By Doug Leier North Dakota’s fish and wildlife diversity is impressive. From paddlefish and pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River to trophy catfish and lake sturgeon in the Red River. We’re home to mountain lions, moose and elk. Otters, fishers, bobcats and pine martens. While few outside of the state would recognize the variety, North…

By Mike Peluso Ice Ice Baby was the famous song by Vanilla Ice. As the lyrics go here, we are making ice in the northern tier of the state. I would say we are a bit behind on the ice development, but in areas it’s happening. I spent much of the latter portion of last…

By Nick Simonson Bluegills, perch and crappies can provide fast action on ice, but like any species this terrific trio can also provide a challenge, as there’s nothing more frustrating on hardwater than watching a red line rise quickly on a sonar only to fade away without offering a bite.  What follows is a quick…

By Nick Simonson While water levels are down about two feet after a dry spring and summer across southeastern North Dakota’s prairie lakes country, the opportunities to find fast ice fishing for perch and walleyes are up, as record opportunities to catch both species exist this winter.  Record rains from the fall of 2019 have…

By Nick Simonson 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…

By Doug Leier Even with extreme drought, North Dakota continues to enjoy “the good old days” of fishing, no matter the time of year. A historical comparison from as recently as the mid-1980s when there were 150 or so managed lakes on the landscape to 400-plus now, North Dakota anglers have many fishing opportunities that…

By Mike Peluso It’s a broken record, I know, and I can’t argue this at all. I said probably three fishing reports ago I was going make the switch over to ice fishing. Well, that hasn’t happened quite yet, but looking out my window this morning it’s definitely ice fishing season. I was supposed to…

By Nick Simonson There’s a theory out there on how the world will end, and it’s called “grey goo.”  The idea is that sometime in the far distant future, the planet is overrun by self-replicating microscopic robots that humanity created for one benevolent purpose or another, which ultimately get out of our control.  In the…

By Nick Simonson While many hunters were gearing up for the 2021 firearms deer season, agents of the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) were completing aerial surveys of the state’s mule deer populations in the western portion of the state and compiling the data tracking the numbers and health of the state’s popular…

By Nick Simonson The lure of that first ice fishing opportunity has lost some of its pull on me.  Where in the past I’d be one of the first anglers sliding out onto the newly-formed ice, these days I’m more comfortable taking my time getting out there.  In part due to my cautious nature, having…

NDG&F Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department announces a new statewide strategy that will team landowners, conservation groups, scientists, and others to enhance, restore and sustain native grasslands in North Dakota. The vision of the Meadowlark Initiative, named after the state’s iconic, yet declining Western meadowlark, is to promote and create healthy, thriving grasslands…

By Doug Leier We are a hearty bunch. When temperatures drop and the ice begins to form, it doesn’t signal the end to spending time hunting and fishing. It’s just a transition. One of those transitions taking place now is the wait for darkhouse spearfishing. When the first spearing season opened there was a set…

By Mike Peluso It’s a little bit of a repeat from last week’s fishing report. For you diehard ice fishermen, things are starting to happen. For you diehard open water fishermen, things are still happening. This week I found myself checking a few smaller bodies of water up and around the Devils Lake area. Things…

By Nick Simonson The internet coming along was one of the best things to happen to me, and not just for looking up Simpsons quotes and confirming my hunches with Wikipedia.  Going to bed at a standard 8:30 or 9:00 pm each night, even on the weekends, precluded me from seeing some of the funniest…

NDG&F Dept. Release Outdoor enthusiasts are reminded to be aware of early ice conditions before traveling onto and across North Dakota waters. A few reminders include: Edges firm up faster than farther out from shore. Snow insulates ice, which in turn inhibits solid ice formation, hiding cracks, weak and open water areas. Ice can form…

By Doug Leier Night hunting of coyote and fox has been an often-discussed topic the last several years. Some hunters have embraced new technologies, such as night vision and thermal imaging equipment, that give hunters an advantage over the nocturnal predators they enjoy pursuing.  Other coyote and fox hunting enthusiasts believe those technologies go beyond fair  chase and…

By Mike Peluso We have had a decent week of weather. A few guys have been out probing both the open and frozen waters. I’m not quite ready to venture out on the ice. I do so much ice fishing starting mid-December and running into mid-March, that I’ll wait until it’s thick enough for the…

By John Bradley I decided to slip out of work early Friday and hunt the opener. I knew that there would be a fair number of hunters who had the same idea, but I thought the little tract of PLOTS where I had hunted last year would be unoccupied, boy was I wrong. When I…

By Nick Simonson While referred to in some crowds as “desperation weekend,” the final three-day stretch of the North Dakota firearms deer season can often be the very best as changing environmental conditions, increased rut activity and decreased pressure on the landscape can align to provide some excellent hunting.  Don’t give up hope or fall…

By Nick Simonson I’ve often wondered if I could give up hunting and just fish or give up fishing and just hunt.  I’m most often stuck with that thought as I sit peacefully in my deer stand up from a small lake and listen to the last anglers of the season drop their boats off…

By Doug Leier My neighbor taught me another new word. Locavore. I wasn’t sure if it was in Websters or if it was slang. But the meaning hit home. There’s a growing interest in fishing, hunting or even planting food on your own. Securing it “locally.” Maybe it was grown in your own garden or…

By Mike Peluso I know our open water days are limited. The long-range forecast does have a couple nice days in there, but it’s definitely turning colder and my brain is slowly shifting to the hard water season. The walleyes are still biting on the Missouri River however. It seems the fish are really mixed…

By Nick Simonson There couldn’t be a harder choice Hunting this time of year To choose between my favorite patterns To chase pheasants, ducks or deer To pick from all the options Of blaze orange and camo Is about as easy as telling you My favorite guns and ammo There’s shadowgrass for swamp hunts And…

By Nick Simonson There is nothing more surprising on an upland hunt than to wander into a draw or to the edge of a stretch of grass and watch a covey of grouse or a group of pheasants rise en masse, wings whirring over their warning calls issued in the moment of excitement.  Likewise, there…

By Mike Peluso Into the start of November, fishing remains good to decent on the Missouri River near Bismarck. Walleyes are slowly making it closer to Bismarck. Remember with the low water, it’s river all the way down past Beaver Bay now. This really changes the game. Fish of all sizes and variety are being…

By Nick Simonson North Dakota’s deer hunters breathed a collective sigh of relief last week, much of which could be seen in the air outdoors as temperatures dropped down into the lower teens and even the single digits in some portions of the state. The first hard frost of the fall coming with those temperatures…

By Nick Simonson Driving back from a buddy’s backyard range, I glanced at the dash thermometer of my truck. The digital readout displayed the late afternoon high of 61 degrees.  In the calm conditions which were ideal for our final sight in of the season, it was almost hot, especially in comparison to the cold…

NDG&F Release Following Wednesday’s announcement from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources of a suspected case of chronic wasting disease in a wild deer southwest of Climax, Minn., the state Game and Fish Department is increasing its Hunter-Harvested Surveillance efforts to include Unit 2B in eastern North Dakota. Hunters in deer gun Unit 2B are…

By Nick Simonson The sound of a grunting buck can send a shiver of anticipation up any hunter’s spine.  What was a calm sit in a tree stand can quickly become an adrenaline rush of epic proportions.  Whether it’s a low tending vocalization to a nearby doe, or something more aggressive toward another buck (whether…

By Nick Simonson When it comes to the outdoors, I’m not a huge traveler.  I find contentment and more importantly, excitement, close to home with the opportunities I have nearby.  Whether that’s plying the breaklines for walleyes, casting to rising trout on a stocked lake, or working public parcels with my dog for pheasants, much…