Given this year’s deer gun tag allocations I can only assume there were a lot more folks met with “unsuccessful” in their Game and Fish inboxes this year.
And it’s disappointing, I get it.
The older I get, the more I realize one of the best parts about hunting and fishing is it’s one of the only times I truly get to feel like a kid again, giddy with excitement, and that’s rare. And it must be even harder for those who were born and raised North Dakotan and were at one time accustomed to much greater odds, and in some years even, held multiple deer tags.
The breeding duck survey dipped below the long-term average for the first time since 1993 at just 2.4 million birds, and the writing on the wall tells us sage grouse and prairie chickens are a thing of the past.
I don’t know about you all, but walleyes have been few and far between this June, which is usually our freezer-filling month.
And while we’re complaining, I’m sure I won’t draw my pronghorn tag.
There’s plenty to gripe about in North Dakota right now and no doubt there’s work to be done in the realms of habitat and access and endless adjustments that could be made to season structures. But then again, there always is.
I too find myself increasingly worried what hunting will look like in another 15 years for Fischer. I don’t know.
But I do know our June was still filled with lots of time on the water. I reeled in pike after pike from shore at Jamestown Reservoir (instead of the target species, crappies), but Fischer and his buddies didn’t care. Afterall, pike have cool teeth!
A few hours on Audubon before this summer’s unrelenting winds picked up brought over a dozen smallmouth aboard to practice our netting skills.
And while walleyes have been sparing compared to previous Junes, I feel we may have slightly unrealistic expectations. I’m not sure a morning at the farmer’s market, boating a few walleyes in the afternoon, fish sandwiches for dinner and an evening on the shores of the Missouri River is anything to whine about.
Pheasant counts remain high, fawn sightings have become more typical and friends and family with various tags will still fill our fall with time afield one way or another.
I am not undermining the work to be done to maintain a hunting and fishing legacy into the future.
But, I do sometimes think we forget to look around, be grateful, try a new spot, tag along on someone else’s hunt, and find ways to feel like a kid again in the North Dakota outdoors.
