North Dakota Relocation

[Coach Jones]

My son is considering Dickenson State University for college.  My wife and I are teachers growing tiresome with Kansas so what are the hunting opportunities like in the grassland areas west of Dickenson. I would like to get info on whitetails, turkeys, and pheasant.

[Whip]

Fantastic hunting west of Dickenson.  The ranch we hunted for this trip was about an hour away.
 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=096592

[kojac]

You will have great hunting opportunities and dickenson is very good college. I go to ND every year fishing with the kids and I'll be bowhunting next week.  

And not to mention, montana is just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away.  

Good Luck!

[Taiga Recurve]

Been in ND for 22 years now. There are several reasons why I am still here. Great state and people.

[Don Stokes]

Hunted western ND last year, and our group saw quite a few trophy whitetail bucks, some turkeys, and a bull elk!

[chanumpa]

I am originally from N.D.,and can tell you that you will love the hunting and the peopl there.Some darn big mule deer out there west river that these guys didnt mention as well.Next thing I might want to advise is that you go to the classifieds and stock up on some good thick woolies.Good Luck ,You are going to love it.Theodore Roosevelt wrote a book about his favorite huntsthat is a great read and most of it took place were you are thinkling of going.Cant remember the exact title,but it should be easy enough to google.Some great fishing and duck and goose hunting too.I think they might even have a real low draw moose hunt somewhere there now too.Good Luck

[Don Stokes]

And pheasants. Pheasants, pheasants, and more pheasants! It was supposed to be an off year when we were there, and they were everywhere.

[Rick Butler]

We hunt pheasants every year near Mott ND (limit out every time) which is'nt far from Dickenson.  Pheasant numbers are unreal!

[Iowa Bill]

Be advised:

Housing is next to impossible. The oil boom has used the housing all up. Take your house with you. You might even have a problem finding a place to set a trailer.

The oil BOOM is fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!

LOTS of birds to hunt. Winter is a bit of a challenge but economics there now are unbelievable.

[rock_hunter]

5 years ago you could have bought a house cheap, but with the oil boom housing is at a premium.  The western part of the state is beautiful and has good numbers of game, even though the deer numbers are down from a few years back after a couple severe winters.  I know I don't want to live anywhere else!

[smoke1953]

This was the mulie and whitetail we got in November while hunting with Whip an hour west of Dickenson.

 

[Coach Jones]

Thanks for all the replies. I grew up in SE Kansas.  When I turned 18 I began coming out to western Kansas pheasant hunting and always said I wanted to live out west.  Well in 2002 I moved my family to western Kansas.  My kids were very young and leaving our families and moving 400 miles away was kinda scary at first.  But the kids adjusted and grew to love it.  My thirst for adventure as came calling again and would love to venture west.  My son has some interest in Dickinson State University.  My wife and I are both teachers so a career move is a little easier.  Who knows, maybe no jobs in education would ever open up in the area in ND for us anyway.  I just can't stay put very long.

[Holm-Made]

Not trying to talk you out of anything, just pointing out a couple things.  ND and SD are two of the lowest paying states for teachers.  My good friend lives in Dickenson and his bowhunting spots are in the badlands but it is at least a 60-80 minute drive each way to get there.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of public bowhunting opportunities in the immediate surrounding of town.  That being said, within an hour drive you have antelope, mule deer, whitetails, pheasants, and coyotes.  Fishing north of there a couple hours is great as well.

If I could talk my wife into moving to ND I would have several years ago.  Friendliest, down to earth people I have ever met.  Also it is a very pro hunter/sportsman state, but you better love hunting because there isn't much else to do!

[Coach Jones]

Yea I know that salaries for teachers are lower but I am not going to let that bother me.  I taught near KC for a year and it was the highest salary I ever earned as a teacher.  It lasted one year and I was out of there.

[Cootling]

I grew up here.  Love it here.  But land access is becoming difficult, we don't have much public land (except in the Little Missouri Grasslands), and we don't have any state support for land access.  I'm here for the long haul, but when my kids leave home I'll be traveling a lot to hunt.  Other states have a lot to offer.

[Sixby]

My son lives in Wolford and loves it. He was an Orgonian so it must be pretty nice. God bless you all and Merry Christmas , Steve