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Dakota Uplander: Behind the Pheasant Brood Count Numbers

By Nick Simonson Is now the time to panic? If you were privy to the numbers behind the recent pheasant brood count survey press release and took a Statistics 101 course in high school or college, you might say yes, as tallies dipped to 10-year lows and approached recent records. This year, total roadside count…

Pheasant Numbers Hit 10-Year Low

NDG&F Press Release North Dakota’s roadside pheasant survey conducted in late July and August indicates total birds and number of broods are down statewide from 2016. R.J. Gross, upland game management biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said the survey shows total pheasants observed per 100 miles are down 61 percent from…

Daily Edge for Mon. Sep. 11

FLUTTER BACK. A taste of mid-summer is brewing after today’s shift in the wind, and we put it all on paper for you in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo: A painted lady butterfly rests on a dogwood leaf. The butterflies are frequently seen this time of year in North Dakota, and even more so this…

Daily Edge for Sun. Sep. 10

FALL HIGHLIGHTS. Red sunsets, pink horizons, yellow and orange leaves. It’s tough to miss the colors of fall which are cropping up all around us. We talk more about fall hunting seasons, forecasts for the rest of the year and where to find fish in today’s Three Things. DAILY CONDITIONS: WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast): Today: Sun…

Youth Deer Season Starts Sep. 15

NDG&F Dept. Release Friday, Sept. 15 at noon signals the start of a nine-and-a-half-day deer hunting season for youth ages 12-15. Licensed residents ages 11, 12 and 13, and 10-year-olds who turn age 11 in 2017, are allowed to hunt statewide, but only for antlerless white-tailed deer. Resident deer gun hunters age 14 or 15,…

Daily Edge for Sat. Sep. 9

AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU LIVE UP HERE? Sure, it’s a little dry – but massive wildfires and storms the size of Texas don’t disrupt your fishing or hunting adventures. We track the conditions that remind us – “hey, six months of winter isn’t that bad” – in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo: An angler works…

ND Waterfowl Preview

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. The good news for North Dakota hunters is that the 2017 waterfowl season is similar to last year as far as regulations and bag limits. Continental duck numbers are about the same as last year as well, and goose populations that frequent North Dakota remain high. There is, however, a…

Daily Edge for Fri. Sep. 8

PUP IS UP. It’s an extended summer for us this weekend as temps soar into the mid-80s and a warm stretch settles in. It may be a bit hot for your grouse and partridge opener, so spend some time on the water, or take your pup out for a few more training exercises before the…

Our Outdoors: Sense of the Hunt

By Nick Simonson Amid on-again-off-again training for an upcoming half marathon (which will be run at a leisurely pace this year, I can assure you) I found myself headed to the stand in the white glow of my LED headlamp for the opening of North Dakota’s deer archery season. Stiffness in my legs and left…

Daily Edge for Thu. Sep. 7

NORTHERN COMFORT. Our fall-like feelings will fade as temperatures for the weekend build into the 90s through Tuesday. So take it easy on those grouse dogs this weekend for the big opener! We look north in today’s Three Things and celebrate yet another great early September day which will facilitate good hunting and fishing. (Featured…

Daily Edge for Wed. Sep. 6

HEN’S TEETH. No seriously, you can trust us as we dole out some fun pheasant hen facts that aren’t hogwash in today’s Three Things. You know that saying, that today’s a gift, that’s why they call it the “present?” Well it is – especially today – so get out there and enjoy a perfect sampling…

Dakota Uplander: Grouse & Partridge Preview

By Nick Simonson While the drought experienced this summer by much of North Dakota has had an obvious impact on upland bird recruitment, hunters will still find opportunities this weekend and throughout the autumn to pursue sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge as the seasons open on Saturday, and for these predictable birds, identifying those places…

Daily Edge for Tue. Sep. 5

THE UNOFFICIAL START OF FALL! If summer’s end is unofficially Labor Day, then it’s also the start of fall. So much hunting to do, and so little time. We lay out the map for success and talk about other random fun stuff, while getting a tad nerdy and science-fictiony in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo:…

Daily Edge for Mon. Sep. 4

I FEEL A CHANGE. Back to a better day? Cool temperatures settle in on Sunday’s shift in the wind which came a bit later in the day than expected, and it will start to feel like fall over the next couple of days. Winds die off early in the week, making time on stand a…

Hunters Asked to Submit Wing Envelopes

NDG&F Press Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is once again asking grouse hunters for help with future bird management by simply collecting some feathers from harvested birds and sending in wing envelopes this fall. Wing data allows biologists to monitor production, reconcile bird counts and get a better understanding of the harvest…

Daily Edge for Sun. Sep. 3

SUMMER FALLING. One more warm day today, before a cooler trend sweeps over the region. Winds will shift and rise around midday, so get your fishing or hunting in this morning and save the beach time for the afternoon with highs one more (last?) time in the 90s. We dip back into the old bag…

Landowners Seek Doe Hunters

NDG&F Press Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is currently working with landowners in eight hunting units across the state who would like to host hunters with antlerless deer licenses in 2017. Participating landowners are located in hunting units 2I, 2J2, 2K2, 3A4, 3B3, 3D2, 3F2 and 4E. The program is not intended…

Daily Edge for Sat. Sep. 2

NOCKED & LOADED. If you’re up reading this, you’re probably headed out at first light for a sit on stand. Good choice! This morning will be the calmest, coolest portion of the weekend. Heat returns for Sunday on shifting winds in front of a Labor Day cooldown and sustained northerlies. We load you up on…

Five Bighorn Tags Issued

NDG&F Press Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is allocating five bighorn sheep licenses for the 2017 hunting season, three fewer than 2016. Two licenses are available in Unit B3 and two in B4. Also, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in spring by the Midwest Chapter of…

Stocking Just Part of Successful Fisheries

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. As a prairie kid in the 1980s, the image of a Game and Fish distribution truck backing up to a favorite small lake or reservoir and stocking fingerlings spawned day dreams of fishing memories to come. And I remember the local chatter revolving around what kind of fish and how…

Kenai Scene

Friend of the Edge and Watford City native Doug Okland shares a shot from along the Kenai River in Alaska, where both salmon, like the one pictured, and large rainbow trout were on the bite earlier this week. Okland’s return adventures will take him through the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta and on into Montana. (Photo…

Daily Edge for Fri. Sep. 1

YOU MADE IT! Welcome to the first day of hunting season, and the first day of September! Odds are you’ve bagged a limit of doves before you read this, or you’re reading it just before you go out this morning. Deer archery starts at noon, and you’ll want that north wind stand, as we get…

Hunters Reminded of Big Game Transport Rules

NDG&F Press Release Big game hunters are reminded of requirements for transporting deer, elk and moose carcasses and carcass parts into and within North Dakota as a precaution against the possible spread of chronic wasting disease. Hunters harvesting a big game animal this fall in North Dakota deer unit 3F2 cannot transport a carcass containing…

Hunters Exempt from Nat’l Grassland Firearm Restrictions

NDG&F Dept. Press Release With elk season opening Sept. 1 and grouse and partridge seasons to follow starting Sept. 9, the State Game and Fish Department and U.S. Forest Service remind hunters that use of firearms is allowed on the Little Missouri National Grasslands by legally licensed hunters. Earlier this summer the USFS, which manages…

Our Outdoors: Safe & Successful

By Nick Simonson A safe hunt is a successful hunt. Every time you ascend the stand, set foot into the grass, or toss out a spread of decoys should end with a safe descent, a return to the truck and a retrieval of those ducks – both fake and real. The quarry means less than…

Daily Edge for Thu. Aug 31

THEN THERE WAS ONE. Just one day to go until hunting seasons start in earnest across the state. Dove season opens tomorrow morning, and deer archery kicks off tomorrow at noon. We know you’re excited so we have some distractions for you in today’s Three Things. (Featured Photo: Heads Up! A five-by-five whitetail buck in…

Fall Brings Chance at Big Carry-Over Trout in ND

By Nick Simonson While hunting seasons get underway this month in North Dakota and the chill of autumn makes its presence felt, the cooling air of September also brings with it a unique and often overlooked opportunity to catch sizeable trout on the rise in certain waters of the state which were stocked earlier in…

Grouse & Partridge Seasons Open Sept. 9

NDG&F Press Release North Dakota’s popular hunting seasons for grouse and partridge will open Saturday, Sept. 9. State Game and Fish Department upland game biologist R.J. Gross says hunters will likely see fewer sharptails and Huns compared to last year, while ruffed grouse numbers are up from 2016. Gross said that hot, dry early summer…

Daily Edge for Wed. Aug. 30

FROG DAYS OF SUMMER. You should start seeing a good population of young-of-the-year frogs and toads in those areas where water stuck around to support a hatch of tadpoles this spring. Watch for bass to key in on this readily available forage, and match the hatch with some great frog lures in today’s Three Things….

Agencies Prohibit Hunting Over Bait

NDG&F Press Release Hunters are reminded that hunting big game over bait is prohibited on all state owned or managed wildlife management areas, all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas, U.S. Forest Service national grasslands, and all North Dakota state school, state park and state forest service lands. The…

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The Swing of Things

Our Outdoors: Man Without a Knife

ND Deer Gun Tags Reduced to 10-Year Low

Making Partridge Pop