Pheasant Hunting in ND

   

 (Chase Helmeke with his first rooster ever)

     During this past weekend I went pheasant hunting with my dad (David Rud), Ken and Pat Peltier, and Brent and Chase Helmeke.  I have been pheasant hunting many times before and this trip has become a yearly tradition to our hunting group.  This trip however was different and a little more exciting since it was Chase's first Pheasant hunting trip ever!  He just got his gun safety certificate a couple weeks ago and was ready to hunt.


     The guys and Chase had hunted a few places in the morning before I was able to catch up with them but I think the story goes something like this....

     As they were driving to another location, they passed some Youth only hunting land and upon driving by saw several pheasants fly into the CRP grass.  Chase, Pat, and the three labs were released on a mission to land Chase his first Rooster Pheasant ever.  Magnum (Pat and Kens black lab) started working over the area immediately and it wasn't long until a rooster busted out of the tall grass.  Chase managed to get a shot at the bird and was able to hit the wing.  Down the bird went into some cattails.

      After watching the bird soar down, David and Brent walked the dogs into the cattails to find it was a little more wet then they expected.  Brent made his way back to the truck to grab some hip waiters and the dogs began to search the area.  Not too long after, another rooster (could possibly have been the same one), shot out of the cattails and was met by flying lead straight from Chase's 20 gauge shotgun!

     Upon hitting the bird, Hunter (Ted and Davids yellow lab) took off after the bird with Pat close on his heels.  It was now a foot race as the bird took off running.   Hunter proved to be faster then the bird (and Pat for that matter) and was able to retrieve the bird.  Hunter in all his glory received many head pats and was enjoying every moment of it.  Chase too received lots of high fives and there were plenty of smiles to go around for this new hunter!  Many memories were made and we had a very fun hunting trip.

 (Pictured above with his first rooster ever is Chase Helmeke along with Hunter)

     Chase not only proved to be a good pheasant hunter, but back at the hotel room he cleaned out our pockets by winning several games of 5 card pinochle... and I guess I won a few too ;)-



I was just looking through some of my old hunting pictures and was able to find a pic of me on my first pheasant hunt.

(Pictured above is me (Ted Rud) on my first pheasant hunt in 1999)

8th, 9th, and 10th nights out

I've been super busy all week but finally found some time to post.  Last weekend was pretty slow.  After seeing that bear I had my dad throw out a bait pile to see if he was still in the area.  After several nights of not being hit I checked my trail camera to find this fisher trying to get at the bait. 

All three nights I hunted I saw several does and fawns but no bear and no Sticker buck. 

I did however manage to fix my rifle stand that was blown apart during one of the many tornado's that tore through the area this summer.  Luckily the base was still intact so all I had to do was replace the seat, railings and a few branches.  Also during the process we had to clear a path through the swamp which took nearly 2 hrs with all of the down trees in the area.


Here is another trail camera picture of something that I just can't seem to identify?!  How it got here or what it was doing is unknown to me but something funny is going on here!

5th, 6th, and 7th nights out and 1st Bear Encounter! (10-8-10 to 10-10-10)

(Shown in the picture above is my portable stand on one of the trees that remained upright after a tornado hit our hunting area this past summer)

  

   It was finally Friday and time to hit the woods... or should I say the swamp.  During the week, I had my dad relocate our trail camera to the swamp.  He placed the camera in a location about 50 yards from an old field and between a known deer bedding area and our food plots.  I figured since the deer would be coming out later and later I might as well meet them half way and move into the swamp!  All three nights had temperatures in the 70's and no wind.

     That very first night, there were 2 pictures taken on the camera.  The deer in the picture appeared to be non other then the Sticker buck!  Not having a picture since 9-12-10 of the sticker buck was making me wonder if he was still hanging around or living in a neighboring area.  (I currently have 20 pictures of the photogenic Sticker buck)     

    

Friday Night

     Friday night was my first night in the swamp this year and I chose to sit in a stand where my uncle shot a nice 8 pointer during the 2009 muzzle loader season. I was sitting in a box stand but made sure I could shoot my bow any direction needed. 

 (pictured at left is my uncle Bruce Becker with his nice 8pt muzzle loader buck from 09')

     I only saw one deer but it was getting so dark outside I couldn't even tell if it was a buck or doe.  I decided to come back earlier the next day to set up my portable stand and try my luck.

Saturday Night

     I got to the swamp and was all set up by 5:15 (picture of my stand is on the top of this post).  Tonight I saw two deer but again it was getting dark and they never came out of the brush.  I also had a little excitement when an Owl landed on a tree 10 yards away from me (shown in the picture to the right).  I decided to try again the next night and hope with a little less commotion the deer would be a little more active.

Sunday Night

    Sunday night was one of those nights I will never forget.  I got into my stand quietly and with no wind, I could hear anything that moved.  Again not much was happening except for the continuous movement of squirrels and the beating sounds made from grouse.  Night was beginning to set in and I could hear twigs and sticks breaking out in the swamp.  Soon, a dark figure appeared and walked across a part of the swamp angling towards me.  Still at 25 yards away I could not make out the dark figure to be a deer.  Deciding to call it a night, I turned on my headlamp and shined it in the direction of the figure.  After another few steps it stopped and looked at me again..... It was a bear!  I was shocked, not only had I went bear hunting near Park Rapids 10 nights last year without seeing a bear, but this area was not known for bear hunting!  

   With one week left in the bear season, I'm going to set some baits and see if he will come in!   I will also set my trail camera over the bait to hopefully get a picture or two.  Soon we will find out if he is still around, or if he was just meandering through the area.

Speaking of Bears!!!

    Recently, my good friends dad Ken Peltier shot this black bear with his bow near Park Rapids.  The bears weight is estimated at 300 lbs.  While bear baiting, Ken and my father David Rud jumped a bear off of one of the baits. Ken has now shot a bear with a rifle, muzzle loader, and a bow... What next Ken?  A sling-shot!?!

Fritel Bow Buck taken in ND

 

Travis Fritel and his 2010 Bow kill

     Yes, he is at it again.  My friend Travis Fritel, who shot a monster buck with a bow last year in 2009 (shown below), has arrowed himself possibly a more impressive buck already this ND Bow season.  After receiving trail camera pictures of the huge 11 point typical buck, it took Travis only two days before taking down the mature whitetail.  Once Travis received the pictures, he set up a portable stand near the trail camera and was hunting only a few hours before the buck walked out 20 yards in front of him.  Once he made the tough shot between two branches and several rows of corn, he was off to track the buck with friend Justin Mack.  Giving the deer some time, they waited until well past dark to begin tracking.

 

Travis Fritel and his bow buck in 2009

     The two tracked the buck through sloughs, a cornfield, and tilled black dirt for around 3hrs.  The blood trail eventually lead the duo back into the sloughs where Travis, equipped with waiters, caught a glimpse of his nocturnal lighted nock glowing above the water.  Upon further inspection, a half submerged buck lay waiting for this successful hunter.  AT approximately 3:00 A.M. the high fives and celebration began with another great whitetail buck harvested.

Check out the new Harvested bucks in 2010 page!!!

Double Drop tine buck

Here is some video taken by Cody Gronvold of a nice Buck with double drop tines while he was hunting in the 2010 North Dakota bow season.





Here is another nice buck that Cody was able to get on video.