds me of my childhood.  My dad would wait outside Roosevelt Elementary and later on Wachter Middle School for…

By Nick Simonson The first in a string of waterfowl production areas northwest of town was a small square, just 40 acres or so connected to the main road by a small walkable easement style strip with a two wheel track to access the federal parcel. I had walked it last fall while visiting the…

By Mike Peluso It has been another up and down week of walleye fishing on the Missouri River near Bismarck, and a lot of the ups and downs were due to the weather.  With this week’s forecast ahead, I think things will continue to improve as they seemed to do over the past few days….

By Nick Simonson With the boggy grasp of the slough gripping at my loosened boot, I pushed my way through the last 10 yards of cattails with my large, lumbering lab behind me.  Wedging my foot back inside, I pulled the boot free from the grip of the stinking mud and made my way to…

By Nick Simonson Public lands are the backbone of hunting in the upper Midwest.  Whether it’s PLOTS in North Dakota, Walk-In Access (WIA) in Minnesota, or the national network of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA) or state Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) found throughout these jurisdictions and others, places open to hunters of all stripes and all…

By Nick Simonson The wind of this year’s pheasant opener weekend was notable, but there were more than enough birds to make the two-day stretch memorable even with a good deal of standing corn on the landscape.  On Saturday, from the south, the 30 mile per hour gusts pumped in heat which shortened our day…

By Nick Simonson That favorite day of many outdoorsmen is fast approaching – pheasant opener.   With head bowed, eyes skyward (is that physically possible?) and tongue firmly in cheek, we pray that divine intervention outweighs Murphy’s Law this autumn with the following blessing: Heavenly God, to whom I pray,provide me birds on opening day,let them…

By Doug Leier Every hunting season tells a different story. Success is often measured by filled bags and tags, but for many hunters the season is about much more than harvest. Time outdoors, familiar places, changing landscapes and shared traditions all become part of the experience. That’s one of the things that makes hunting unique….

By Nick Simonson Throughout the pheasant hunting season, roosters can provide a bit of predictability for hunters seeking consistent upland action.  Knowing the habitat and the daily movements these birds make can help with finding and intercepting these wily birds, and make connecting with them a more regular occurrence.  Identifying the habitat types that roosters…

By Mike Peluso At the moment, when it comes to walleye fishing on the Missouri River, just like the weather beacon in Bismarck: when it’s green, there’s no change foreseen! Are there fish being caught?  Yes!  If you are willing to travel a little and get your grinding gear on.  Patience is a virtue right…

By Nick Simonson Taking a break from coordinating plans for the upcoming pheasant opener, which in itself will be a shift from previous starts to the season and a return to my hometown of Valley City, I greeted my wife’s cousin and her husband at the door of our house.  Not often fielding family from…

By Doug Leier If you’ve spent any time around North Dakota’s prairie potholes, you probably noticed more hens with ducklings. That’s not just fall hunters wishful thinking. The Game and Fish Department surveys confirm it. Duck brood numbers are up 55% from 2025. Every spring and summer, North Dakota Game and Fish migratory game bird…

By Mike Peluso The start of fall walleye fishing on the Missouri River is showing us that the water is low, and we don’t have many usable ramps on the flow near Bismarck right now.   However, this doesn’t mean we stop fishing.  Like always we figure out ways and places to get boats in…

By Nick Simonson A long time ago, when I first started writing this column, the weekly email to my publishing papers didn’t always include a photo.  I figured that my 700 words or so were enough to amply describe the adventure in each week’s article or to lay out my ideas for better hunting or…

By Nick Simonson While many eyes turn to the uplands or that favorite waterfowl spot this time of year, the openwater fishing can provide some of the very best angling opportunities of the season in fall.  Whether it’s walleyes fished with swimbaits under a late September or October full moon, or voracious stocked trout aggressively…

By Doug Leier Like many hunters, anglers and anyone with an interest in North Dakota’s outdoors, I’ve taken for granted the North Dakota OUTDOORS magazine. It began and remains a rare combination for news and insight, explaining the current regulations and impacts of habitat to walleye stocking and expanding fishing access. Stacking the years on…

By Mike Peluso It’s that time of year for me to start probing the Missouri River near Bismarck.  Right now the water is low and boat ramp access is sketchy at best.  It’s going to make for an interesting fall.  I’m starting up my guide trips here actually a tad earlier this year.   I’m…

By Nick Simonson The early season flush of a sharptailed grouse – or better yet a nice group of them – can provide an exhilarating rush to kick start fall in the field.  As autumn progresses, however, the remaining birds learn fast, and once the sentry sharpie takes to the air at a distance, it’s…

By Nick Simonson With the approaching Youth Waterfowl Opener on Sat. Sep. 19, the Resident Waterfowl Opener set for Sat. Sep 26, and the Non-Resident Waterfowl Opener slated for Mon. Oct. 5, Ducks Unlimited Biologist Dane Buysse sees good things on the horizon for duck hunters in North Dakota as the starts of these duck…

By Brad Durick The huge annual cool off happened on Monday, signaling not only a change in the seasons but a shift to the off-season for me when it comes to guiding for catfish on the Red River around Grand Forks. The day we had in the 50s with rain is an annual September event…

By Doug Leier Unlike deer, upland game and waterfowl, the production of fisheries is hard to notice on a year-by-year basis. What hasn’t changed is the strong boost the beginning of the early 1990s wet cycle has provided for decades or fishing success in North Dakota. As it’s been said, we’re living in the good…

By Mike Peluso I spent the past few days fishing this week up on Devils Lake working with Jason Feldner and Percheyes Guide Service.  Devils Lake is going through what I’ve been calling a transition.  Unfortunately, too many people are on a bandwagon of doom and gloom for the lake.   I want to set…

By Nick Simonson From the rush of a buck moving under my perch in the low crook of a large tree along a vast slough, to a covey of sharptailed grouse rising on a grassy hillside, to the excitement of a flushing pheasant breaking its way out of the cane on a mid-December hunt, the…

By Nick Simonson Upland hunters in North Dakota will likely see more rooster pheasants in the field this fall according to recent data collected from the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) as part of its summer roadside surveys which tally the number of adult and juvenile pheasants along with brood numbers and sizes…

By Doug Leier The 2026 archery deer season opened Sept. 4, and  regular deer gun season opens at noon Friday, Nov. 6. Before hunters head afield this year, North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials are reminding sportsmen and women that protecting the state’s deer herd remains a shared responsibility. The department’s chronic wasting disease…

By Mike Peluso The reason I don’t love to guide in September is already showing itself a little.  The walleyes, especially on Sakakawea, can become extremely difficult to catch.  They do this every September for some reason.   I have my theories as to why, but it’s too long to put into this post.  I’m…

By Nick Simonson While soaking up the last rays of the summer sun on the cabin deck and watching the boat of four anglers explore the breakline just out from the dock, that familiar loud ‘slurp, slurp, slurp,’ of my old lab drinking water broke the afternoon silence. Of course it wasn’t from the elevated,…