Brandon Diehl
Human
Administrative
Financial Services Manager: Angie Morrison
Accountants: Kelly Wike, Ashley Hillerson
Business Services Manager: Alison Kammer
Technical Operations Lead: Alan Reile
Data Scientist: Shane Wegner
Licensing Services Manager: Randy Meissner
Assistants: Amanda Anstrom, Tracy Price, Tana Bentz, Tanya Mikkelsen, Elizabeth Klein
Administrative Assistant – Dickinson: Stephanie Richardson
Administrative Assistant – Devils Lake: Lisa Tofte
Administrative Assistant – Jamestown: Tonya Kukowski
Administrative Assistant – Riverdale: Mattea Bierman
Administrative Assistant – Williston: Stephanie Wellman
CONSERVATION AND COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION
Division Chief: Bruce Kreft, Bismarck
Communications Supervisor: Greg Freeman, Bismarck
Editor: North Dakota OUTDOORS: Ron Wilson, Bismarck
Marketing Coordinator: Cayla Bendel, Bismarck
Digital Media Editor: Lara Anderson, Bismarck
Video Project Supervisor: Mike Anderson, Bismarck
Photographer/Videographer: Ashley Peterson, Bismarck
Marketing Specialist: Jackie Ressler, Bismarck
Information Specialist: Dawn Jochim, Bismarck
Graphic Artist: Kristi Fast, Bismarck
Education Supervisor: Marty Egeland, Bismarck
Education Coordinator: Jeff Long, Bismarck
Hunter Education Coordinator: Brian Schaffer, Bismarck
Outreach Biologists: Doug Leier, West Fargo; Greg Gullickson, Minot; Jim Job, Grand Forks
Conservation Supervisor: Patrick Isakson, Bismarck
Conservation Biologists: Sandra Johnson, Elisha Mueller, John Schumacher, Aaron Larsen, Greg Schonert, Bismarck
Administrative Assistant: Amber Schroeter, Bismarck
ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
Division Chief: Scott Winkelman, Bismarck
Investigative Supervisor: Jim Burud, Kenmare
Investigator: Blake Riewer, Grand Forks
Operations Supervisor: Jackie Lundstrom, Bismarck
Warden Pilot: Mike Linden, Bismarck
Region No. 1 Warden Supvr: Michael Sedlacek, Jamestown
District Wardens: Corey Erck, Bismarck; Andrew Dahlgren, Milnor; Erik Schmidt, Linton; Greg Hastings, Jamestown; Noah Raitz, LaMoure; Gavin Herbert, Steele; Nick Tschepen, Fargo
Region No. 2 Warden Supvr: Paul Freeman, Devils Lake
District Wardens: Jonathan Tofteland, Bottineau; Jonathan Peterson, Devils Lake; James Myhre, New Rockford; Alan Howard, Cando; Drew Johnson, Finley; Sam Feldmann, Rugby; Gage Muench, Grand Forks; Dale Skalicky, Langdon
Region No. 3 Warden Supvr: Joe Lucas, Riverdale
District Wardens: Michael Raasakka, Stanley; Shawn Sperling, Minot; Keenan Snyder, Williston, Josh Hedstrom, Tioga; Riley Gerding, Kenmare; Clayton Edstrom, Turtle Lake; Conner Folkers, Garrison
Region No. 4 Warden Supvr: Dan Hoenke, Dickinson
District Wardens: Kylor Johnston, Hazen; Zachary Biberdorf, Bowman; Courtney Sprenger, Elgin; Zane Manhart, Golva; Jerad Bluem, Mandan; Zachary Schuchard, Richardton; Luke Aamold, Watford City
Administrative Assistant: Lori Kensington, Bismarck
WILDLIFE DIVISION
Division Chief: Bill Haase, Bismarck
Assistant Division Chief: Levi Jacobson, Bismarck
Game Mgt. Section Leader: Stephanie Tucker, Bismarck
Pilot: Jeff Faught, Bismarck
Upland Game Mgt. Supvr: Jesse Kolar, Dickinson
Upland Game Mgt. Biologist: Rodney Gross, Bismarck
Migratory Game Bird Mgt. Supvr: John Palarski, Bismarck
Migratory Game Bird Biologist: Vacant
Big Game Mgt. Supvr: Bruce Stillings, Dickinson
Big Game Mgt. Biologists: Brett Wiedmann, Dickinson; Jason Smith, Jamestown; Ben Matykiewicz, Bismarck
Survey Coordinator: Chad Parent, Bismarck
Wildlife Veterinarian: Vacant
Wildlife Health Biologist: Mason Ryckman, Bismarck
Game Management Biological Technician: Ryan Herigstad, Bismarck
Wildlife Resource Management Section Leader: Kent Luttschwager, Williston
Wildlife Resource Mgt. Supvrs: Brian Prince, Devils Lake; Brian Kietzman, Jamestown; Dan Halstead, Riverdale; Blake Schaan, Lonetree; Judd Jasmer, Dickinson
Wildlife Resource Mgt. Biologists: Randy Littlefield, Lonetree; Rodd Compson, Jamestown; Todd Buckley, Williston; Jake Oster, Riverdale; Jens Johnson, Dickinson; Andrew Ahrens, Devils Lake
Wildlife Biological Technicians: Tom Crutchfield, Jim Houston, Bismarck; Dan Morman, Robert Miller, Riverdale; Jason Rowell, Jamestown; Scott Olson, Devils Lake; Zach Eustice, Williston; Colton Soiseth, Quentin Corcoran, Lonetree
Private Land Section Leader: Kevin Kading, Bismarck
Habitat Manager: Nathan Harling, Bismarck
Private Land Field Operation Supvrs: Curtis Francis, East Region, Andrew Dinges, West Region, Bismarck
Private Land Biologists: Zach Johnson, Colin Penner, Bismarck; Jaden Honeyman, Ben Reith, Dickinson; Ryan Huber, Riverdale; Renae Schultz, Jeff Williams, Jamestown; Terry Oswald, Jr., Harvey; Erica Sevigny, Williston; Brandon Ramsey, Matthew Parvey, Devils Lake
Procurement Officer: Dale Repnow, Bismarck
FISHERIES DIVISION
Division Chief: Greg Power, Bismarck
Fisheries Mgt. Section Leader: Scott Gangl, Bismarck
Fisheries Supvrs: Russ Kinzler, Riverdale; Paul Bailey, Bismarck; Brandon Kratz, Jamestown; Aaron Slominski, Williston; Bryan Sea, Devils Lake
Fisheries Biologists: Todd Caspers, Devils Lake; Mike Johnson, Jamestown; Jeff Merchant, Dickinson; Zach Kjos, Riverdale
Fisheries Biological Technicians: Phil Miller, Devils Lake; Justen Barstad, Bismarck; Brian Frohlich, Riverdale; Lucas Rott, Jamestown; Ethan Krebs, Williston
Production/Development Section Supvr: Jerry Weigel, Bismarck
Aquatic Nuisance Species Coordinator: Benjamin Holen, Jamestown
Aquatic Nuisance Species Biologists: Mason Hammer, Kyle Oxley, Jamestown
Fisheries Development Supvr: Bob Frohlich, Bismarck
Fisheries Dev. Proj. Mgr: Wesley Erdle, Bismarck
Fisheries Development Specialist: Kyle Hoge, Jacob Heyer, Joe Fladeland, Bismarck
Administrative Assistant: Janice Vetter, Bismarck
ADVISORY BOARD
District 1 Nathan Hovde, Alexander
District 2 Travis Leier, Velva
District 3 Edward Dosch, Devils Lake
District 4 Karissa Daws, Michigan
District 5 Doug Madsen, Harwood
District 6 Jordan Svenningsen, Luverne
District 7 Jody Sommer, Mandan
District 8 Rob Brooks, Rhame
North Dakota’s fall turkey season opens this month and the Game and Fish Department decreased fall licenses for wild turkeys slightly compared to 2024 in response to low brood observations during the summer.
The mission of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is to protect, conserve and enhance fish and wildlife populations and their habitats for sustained public consumptive and nonconsumptive use.
North Dakota OUTDOORS is published 10 times a year, monthly except for the months of April and September. Subscription rates are $15 for one year or $30 for three years. Remittance should be by check or money order payable to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. Indicate if subscription is new or renewal. The numbers on the upper right corner of the mailing label indicate the date of the last issue a subscriber will receive unless the subscription is renewed.
Permission to reprint materials appearing in North Dakota OUTDOORS must be obtained from the author, artist or photographer. We encourage contributions; contact the editor for writer and photography guidelines prior to submission.
The NDGFD receives Federal financial assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Coast Guard. In accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the NDGFD joins the US Department of the Interior and its Bureaus and the US Department of Homeland Security in prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex (in education programs or activities) and also religion. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or you desire further information, please write to: ND Game and Fish Department, Attn: Chief of Administrative Services, 100 N. Bismarck Expressway, Bismarck, ND 58501-5095 or to: Office of Civil Rights, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240.
BY PAUL BAILEY
Ihave been fortunate to experience some great fishing close to where I live and work in south central North Dakota. Grainy photos of me in my singledigit years struggling to hoist stringers of plump walleye attest to the terrific walleye fishing in Lake Oahe in the early 1980s. Another remarkable year of fishing occurred on Lake Oahe in 2009 and the fishing in the Garrison Dam Tailrace was nothing short of spectacular in 2012.
I and many other anglers got to experience extraordinary fishing for walleye at places like Alkaline, Jasper, Sibley, Josephine, Crimmins WPA, Geneva, Logan Lake, West Napoleon, Marvin Miller, Logan WMA, Green, Dry, Kislingbury, Harr, Wentz WPA and Rice Lake. I was privileged to participate in the “hot bite” in all these instances where it was common to harvest a limit of walleye in minutes and then proceed with a friendly competition to see how many consecutive casts a fish could be landed and released. My personal record still stands at 18 from Lake Geneva on a fall evening in 2020.
Similar outstanding opportunities have also materialized over the years in many places including Lake Sakakawea salmon and trophy northern pike, Lake Oahe crappie, Devils Lake perch and white bass, Red River channel catfish, Lake Audubon smallmouth bass, Lake Metigoshe bluegill, and Nelson Lake largemouths to name a few.
The bulk of these fisheries continue to maintain high quality angling opportunities despite the most spectacular fishing being somewhat fleeting. So why can’t fishing always be the best it’s ever been? A fair question I’ve fielded numerous times as a fisheries biologist.
Perhaps this question can best be answered by describing the circumstances that led to “the best fishing ever” at several of our waters.
ALKALINE LAKE PERCH
No sport fish in North Dakota may be more prone to boom-and-bust cycles
than yellow perch. When environmental conditions are right, they thrive. And when conditions change, they just as quickly fade away. Such is the history of perch in Alkaline Lake.
Prior to the winter of 1996-97, Alkaline Lake was a large cattail slough complex well known to area waterfowl hunters. As a record amount of snow began to melt in the spring of 1997, these shallow sloughs were transformed into the fifth largest natural lake (by surface area) in North Dakota. A few perch made their way into Alkaline Lake from adjoining Fresh Lake and this proved to be enough.
In its early days, Alkaline Lake offered everything a yellow perch could ever want. Flooded vegetation provided ideal spawning habitat (perch deposit their skeins of eggs on vegetation), a smorgasbord of aquatic invertebrate forage was available, the lake had enough depth to avoid winterkill and remain relatively cool during summer, and perch predators were scarce. Just three years after Alkaline Lake filled, these factors combined to produce some of the most phenomenal perch fishing that many anglers had ever seen.
Even at a time when “going viral” was not yet part of our everyday jargon, word of this extraordinary perch bite spread like wildfire. By some accounts, the gathering of Alkaline Lake ice anglers on a few late winter weekends may have unofficially become one of North Dakota’s 10 largest cities.
In a November 2005 North Dakota
OUTDOORS article, Greg Power, current Game and Fish Department fisheries chief, documented the exceptional amount of perch fishing pressure that Alkaline Lake received after anglers discovered this fishery. “In February and March of 2000, before a daily perch limit was put in place, thousands of ice anglers caught tens, if not hundreds of thousands of perch. Not only did the harvested perch fill buckets, but in some cases, people pulled home ice sleds full of perch.”
Just as quickly as the Alkaline perch
boom appeared, it passed. The flooded vegetation that provided perfect perch spawning habitat had been digested by invertebrate grazers and recruitment of additional perch into this fishery declined. Just as importantly, the initial surge in lake productivity that immediately followed the formation of Alkaline Lake had dissipated and perch began competing among themselves, and with increasingly abundant fathead minnows, for a dwindling amount of invertebrate forage. A perfect recipe for a perch boom and bust.
LAKE OAHE CRAPPIE
North Dakota is situated towards the northern edge of the range of both black and white crappie. Lake Oahe has abundant areas of gravel that nest-building crappie prefer for spawning habitat and a low number of adult crappie can produce lots of offspring. In fact, young-ofthe-year crappie are one of the most common forage items for Oahe’s larger predators like walleye and channel catfish each fall. However, our short growing season for these fish means newly hatched crappie are in a race against time to build up enough size and energy reserves to make it through their first winter on the Northern Plains. This is a race they lose more often than not in Oahe.
However, a series of events aligned to produce some extraordinary crappie fishing in the North Dakota portion of Lake Oahe, beginning with the severe drought from 2000 to 2008. During this drought, Lake Oahe ceased to exist in North Dakota as it receded into the historic Missouri River channel. This exposed tens of thousands of acres of river floodplain that quickly became covered in cottonwoods, willows, clover, cattails, phragmites, reed canary grass, and a variety of other types of vegetation that played host to whitetails and roosters.
Then the winter of 2008-09 happened. That winter, one of only three ever recorded with over 100 inches of snowfall in Bismarck, followed by its accompanying rapid spring melt, transformed Lake Oahe from habitat best suited for critters with fur or feathers back into something best suited for fish.
Missouri River tributaries like the Knife, Heart and Cannonball rivers and Beaver and Apple creeks experienced intense spring flooding and ice jams developed on the Missouri River around Bismarck. All of this runoff, coupled with downstream flooding that led to reduced releases from Oahe Dam, contributed to Lake Oahe rising over 40 vertical feet from its low in 2006 to its high in 2009. This flooded the vegetation established in the
lakebed which did two important things for Lake Oahe’s crappie: it provided both food and shelter.
The flooded herbaceous vegetation fueled an explosion of grazing aquatic insects, especially caddisfly, and this insect bonanza proved to be ideal forage for the crappie hatched in 2009. In most years, Lake Oahe’s crappie only reach 2-3 inches in length by the time they enter their first winter. However, the extraordinary forage conditions in 2009 allowed many of these fish to grow to 5-6 inches, large enough to amass the size and energy reserves to carry them through their first winter.
The woody vegetation that was flooded, primarily cottonwoods, willows and Russian Olives, provided shelter that protected many of these cover-loving crappie from predation. This one-two punch of food and shelter allowed crappie to grow and persist in great numbers.
And they grew very well.
By winter of 2014-15, Lake Oahe had the highest number of 12- to 13-inch crappie that the Department had ever documented. And, when a lake is full of big crappie, adventurous anglers are sure to discover it. Anglers punched holes in the ice and sonar screens lit up with an enticing array of lights identifying schools of suspended crappie. These fish proved to be eager to bite as well, and this turned into one of those relished as-quick-as-you-canget-your-lure-down events where a 10 fish limit of large crappie could be landed in a matter of minutes.
The biologist in me couldn’t resist learning more about these fish so I collected otoliths (ear stones) from a fair number of fish harvested by my angling party to determine their ages. Approximately 85% of the fish were hatched in 2009, shedding light on just how remarkable the year-class was. As the years passed these fish dwindled in number as some continued to be harvested by anglers and others reached the end of their lifespan.
Lake Oahe remains a place where anglers can encounter crappie but the incredible fishing during winter of 201415 remains a highlight in the lives of many anglers.
MARVIN MILLER WALLEYE
Mother Nature deserves much of the credit for the Alkaline Lake perch and Lake Oahe crappie examples. Marvin Miller Lake provides an example of how biological manipulation through fisheries management actions can produce some of the “best fishing ever” as well.
Marvin Miller Lake is surrounded by private land. A fishing access easement was secured in 1997 and the Department initially stocked perch. The perch introduction met with limited success due to the lake’s abundant fathead minnows that tend to compete with perch for invertebrate forage. But these fathead minnows are excellent forage for walleye.
The Department first stocked walleye (5,000 fingerlings) in 2002 and fish from this initial stocking survived and grew well. Annual stockings of 14,000 to 18,000 walleye continued from 2003 through 2007 and met with great success. By 2007, Marvin Miller Lake contained an excellent walleye population … with one problem: the fish wouldn’t bite.
Fathead minnows remained extremely abundant, and these well-fed walleyes had no reason to feed on the offerings from anglers. A big part of my job as a fisheries biologist is to provide the best fishing possible for anglers to enjoy and seeing lots of large, uncooperative walleye in Marvin Miller Lake during our netting surveys became a professional frustration.
Like many of our prairie lakes, Marvin Miller has high salinity levels that prevent successful natural reproduction of walleye. Given the absence of natural reproduction, a logical solution was to increase the walleye stocking rate to reduce the numbers of fathead minnows through increased predation so the walleye would eventually have less to eat and be more apt to bite an angler’s offering.
The logic was sound, but the desired results proved elusive.
In 2008 and 2009, we increased the stocking rate to approximately 26,000 walleye fingerlings annually. The result: more and bigger walleye that still didn’t bite.
In 2010 and 2011, we increased the stocking rate to approximately 50,000 walleye fingerlings annually. The result: even more and bigger walleye that still didn’t bite. We now had a lake with an extraordinary number of walleyes, many of which were over 25 inches that simply wouldn’t bite. A bit exasperated, we increased the stocking rate to nearly 100,000 fish in 2012, a rate (fish per acre) I have not stocked at before or since.
That did it.
Sampling in fall of 2012 revealed that the fathead minnow forage base had crashed due to walleye predation and these fish should be ready to cooperate with anglers.
In what proved to be impeccable timing, the private landowner agreed to a longer-term fishing access easement and allowed a public boat ramp to be installed on his property in the fall of 2012.
Winter of 2012-13 was brutally cold, likely keeping many ice anglers from venturing out but the fishing at Marvin Miller Lake that greeted anglers in spring of 2013 was undoubtedly the best many had ever experienced. Catching a five-walleye harvest limit in five consecutive casts, whether from shore or boat, was a common experience. Whatever techniques anglers threw at these fish seemed to work. Bouncing a jig, slip bobbers, soaking a lindy rig, casting crank baits, or pulling spinners and bottom bouncers. It was as if a decade of anticipation had finally come to fruition and, for a few months in 2013, Marvin Miller Lake offered some of the best walleye fishing our state has ever seen.
While the fishing was spectacular, there was a price to pay for crashing the forage base. Anglers harvested a tremendous number of walleyes from Marvin Miller in 2013, but the fathead minnow population was slow to respond to this reduction in predators. This led to declining walleye numbers and, what walleye remained were in poor condition and exhibited slow growth. The fishing went from extraordinary to sub-par in a hurry.
We reduced stocking rates back down to approximately 25,000 walleye annually and have since achieved a more desirable balance between predators and prey. This has resulted in Marvin Miller Lake providing consistently good walleye fishing in recent years but nothing like the spring of 2013.
WHAT’S TO COME?
If history is any indicator, more extraordinary angling opportunities are bound to occur. The environmental extremes we experience in North Dakota, from droughts to floods, from heat waves to Alberta clippers, blizzards and derechos, will continue to shape our landscape and produce more of “the best fishing ever.” I hope to be there when it happens.
PAUL BAILEY is the Game and Fish Department’s south central fisheries supervisor in Bismarck.
BY TIM FELCHLE
Editor’s Note: North Dakota’s first modern bighorn sheep hunt was held 50 years ago, nearly two decades after the Game and Fish Department reintroduced these animals into the badlands. Tim Felchle, born and raised in central North Dakota, was one of 12 lucky hunters to receive one of the once-in-a-lifetime licenses. Felchle, a recent North Dakota State University graduate in engineering at the time, was living with his wife in Harvey and working for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation when he received the good news in 1975. This is his story.
State lawmakers passed Senate Bill 2210 a half-century ago, which opened the door for the first modern-day bighorn sheep hunting season in North Dakota. The 12 once-in-alifetime licenses were issued by lottery and those fortunate to draw were required to be accompanied by a game warden or other Game and Fish Department personnel to make certain each hunter harvested a legal-sized ram.
During the summer of 1975, I remember sitting in our apartment filling out my application to beat the June 30 deadline. Game and Fish Department officials indicated the drawing would be held in early November and all successful applicants would be notified by Nov. 14. As the odds would be high, I told my wife getting drawn would be like finding a needle in a haystack. All told, it should be noted that more than 2,800 hunters applied for those dozen licenses.
Because the Game and Fish Department didn’t have a computer at the time capable of holding such a large, random drawing, the drawing was conducted by Central Data Processing located in the State Highway Department building.
I was working as an inspector on a construction site in early November when the drawing was held and the successful applicants were contacted. However, I was unaware that the Game and Fish Department had moved up the drawing about a
week earlier than planned. After the drawing was held, my field supervisor drove up and congratulated me for being able to go sheep hunting in North Dakota. I told him I would soon know as the drawing was originally scheduled for Nov. 14. But he said he had just heard my name announced on the radio along with 11 other successful applicants. On the way home from the job site, I listened closely to the radio and, yes, my name was announced.
When I finally got home, my wife was wondering why I was so happy, thinking I must have had a good day at work. I asked her if she had heard the good news on the radio and she hadn’t. About that time the phone started ringing off the hook from people calling and congratulating me. North Dakota’s congressional members, various news
media, numerous friends and relatives and even taxidermists contacted me. It was a very exciting and special time.
I later received a letter from the Game and Fish indicating that there would be an orientation and informational meeting to inform all 12 hunters about the history and habits of bighorn sheep in the badlands. The letter also requested $7 for my license fee.
In accordance with the governor’s proclamation, the area we could hunt in western North Dakota was subdivided into four separate hunting units. Every hunter was required to hunt in their respective unit during the first weekend and after that time all hunters were allowed to hunt anywhere in the entire bighorn sheep hunting area. In a letter, I was informed that I was required to hunt in unit B2. At first, I was a little disappointed because that unit appeared to be the smallest of the four, however, it was the unit that held the most bighorn sheep.
At that meeting held in late November, each hunter was introduced to the Game and Fish representative who would accompany them on their hunt. Wilmer Pich, boat safety specialist in the enforcement division at the time, was the representative assigned to me. Game and Fish personnel also discussed procedures on how to collect, save and return biological data and tissue samples collected from the harvested sheep for further analysis.
I traveled to Belfield on Nov. 27 as the hunt-
A total of 2,852 applications were received by the Game and Fish Department for the 1975 bighorn sheep season. Wilbur Boldt, Department deputy commissioner, read off the names of the lucky applicants.
ing season started the next day and would run through Dec. 7. I met Wilmer that evening and we discussed meeting early the next morning before heading out for the noon Central Standard Time (11 a.m. MST) opener. Before heading out of town we met one of the other hunters in the parking lot and we discussed where we were going to hunt opening day. I had originally planned to travel south of Belfield to hunt a certain area, but that soon changed. The Department representative who was accompanying the other hunter said his hunter had spotted several sheep in a particular location in my unit the day before. They circled the area on our map and that was soon to be the area we would go first and hunt for bighorn sheep.
After securing permission to hunt from three landowners, I quickly learned how important North Dakota’s first legal bighorn sheep hunting season was. Wilmer was taking notes on everything, including the type of gun and ammunition I was using and the whereabouts of where we were hunting, while also keeping very close track of times.
Finally, we took an access road near Sully Creek. While glassing for bighorns, we spotted several grazing on the side of one of the buttes, including several legal-sized rams. Another hunter also viewing the same herd got out of his vehicle and mentioned there was only one legal-sized ram in the bunch. Wilmer and I looked at each other and thought he was deceiving us
since we saw several legal-sized rams.
As we continued to monitor the bighorns, we watched the other hunter drive to another location and start his hunt. They were attempting to hike around the butte below the bighorns in hopes of coming over the top for a good shot. We didn’t do that. We hiked along the creek until we got just below the animals. We approached an area with a steep gully and we had to pass the rifle back and forth until we got out of the creek. Once we were out of the creek and on the slope just below the sheep, we were able to pick out one of the rams and pull the trigger. Unfortunately, I missed my first shot, and the ram took off running. I fired a second shot and hit him. It appeared to be a vital shot. The ram immediately slowed down and ran into a small ravine where I then fired again, and he dropped instantly.
After several photos, Wilmer looked at me and said that I may very well be the first hunter to shoot a bighorn ram in North Dakota’s first legal bighorn sheep hunting season. He was correct. It was 11:22 a.m. (MST) when I shot my ram.
After field-dressing the ram and dragging it 2 miles back to my pickup, we took photos and then loaded my prize for the trip back to Belfield. Weather forecasters were predicting another 5 to 6 inches of snow for the badlands on top of the 6 inches we already hunted in, so I was anxious to get on the road.
When we got back to the hotel room, another hunter was also checking out and inquired about my hunt. He complimented me about shooting a nice ram and ask about the time I shot my sheep. I told him 22 minutes after the season opened. He was a bit disappointed because he was hoping he shot the first legal ram in North Dakota. He had harvested his ram 45 minutes after season opened. I felt sorry for him, but we were both happy to each have harvested a ram in North Dakota’s first legal bighorn sheep hunt.
Before reaching home, I was required to stop by the Game and Fish Department headquarters in Dickinson for a final checkout, proper tagging, and dropping off all the entrails for testing. The hunt was officially over.
Fifty years later, I still think about my once-in-alifetime experience.
Game and Fish Department stenographers checked and numbered each bighorn application before the drawing was conducted by Central Data Processing located in the State Highway Department building.
BY RON WILSON
Two times a year North Dakota welcomes the arrival of what is arguably the rarest bird in North America. Yet, despite being heralded as the tallest of wading birds at nearly 5 feet, with a tipto-tip wingspan of about 7 feet, its presence largely goes unnoticed by most.
Whooping cranes that utilize North Dakota as a stopover site to rest and refuel during spring and fall migrations, are part of the population that nests near Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada and winters around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
While the numbers vary, it’s been said that by 1941 there were just 20 or so cranes remaining in this migrant population. Today, following years-long conservation and recovery efforts, whooping crane numbers are impressive by comparison.
“During last year’s wintering ground survey on the coast of Texas, we actually had a record-high of 557 individuals,” said John Palarski, North Dakota Game and Fish Department migratory game bird management supervisor.
While the entire population doesn’t migrant as one, Palarski said the vast majority of the 500-plus cranes pass through North Dakota. And their 2,500-mile journey south to Texas is already underway.
“We start to see whooping cranes pop up in North Dakota sometime in October,” he said. “A lot of that migration, depending on weather, peaks around the end of October into early November. But they’ll stay in North Dakota as long as the conditions allow. Once it starts getting really cold and wetlands start freezing up, they’ll get out of here.”
North Dakota is located in what Palarski described as a huge migration corridor that the cranes utilize when heading north or south, depending on the time of year. Typically, the birds will spend more time in the state refueling during their southern fall migration compared to their spring journey in the other direction.
“North Dakotans, just throughout the migration in both the fall and spring, have a pretty unique opportunity to view them that most other people don’t have,” Palarski said of whooping cranes that were listed as endangered nearly six decades ago.
Aside from their notable height and impressive wingspan, whooping cranes are bright white with black wing tips and red patches on their crown and cheeks. In flight they extend their long necks, while their long, slender legs extend beyond the tail.
“While whooping cranes are a little bit awkward in flight, they’re still pretty charismatic,” Palarski said. “They’re a cool bird.”
From data gathered from whooping cranes that have been banded, Palarski said some of the birds are over 20 years old. One of the long-lived cranes is YAY, a frequent flier through North Dakota that is believed to be nearly 20.
YAY got her name because of the color combination — yellow, aluminum, yellow — of bands on her leg. Palarski said she was one of the first whooping cranes fitted with a GPS transmitter and the second whooping crane ever banded in 2009.
“A lot of our understanding of whooping cranes was derived from the data that she was able to provide us,” Palarski said. “Although her GPS transmitter has fallen off, she’s still banded. And we’ve seen her a few times moving through North Dakota both in the fall and in
the spring over the last couple of years.”
YAY was observed last spring along the Missouri River System south of Bismarck.
“During the period her GPS transmitter was active (2009-13), YAY exhibited strong site fidelity south of Bismarck,” Palarski said. “She was among the first tagged whoopers to use the site as an extended stopover and continues to return.”
Palarski said anyone lucky enough to see any of these endangered birds during migration stopovers in North Dakota are asked to report the sightings so the birds can be tracked. Whooping crane sightings should be reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, 701-848-2466; Audubon, 701-442-5474; and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, 701-328-6300. Reports help biologists locate important crane habitat areas, monitor marked birds, determine survival and population numbers, and identify times and migration routes.
Palarski said for those spotting whooping cranes to observe them from a distance.
“One of the largest sources of mortality are whooping cranes actually colliding with manmade objects,” he said. “So, if folks are getting in close and inadvertently flushing birds, that drastically increases the probability that they’ll collide with something like a power line.”
Anyone sighting whoopers should, from a distance through binoculars, record the date, time, location and
the birds’ activity. Observers should also look for and report colored bands which may occur on one or both legs. Whooping cranes have been marked with colored leg bands to help determine their identity.
Because whooping cranes can be associated with migrating sandhill cranes, hunters also need to be aware of their target.
“Whooping cranes commonly get confused with snow geese in some instances, pelicans and sandhill cranes too,” Palarski said. “The one difference obviously is their size, differentiating them amongst a lot of species. They are quite a bit bigger than a lot of sandhill cranes that we have migrating through the state.”
BY RON WILSON
The hunt begins at the gun range.
“I would never go on a hunt without checking the zero of my rifle and I would suggest that other hunters do the same,” said Marty Egeland, North Dakota Game and Fish Department education supervisor. “Even if you’re proficient with your firearm, the practice itself is a good thing because it’s been sitting in a gun cabinet for a year. You owe it to the animal to make sure that the bullet is going to hit where you intend it to.”
While it’s illegal to sight in your rifle for, say, the upcoming deer season on Private Land Open To Sportsmen tracts, or at Department wildlife management areas, other than those areas on WMAs designated for such activities, Egeland said there are many safe places around the state to shoot.
The Game and Fish Department, for instance, manages five gun ranges on wildlife management areas in the state, and also partners with many local clubs around North Dakota to offer many other public shooting facilities.
The gun ranges managed by the Game and Fish Department are Lewis and Clark WMA, located 6 miles southwest of Williston; Little Heart (Schmidt) Bottoms, located 12 miles south of Mandan off ND Highway 1806; MacLean Bottoms, located 2 miles south of ND Highway 1804, about 15 miles southeast of Bismarck; Riverdale WMA, located 2 miles southwest of Riverdale; and Wilton Mine WMA, located 2 miles east of Wilton.
The Department may periodically close these ranges for routine maintenance and improvements. The status of each range can be found on the Department’s website at gf.nd.gov. The website also provides a detailed listing of other shooting facilities in North Dakota.
“Even if you’re proficient with your firearm, the practice itself is a good thing because it’s been sitting in a gun cabinet for a year. You owe it to the animal to make sure that the bullet is going to hit where you intend it to.”
For this story, Egeland was interviewed on a random weekday afternoon in mid-September at MacLean Bottoms and two of the shooting lanes were in use.
“You cannot come out here and not find someone here. I don’t know if I’ve ever driven by here and found the place empty,” he said. “In fact, when I’m prepping for going out on a hunt and I want to shoot my rifle, I usually get out here at first light just to avoid the crowds and I have never been the first one here. They get high use. There’s high demand for this.”
Most of the shooting ranges around the state are local ranges, owned and operated by wildlife clubs and shooting groups, which helps fill the need, Egeland said. Even so, there are always places where
Like a lot of hunters, Ben Matykiewicz, Game and Fish Department big game management biologist, takes the time to zero in his rifle before the deer gun season.
Like a lot of hunters, Ben Matykiewicz, Game and Fish Department big game management biologist, takes the time to zero in his rifle before the deer gun season.
there are voids for a number of reasons.
“There are big chunks of areas where we don’t have a lot of public access, particularly close to large urban centers. You get in the Red River Valley, for instance, we just don’t manage a lot of land like we do near Bismarck,” he said. “And it’s hard to find a location to compete with commercial or agricultural interests or the fact that there’s little subdivisions all over the place to have a safe place to put a gun range.”
Nevertheless, a new shooting range is opening in the eastern side of the state sometime this fall west of Hankinson.
“We acquired a piece of state school land there and this has been several years in the works,” Egeland said. “Very similar to other complexes on all our state-owned ranges, we’ll have a 25-yard range, a 100-yard range, a 200yard range, and concrete benches for people to shoot off of. Adjacent to it, the Richland County Wildlife Club acquired a small portion
of land, and they’re putting in trap and skeet houses, and that’ll be a club-owned property also open to the public. So, it’ll be kind of an allinclusive shooting complex.”
The shooting ranges, no matter their location, are not simply used by hunters sharpening their shooting skills or zeroing in big game rifles. Recreational shooters make up a big chunk of the people pulling triggers.
“It’s not just some guy or me coming out and shooting my .280 four times to make sure it’s on target. I probably use very little ammunition compared to somebody who’s shooting an AR or a handgun,” Egeland said. “We have a lot of different users, and that’s very important for our mission, too, because a big part of our funding comes from Pittman-Robertson, taxes on sporting goods and ammunition. So, even recreational shooters are helping fund wildlife management. And that’s the reason we have some of these ranges because we’ve put their money back into
public ranges for them to use.”
For those readying for the coming deer season or simply shooting recreationally on the Department’s five managed shooting ranges, Egeland urges users to follow the basic rules, which are posted on site for those who have any questions.
“Eye and ear protection are certainly always recommended … it’s safety first out here,” he said. “We do require people to clean up after themselves. You should pull your targets, pick up your brass, do all that stuff. While our Game and Fish Department wildlife management guys do some maintenance and replace the backstops at our facilities, they are still pretty much self-serve areas. Our ranges are there for your enjoyment and you won’t be the only user out here so be safe and respectful of everyone else and have a good time.”
RANGES NORTH DAKOTA GAME AND FISH MANAGES
Lewis and Clark WMA, located 6 miles southwest of Williston.
Little Heart (Schmidt) Bottoms, located 12 miles south of Mandan off ND Highway 1806.
MacLean Bottoms, located 2 miles south of ND Highway 1804, about 15 miles southeast of Bismarck.
Riverdale WMA, located 2 miles southwest of Riverdale.
Wilton Mine WMA, located 2 miles east of Wilton.
RON WILSON is editor of North Dakota OUTDOORS.
