Outdoors Notebook: Inaugural Fordville Youth Pheasant Hunt attracts 18 youth and 14 adults

Brad Dokken, Grand Forks Herald
·2 min read

Oct. 29—FORDVILLE, N.D. — A total of 18 kids and 14 adults registered for the inaugural Fordville Youth Pheasant Hunt held Saturday, Oct. 22, on private lands around the Fordville Area. Participants reported shooting 29 pheasants during the hunt, which was organized by the Fordville-based Dakota Prairie Wildlife Club and Ridge Runners Snowmobile Club. Three groups of hunters didn't report back in after the hunt, organizers said, so the harvest tally may have been higher.

In addition to Fordville, participating hunters came from Park River, Starkweather, Larimore, West Fargo, Thompson and Mountain, N.D., along with a father and son from Staples, Minn., who traveled the farthest.

As part of the event, the two clubs released 300 pheasant roosters in the Fordville area, and participating hunters received maps showing the location of the release sites. Organizers also served lunch in the Fordville Ambulance Building.

Adults were welcome to participate in the hunt if they were accompanied by a youth hunter, and there was no charge to participate. Hunters were required to follow North Dakota Game an Fish Department hunting regulations. — Brad Dokken

ST. PAUL — Young hunters shot fewer deer during this year's Minnesota youth deer season than they did last year, the Department of Natural Resources said.

According to DNR harvest statistics, young hunters shot an estimated 5,500 deer during the Oct. 20-23 season, although the total may increase as additional registrations are reported. The tally was down 35% from 2021 and 7% from 2019, the DNR said.

Weather likely contributed to the decline, the DNR said. While balmy temperatures may have been comfortable for hunters, they likely didn't help to get deer moving.

Meanwhile, harvest during the early antlerless season, available to hunters of all ages in several deer permit areas, was up 13% from last year. Hunters registered 4,224 during the early antlerless season, but the DNR added eight new deer permit areas to this year's season so an increase was expected. On average, the early antlerless season harvest was down about 10% in permit areas that were open to the season last year.

Looking at all of the seasons together so far, the cumulative harvest stands at 20,651 deer as of Sunday, Oct. 23. That is 9% behind last year but 21% higher than the five-year mean, the DNR said. — Herald staff report