BUST ‘EM!  Clay Target League Championship Week kicked off on Saturday in South Dakota, with Kordell Dehaan (98) and Isabel Myren (93) taking Top Gun Honors for the boys and girls respectively.  Minnesota’s 9-day event started today with over 360 schools and 7,500 participants going head to head for each of the nine classes, and ND’s event is this Saturday, June 17 at the shooting park in Horace.  Check out all that action and the NDG&F’s waterfowl survey numbers in today’s Three Things.

(Featured Photo: A hen guides her ducklings over a riffle near the NDG&F Offices in Bismarck, ND.  Simonson Photo.)

DAILY CONDITIONS:

WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast):
The best chance for widespread rain in several weeks occurs today as a low pressure system winds its way north toward the Canadian border.
Today: Tue 6/13 – T-Storms chances early, less during day. Hi 79, Lo 60, Winds E to S @ 11 mph.
Tomorrow: Wed 6/14 – Rain chances lessen, breezy. Hi 75, Lo 51, Winds W @ 23 mph.

SOLUNAR (Bismarck Times):
Sunrise: 5:48AM Sunset: 9:38PM
Moonrise: Prev. Day  Moonset: 9:37AM
Overhead: 4:43AM  Underfoot: 5:07PM
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous (85% Full)

EDGE HOUR: 4:30 – 5:30PM.  Winds lessen and shift to the south, while skies begin to clear.  With moon underfoot, sneak out from work a bit early to get on a late afternoon bite aided by better conditions after the storms have pretty much passed.

DAY RATING:

THREE THINGS

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK!  With the ever-expanding USA Clay Target League State Championships kicking off around the region, check the results of this weekend’s High School shooting sports action in SD, and stay updated with those in Minnesota through that state’s 9-day Championship.  North Dakota’s State CTL Tourney fires up on Saturday at the Shooting Park in Horace.

WATERFOWL REPORTS IN.  The North Dakota Game & Fish Department has released its spring survey of breeding waterfowl populations, and numbers are down approximately 15% across the Peace Garden State.  The population loss is due in large part to decreased habitat.

“We’ve lost a lot of nesting cover since 2007, and now we are going into summer without much water, I just don’t think the ducks will have very good production in a lot of areas,” said Mike Szymanski, Migratory Game Bird Supervisor.

SOAK IT UP.  By the time you read this, you’ll be wet.  Hopefully!  Welcome rain amounts from .25 inches in the southwest to 1.5 inches in the east should help spur vegetation (re)growth and provide added cover and forage for hatching upland birds and established broods of waterfowl.  That and you might not have to water your lawn for a day!

Stay Sharp!