By Nick Simonson The recent mornings have at least brought a taste of cool autumn air mixed with the above-average summerlike afternoon temperatures the region has experienced at the start of the season.  In those chilly stretches around dawn, whether walking around the block with the dogs or running along the edge of town, I…

By Doug Leier The old parental response of “the journey is half the fun” to kids wondering “are we there yet” fits for hunting as well. Even just the scouting can make for memories. Most can think of a few stories where finding a place to hunt at times can be as much a part…

By Mike Peluso This will probably be my last Devils Lake fishing report until the upcoming ice fishing season. I will say this, if the open water season on Devils Lake is any indication on what this winter will be like, it’s going to be epic! We have finally hit the fall transition. The leaves…

By Emily Spolyar, ND PF Pheasants Forever’s (PF) Precision Agriculture and Conservation Specialists are intentionally positioned to connect not just with growers who are already thinking about conservation practices, but more specifically, with growers who may not be currently considering conservation practices as a viable solution to lower-producing acres on their operations. These specialists seek…

By Nick Simonson This Saturday was the second of two back-to-back weekend road races which capped off the most amazing summer of running for me. It was blissfully cool in the morning ahead of the two-day warm-up which, once again in this summer’s style, timed out perfectly for an enjoyable weekend.  With the major milestones…

By Brad Durick Cool mornings and shorter days are leading to the end of the 2021 catfishing season on the Red River. Right now, the water temperature is holding at about 63 degrees which is a great place to be for a couple more weeks of angling. Water levels, while still low, are very stable…

By Doug Leier Numbers get hard to comprehend when I relay to North Dakota anglers that over the past 30 years nearly 250 million walleye and 2 million pounds of trout and salmon have been stocked in North Dakota waters. It’s where a little perspective and history can help make you appreciate more of what…

By Mike Peluso The fall transition has started on Devils Lake and the walleyes are starting to do the same. Expect things to be a little inconsistent for a bit. The water temperatures have started to drop, and I noticed some of the muck from the bottom floating on the surface this week while fishing….

By Kellen Latendresse It’s too bad we can’t extend some seasons in North Dakota, as fall is the one I wish was twice as long! There isn’t time to do it all.  I have two nights off this week and have one buddy wanting me to join him for a dove hunt, another asked me…

By John Bradley There’s a Guy Clark song called “Stuff That Works” that has been stuck in my head for weeks.  The refrain is: “Stuff that works, stuff that holds up. The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall.” While he sings about his old guitar, his old blue shirt, his old boots,…

By Nick Simonson Pheasants Forever’s (PF) Soil Health and Habitat program, an initiative created with corporate support from Purina Inc., is helping to establish more grassland habitat and better soil and water quality throughout the nation’s Prairie Pothole region in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.  Now entering its third sign-up, the partnership is…

By Brad Durick Water levels on the Red River remain low but the flow is substantially better than a few weeks ago, running about 700 cfs in Grand Forks. While it is still not great, it is good for the fish. The catfish seem to be responding to the stable higher water quite well with…

By Nick Simonson In what has been an historically hot summer across much of the country, and certainly the upper Midwest, it’s easy to assume those temperatures will stick around into fall. As the old saying goes, when in a drought, don’t predict rain. But even in those average years over the past few decades,…

By Doug Leier  North Dakota’s 200 wildlife management area’s total around 220,000 acres of state land open to hunters. These aren’t Private Land Open To Sportsmen acres. PLOTS are private lands enrolled in the Game and Fish administered program.   The department WMAs have specific rules and regulations to balance and reduce potential conflicts, which can and do occur when areas attract…

By Mike Peluso It’s been a relatively slower week of fishing for me. I did chase muskies one day and went after walleyes on the river south of Bismarck and fished Devils Lake one day guiding. So, this is going to be a mixed report. I’ll start with the muskie day. We never caught one,…

NDG&F Dept. Release North Dakota’s roadside surveys conducted in late July and August indicate pheasants were down from last year, while sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge numbers were about the same. State Game and Fish Department upland game supervisor Jesse Kolar said results of the annual upland late summer counts were expected. “Recent weather patterns…

By Brad Durick We have water for now. The rains of that past couple weeks have brought the river up to over 1,000 cfs at Grand Forks and that is moving north. While it is still not a ton of water, it is truly blessing for the fish to keep them going. It probably won’t…

By Nick Simonson September brings with it the initial upland seasons of the year, and sharptailed grouse have often been that first flush that has sent my heart soaring each fall after its beat echoed steadily in my ears as my dog held point.  While these buff and gray birds with the trademark chuckle that…

By Nick Simonson Opening day of North Dakota’s bow season sits in that stretch of time where summer and fall mix together.  Cool dewy mornings of Labor Day weekend melt into warm afternoons, and despite the fact that deer are in their warm weather patterns and most often present themselves with a reserve limited to…

By Mike Peluso A little wind, a little rain, a little heat, and a lot of walleyes were all in play this week on Devils Lake. This is sure shaping up to be an unbelievable late season. Structure like rocks, roads, humps and definitely the deeper structure seems to be where some of the bigger…

By Kellen Latendresse We’re starting to see some yellow and orange leaves and nights are getting cooler, which means fish patterns are shifting. Eyes On This past week, I’ve only had three days for walleyes and three for muskies, so my sample size of fishing is a little smaller.  Plus dove season opened up and…

By Brad Durick We have had a bit more rain and the flow on the Red River in Grand Forks is nearly double what it was last week. It appears to still not be enough for the catfish to respond positively with a more consistent bite. They are still lined up on the back of…

By Nick Simonson The things you own end up owning you. It’s a statement I say every so often in life, as mechanical things break down, technology freezes up, and the piles of day-to-day stuff mount in the corner of the basement storage area. I uttered it at least once this weekend as a summer’s…

By Doug Leier It’s easy to look at the negative impact the drought has had on every aspect of our state. But a recent feature in North Dakota OUTDOORS magazine had me looking at the “glass half full,” considering some of the historical notes of outdoors from the past 90 years when the first issue of North Dakota OUTDOORS was published.  1931 …

By Brad Durick Rains last weekend brought flows on the Red River up a little bit. It’s not enough to really see it on the gauges but if you are out there every day you notice it. The catfish have responded to the little influx very positively and if you can find current you will…

By Nick Simonson While often the coldest and snowiest portion of North Dakota, the northeastern quarter like the rest of the state was spared the usually chilly temperatures and drifts it normally sees in the winter of 2020-2021, and as a result, the herds of whitetails in the region survived well.  With that, and a…

“Now, you get to do the strap up on top of it,” I said with a laugh as on my tip toes I cranked hard on the ratchet which secured the stabilizing pole of my buddy’s new deer stand to his chosen tree, putting a pair of red lines into my palm, which suggested the…

By Mike Peluso Most of my guiding this past week has been on Devils Lake with a day spent on Lake Sakakawea. One thing is for sure, the fish are trending deeper on both waters. Starting with Sakakawea, the water levels continue to fall and the fish also continue to slip deeper. A majority of…

By Kellen Latendresse Over the past two weeks, I have had 17 trips in 15 days throughout north central North Dakota then took a break to head to Canada with my son and dad to chase my favorite species, muskies, on my favorite water, Lake of the Woods. First things first, the excellent walleye bite…

By Austin Lang Whether fin, feather, or fur, habitat is a key aspect in having healthy sustainable wildlife populations. Pheasants Forever is known as “The Habitat Organization.” With the moniker comes the recognition of how important habitat is for healthy wildlife populations. But buyer (or hunter) beware, not all habitat is created equal. Habitat is…